Page 8 of Hide And Seek

Jesse grinned over at me. “It’s just some old local legend,” he said, waving a casual hand. “He was supposedly a serial killer in the eighties who preyed on campers with an ax. Total bullshit, of course. Never happened.”

“And Jasmine is way into serial killers,” Tamsin added. “Not in an academic interest kind of way, either. She’sintothem, if you catch my drift.”

Jasmine snorted with laughter. “Hey, I’m not going to apologize for my fantasies. It’s not like I’m breaking into prisons and banging these dudes in real life.”

“But you totallywouldhook up with some deranged ax-man if you had the chance, right?” Jesse asked, raising a brow. “Like if you happened to run into one in the woods while he’s on a killing spree?”

“Dunno.” She shrugged, grinning playfully. “Depends how hot he is, I guess.”

“Girl, you literally have zero survival instincts,” Tamsin said, shaking her head. “Fight or flight? Nope, for you it’s fight orflirt.”

Everyone started laughing again. This time I joined in, though a little part of my mind was whirring with recognition. I understood Jasmine’s fantasies perfectly, because I’d always been drawn to that type of man too. Not serial killers specifically, but just that general type of guy: the dangerous, sociopathic ones your instincts warned you about while the rest of your body ignored the red flags.

“What about you, Alissa?” Wren asked, peering at me. “What’s your type?”

“Um…” I hesitated, chewing on my bottom lip.

Even though I shared Jasmine’s bad guy fantasy, I wasn’t brave or open enough to admit it out loud. I wasn’t sure why, though. My new friends had made it clear they wouldn’t seriously judge a person for whatever they were into. Still… I just couldn’t bring myself to say it.

The others were all staring at me now, awaiting my answer.

“Uhh… I guess I just like hot guys,” I finally said.

“Hot guys? Wow.Groundbreaking,” Jasmine said with a dramatic flourish, doing her best impression of Miranda Priestly.

“Yeah, way to be specific,” Jesse added, flashing me a teasing smile as everyone else erupted in peals of laughter again.

“Hey, Alissa might not have figured out what her exact type is, but it looks like she’s someone else’s exact type,” Wren said a moment later. “Someone we all know and despise.”

Jasmine’s brows furrowed. “Huh?”

“Don’t look over and make it super obvious,” Wren replied, lowering her voice. “But Rhys Usher is staring at her across the fire right now, and it’s not the first time I’ve seen him doing it.”

“Oh my god, I noticed that too!” Tamsin said. She turned to look at me. “He’s been looking over at you all night. He’s totally into you.”

I smiled weakly. “He’s probably just curious because I’m new here.”

“Simon and Grayson are newbies too, and he’s not looking at them,” Jasmine said, cocking a brow. “But trust me: don’t go there.”

“Yeah, no way.” Tamsin’s lips tightened, and she shook her head. “You don’t want to hook up with a Legacy, believe me.”

“I’m pretty sure Rhys just hits on every new woman that crosses his path,” Jasmine said. She lifted a palm. “Not that you aren’t hot, Alissa. You totally are. But he just has that vibe about him, y’know? I bet he’s fucked half the female counselors here. Or more.”

“Is this your way of admitting you’ve slept with him?” Wren asked, jokingly elbowing her.

Jasmine snorted out a laugh. “Hell no,” she replied. “To be fair to him, he’s never tried to hit on me. So maybe my read of him is totally wrong. Or maybe he can just tell I’d rather be shot in the head than go near some spoiled rich guy.”

“He’s never tried it with me either,” Wren said. She glanced at Tamsin. “You?”

Tamsin hesitated, averting her eyes slightly. “No. But… that might be because he saw me leaving the Snack Shed with Jensentwo summers ago. And he might not be into his friend’s ‘sloppy seconds’, as those childish pricks like to say.”

Jasmine’s eyes went saucer-wide. “Hold on.What?”

Jesse and Wren looked stunned too.

“You hooked up with Jensen fucking Hornbacher two years ago? In the Snack Shed, of all places?” Jesse said. “And you’re only telling usnow?”

I leaned a little closer, brows furrowing. “He’s a Legacy, right?”