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Just because he could fight didn’t mean he wanted to

The crunching underbrush stopped, but Hunter couldn’t look without giving away his hiding place He held his breath again, wondering what their weapon would be this time Bricks? A two-by-four? Once they’d actually thro manure at hi effective

He let a breath out, drew one in, and held it

Another step, another snap of underbrush A breeze kicked up and whistled through the leaves overhead, whispering across his cheeks He focused, waiting for infor ers to the ground, and the earth confirmed it was one person

One person, drawing close

Hunter braced hi before the next crunch of leaves

His eyes registered e of the trees, and then he was all ht, his brain tracked the activity like stop-action photography The toe of a boot, a denim-covered knee, a powder-blue shirt, a flash of brown hair His ar an ankle to bring his attacker to the ground A gasp and a shriek and an oof

And a bright pink backpack, sailing through the air to land somewhere nearby Papers fluttered into the wind and scattered

Pink

He stared down at the person he’d pinned “Clare?”

“Ow” She grimaced and put a hand to her head Strands of her hair were tangled in the dead leaves littering the ground “That kinda hurt”

Clare Kasten was in his fourth-period governentle ide brown eyes and soft features Shy, too He couldn’t reed

Hunter swore and braced a hand against the ground so he could get some distance “I’m sorry I didn’t meanAre you okay?”

“I just wanted to talk to you” Shemy life”

It would figure that the first tiirl wanted to talk to him, he’d knock her flat