Page 23 of Midnight Hunt
Sable settled back down with a chuckle.
“Sorry,” he whispered, poking his blond head inside my room. “I heard something and wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Ilaughed,” I whispered back, still annoyed. “What are you doing stalking the halls like a creeper anyway?”
He shrugged but didn’t respond.
“Let me guess. Kolton put you on guard duty?” I rolled my eyes, but deep down, I was more than a little relieved that Griff was keeping watch while we slept.
Instead of answering, he said, “Can’t sleep?”
It was my turn to shrug.
He opened the door wider and came all the way in, only to cluck his tongue in mock disapproval when he saw the TV. “You’re watching a scary movie in the middle of the night? No wonder you can’t sleep.”
“Pfft. You know they make me laugh. It’syouwho’s scared of them. You were terrified of closets formonthsafter we watched that one slasher movie.”
“I was twelve. I’m not scared of them anymore.”
“Ha. Prove it.”
When he raised an eyebrow, I scooted over and patted the mattress beside me.
“Watch the movie or admit I’m right.”
He quietly groaned and stared up at the ceiling, and I struggled not to laugh.
“Come on. It’s time you faced your fears, Griff. Watch the movie with me. I’ll even hold your hand.”
He suddenly went rigid, then quietly barked a laugh, making me think that I’d imagined the tension. Closing the door, he silently crossed my room and flounced onto the bed beside me. Propping himself up on an elbow, he muttered, “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
I grinned ear to ear and settled more comfortably against my pillows. “You won’t regret it. Horror movies are hilarious. You’ll see.”
“Just shut up and watch the movie,” he grumbled, making me grin even wider.
Only a few minutes in, he started to fidget. I kept peeking at him out of the corner of my eye, fighting back laughter every time he grimaced. At the next jump-scare scene, I waited for the perfect moment, then grabbed his shoulder and said, “Boo!”
He violently started, and I burst into a fit of giggles.
“You think that’s funny?” he said.
“It’s hilarious,” I replied, batting my lashes at him not-so-innocently.
He scowled. Then, faster than I could blink, he grabbed one of my pillows and whacked me in the face with it.
“Hey!” I protested a little too loudly. Grabbing another pillow, I whacked him back. Or tried to anyway. He caught it and wrestled it from me, then whacked me in the face again. With a growl, I launched myself at him, only to end up flat on my back. When his gloating face appeared above me, it was my turn to scowl. “No fair. I’m still recovering.”
“Excuses,” he drawled, hovering over me a moment longer before sitting up. When he extended his hand toward me, I batted it away and scooted back against the headboard on my own. He just smirked and settled against the headboard beside me.
As we continued to watch the movie in companionable silence, my restlessness from earlier faded. My eyelids were beginning to droop when he abruptly said, “Did you tell Reid?”
Struggling to stay awake, I replied, “About this morning?”
“Yeah.”
“I did. He asked if I needed him here.”
Griff was silent for several beats, then asked, “And do you?”
