Page 26 of Hide And Seek

She shook her head, smothering a yawn. “I’m pretty tired already. And I’m still stuffed from dinner.”

“Okay,” I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I slipped my shoes on and headed out to the main part of the cabin to tell the girls I was going to the bathroom.

The path to the Snack Shed was quiet and dark, the only illumination coming from the small circle of my phone flashlight. Somewhere in the distance, an owl made its presence known. I started walking faster, not because I was scared of birds, but because the temperature had dropped sharply and I'd made the rookie mistake of leaving my jacket in the cabin.

After fumbling in the dark with the keys on my lanyard, I unlocked the Snack Shed door, pushed it open, and stepped inside, pulling it shut behind me. I located the exact type of chocolate I was craving without having to look very hard, and then I leaned against the shelf on my left, breaking three squares off the block and eating it in the peaceful silence.

Just as I broke off a fourth square of chocolate, the door creaked open behind me. I spun around so fast I dropped the rest of the block.

Rhys was standing in the doorway, one hand on the frame.

I pressed a hand to my chest. “Oh my god, you almost gave me a heart attack!” I said breathlessly.

“I’m not that scary, am I?” Rhys said, lips curving in a wicked grin. He pushed off the frame and took a step closer. “Unless… maybe Zach was right earlier. Maybe I’m the son of the Woodsman.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re not.”

“Oh, yeah? How do you know that?”

“Well, firstly, your father is Rohan Usher, not Edward Stryker. And secondly, as we established earlier, Edward Stryker wasn’t even a real person.”

“How do you know my dad’s name?” Rhys asked, lifting a brow. “Been looking into me?”

“Of course not,” I said indignantly, even though I’d spent more time than I cared to admit Googling him before I went to sleep last night. “I just… I heard someone talking about your family.”

“Oh yeah?” He cocked his head. “Who?”

“Um… Jasmine. She was saying they own Northgate Telecom,” I said. Then I hurriedly changed the subject before he had a chance to realize I was only telling a half-truth. “God, my heart is still racing. You really freaked me out."

Rhys’s smirk reappeared. “I think you like being scared.”

“Um...” I blinked, pulse suddenly kicking harder. “Why would you think that?”

“Just an impression I get.”

His gaze dropped to my mouth, and it took me a second to realize why.

His hand lifted slowly, like he already knew I wasn’t going to stop him. Then his thumb brushed the corner of my lip, and my breath hitched.

“Got it,” he said softly, eyes still on my mouth. “Chocolate.”

I was suddenly very aware of how close he was. Close enough that if I leaned forward even slightly…

Don’t,some functional part of my brain attempted to interject. This is an obvious move.

And just like that, I thought about Tamsin. Four Milky Way bars. One Jensen Hornbacher. Zero resistance despite knowing full well that she couldn't stand the guy.

I could see exactly what she meant now. These Legacy guys really seemed to have a certain quality that made women’s brains bypass rationality and go straight for the part that made terrible decisions.

Old money confidence, probably. It showed in every movement, every well-timed smirk, every casual invasion of personal space.

Rhys finally lowered his hand, but the space between us didn’t change. If anything, it felt smaller now. Charged in a way that made my skin feel too tight.

“Thanks,” I murmured. “I guess I’m a messy eater.”

“Me too,” he replied. The way he said it made heat curl low in my stomach.