Hunt Me! (I Crave The Chase) - Page 171

And I couldn’t stop.

And it hurt—so good—I could hardly breathe. Mutt stared at me in wonder, like my laugh was the most amazing thing he’d fucking heard. And then he joined in, laughing just as loudly as me, pretending to get the joke because he was a solid dude, despite being obviously confused still.

“Ha Ha! Yes. Taylor.” He smacked the table and I snorted into my elbow, shaking with mirth. “The singer!”

When I glanced up, Richard, Blair, and Collin were all staring at me like I’d grown a second head. Blair’s expression in particular was odd. His eyes were wet, and his lips were twisted into a smile that looked fond and sad at the same time. Like he was seeing me for the first time.

“Hi,” he said, offering Mutt his hand, a warm smile spreading across his face. “It’s so great to finally meet you. I’m Jeffrey’s brother.”

“Greetings,” Mutt smacked his hand into Blair’s and gave it a violent shake. Which was just—so fucking cute, I started laughing again.

“We’re just gonna…” Blair jerked his head back toward the kitchen, “Holler if you need anything.”

“Sure—” I grinned at him, and gave him a covert thumbs up. He glanced at it, then me, and his smile softened even more. He returned my thumbs up with one of his own.

And then he yanked Collin and Richard back with him, and Mutt and I were alone again.

“Did you know your brothers are fucking?” Mutt asked me the second they were no longer in the room. He looked concerned, and I could not fucking stop laughing.

“Oh my—fuck.” I snorted. “They’re—I mean. It’s complicated? They’re not related and I—you know what. It’s a long story.”

“I like long stories.”

And so I told him.

I managed to get a spaghetti moment with him, with the damn meatball, and didn’t even care that I got sauce smeared on my nose to do it.

As far as dates went it was pretty fucking perfect.

The most perfect.

The happiest night of my life.

Which was why, of course, I had to immediately go and ruin it with the second half of the date.

Because I was a glutton for punishment apparently.

Why am I like this?

Jeffrey was quiet as we made our way into the woods. He’d borrowed his tiny brother’s car—as his truck was in the shop again. It was difficult to squash inside the vehicle, but I managed, still half-naked, my suit laid across the back seat.

The car stank like cat, and I huffed, sniffing at the fabric with a frown the second I’d climbed inside.

“Sorry about the mess—I didn’t have time to clean this.” I blinked around the vehicle, frowning because I could not see a mess. “The hair,” Jeffrey explained. “I figured it would bug you—you know, with your super nose.”

“It is alright,” I told him with a sunny grin. Jeffrey grinned back, and then we were off.

It hadn’t taken long to get to this spot in the woods, though we had to go down a back road. A road I knew for a fact would end—because the woods at the end of it were right on the edge of the Elmwood pack lands. I found it a little odd that we’d traveled here, but figured Jeffrey had more surprises for me, so I wasn’t going to complain.

The first surprise had been…

I didn’t have words.

It had been thoughtful and sweet and romantic—the way Jules had tried to coach me to be. I wasn’t sure I’d managed, but Jeffrey certainly had. And that laugh…god. The laugh he’d let loose would haunt my memories for the rest of my time.

I’d replay that memory during my last moments, and it would give me comfort.

We hiked through the woods on a skinny little path that looked abandoned. Though Elmwood was full of trees just like home was, it still felt off. Wrong and right at the same time. It didn’t take long to reach our destination, and when we did, I frowned, confused.