Hunt Me! I Crave the Chase (Spooky Boys #3)

I didn’t know what we’d even talk about.

But I was kinda excited to find out.

There wasn’t a lot in my life I was excited about right now.

My phone began to buzz in my hand, and I frowned—for all of two seconds before I realized who was calling me. “I’m right here,” I laughed, though I swiped the call through and shook my head in amusement.

Mutt held his phone in front of his mouth like a microphone, and even though I felt stupid as hell, I brought my phone to my ear. I was grinning, and I couldn’t seem to stop.

“This is my first phone call,” Mutt declared, way too fucking loud, right in my ear. I flinched, and then snorted, shaking my head in amusement.

“Hi.”

“Hello.” Mutt was grinning at me, and he looked like sunshine.

“Thank you for the basket,” I said, still holding the phone to my ear, my cheeks flushed.

“Did you love it?”

“I did,” I said, my heart thumping. “I do.”

His eyes were so bright, and warm, and he was just…god. He was the nicest person I’d ever met. He filled up the passenger seat like a good-natured giant, his ears pricked forward, eyes full of life. He wasn’t broken like I was. Hollow.

He was life incarnate, and looking at him made me feel normal for the first time in my life.

“Hey, Mutt?” I said, palms slick with sweat, my earlier upset forgotten.

“Yes?” Mutt’s tail continued to thump.

“You’re a fucking sweetheart.”

Mutt’s grin only grew wider, probably because I’d just given him the smile he’d said he wanted. He looked at me like I was the prettiest thing he’d fucking seen, and my stomach filled with butterflies.

“Hey, Jeffrey?” he countered, one hand reaching out for me. I tipped into it, pressing into his palm, my phone still clutched tightly.

“Yeah?”

“Did I cheer you up?”

My heart hurt.

It hurt and hurt and hurt.

“You did,” I said, shifting to press a little kiss into his palm. And then I did something I’d never done before. Instead of wallowing in the past, thinking about the conversation that had sent me into a tailspin in the first place, I moved forward. “Are you busy right now?”

“Busy?” Mutt blinked, an odd look crossing his face for a moment before he shook his head. “I am not busy.”

“How would you feel about going on an adventure?”

“I love adventures.”

“Yeah?” I grinned, nuzzling into his palm. The look Mutt leveled me with was needy and warm, and hungry. My belly flipped. “Me too.”

You know what’s wild? Falling in love. I hadn’t thought I could do it. Hadn’t thought my heart could fit someone else inside it, with all its cracks. But apparently I was wrong. Because as Mutt and I splashed around in the ocean, icy water soaking us through to our bones, I realized I had room after all.

Mutt was strange.

He spoke oddly, he didn’t understand social cues, he was awkward and clumsy, and had no idea what personal space was. But he was also…kind. Kinder than anyone I’d met. He was thoughtful and sweet. He made me feel real.