Hunt Me! (I Crave The Chase) - Page 155

When Blair dropped me off at home, Mutt was waiting for me like usual. In dog form today. Now that I was on a roll telling people the truth, I was half-tempted to straight-up call him out. But…the silence was nice too. And I figured if Mutt was in this form today it meant he needed it.

“You wanna go for a ride?” I offered, because I wanted to get my mind off the weird car conversation with Blair, the dead end with the hunter, and the date I was planning.

Mutt wagged his tail happily, and that was that.

I fed him cheeseburgers again, this time sitting in the back of my pickup truck. And I plucked away at the strings of my guitar, working on the song I was writing with my back to the cabin, and my head tipped up toward the stars. Mutt wagged his tail lazily, keeping my legs warm, his big head settled on my thighs.

It was nice.

Easy.

The perfect end to a difficult day.

“I hate talking to people,” I told him, still strumming away. “I wish I could be like you,” I shrugged a shoulder, staring into his bottomless blue eyes. Mutt woofed softly and I grinned, cheeks hot. “You wouldn’t believe the day I had,” I admitted, uncharacteristically chatty now that I was with him. It was a little awkward at first, because I’d never been all that open with my feelings. But the second I started I couldn’t seem to stop.

I told him everything. Told him about the bird shit on Avery’s head—Gregory was a serial shitter now. Told him about my fears and my worries. Told him about Blair’s dating advice, and how he looked happy, and it didn’t hurt anymore.

Told him about Lydia.

About some of what I’d been through.

An hour passed.

I was chilly and shaky, and wished I’d thought to bring heated blankets for us so we wouldn’t have to go back. But I felt better.

Because I may be shit at dating, but Mutt wasn’t.

And this had been a pretty damn good date.

“Mutt,” Jeffrey’s voice cracked, needy soft, helpless, tinny through my phone’s speakers. I jerked up from where I’d been nestled in his bed. My phone only had a few batteries left, and I scrambled around for a charger, suddenly cursing myself for not thinking to charge it.

I knew he was out running around today. I’d tried to invite myself along but he’d been cagey about it and his scent had been sneaky-happy-excited, so I figured there was a reason he hadn’t wanted to include me.

“What is wrong?” I jabbed the charging string into the hole on my device, growling down at it. “What has happened? Where are you?” I could and would hunt him by scent if necessary. But if I could get a location that would make things quicker. “Are you hurt?”

“My—” Jeffrey sucked in a breath. “I’m stuck. And my truck broke down again, cuz the thing’s a piece of shit and probably didn’t get fixed right the first time—and I can’t get home. And I would’ve called Blair, I should’ve called Blair or Richard but I just…” His voice cracked. “I just wanted you.”

My heart throbbed erratically.

“Tell me where you are. I’ll fix it.”

“Okay.” Jeffrey’s voice was soft, meek. He rattled off a bunch of words I didn’t understand, but I committed them to memory immediately. “You…you’ll come?”

“Yes.” My heart lurched. “I’ll come.”

“Okay.” Jeffrey sounded relieved, and that hurt. Because he shouldn’t have been scared at all. I should’ve been there. I should’ve been protecting him. I knew what asking for help meant to him, and I was so incredibly proud of him.

“Stay put.”

“I will.”

“How old are you?” Harry’s voice was flat and nasally, his hands on the steering wheel as he glared into the rearview mirror at the both of us. I’d insisted on sitting in the back with Jeffrey, and Harry had let me, even though he mumbled something biting about being a show-fer, whatever that was.

“Twenty-five,” Jeffrey replied. His scent was worry-relief-grateful. I soaked it up, nuzzling against his throat, more than a little thankful that I’d bit back my own pride and asked for help. As always, he was a good example.

“How did you and Mutt meet?” Harry asked, body stiff, his eyes narrowed.

“He…” Jeffrey’s gaze skipped to my face, then my hands, his scent souring for a second before it cleared. “He saved me.”