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

My napkin was a lot dirtier than his.

“So,” Jeffrey said after he’d neatly wiped his mouth. I chewed my newest bite eagerly, eyes lighting up as I waited to see what he was going to ask. “You’re from Elmwood?”

I frowned, confused. “No.”

“No?”

My tail thumped against the seat as I shook my head. “I am from Colorado. The mountains. It is green and good. There are many plants and animals. It is safe.” I wasn’t sure why I was trying to hype up my home, as Jeffrey would never visit it—despite how badly I wanted him to—but I couldn’t seem to stop. “You would like it.”

“So why are you here?”

“Business.” I felt very important telling him that, my chest puffing up. I wanted to tell him that I was here for him. And only him. That was why I’d convinced Dad to let us set up a compound here. But…even I knew that would be too much too soon.

I couldn’t tell him I’d wanted to protect him.

To watch over him from afar.

It might frighten him.

Like a forward thinking chipmunk, I would keep some nuts in my cheeks for later.

“Business?” Jeffrey frowned at me, taking another bite of his food as he mulled this over. He dabbed his mouth again when he was done. “Business like…werewolf business?”

I was relieved then, to know for certain that he knew what I was.

“Yes,” I told him, heart dancing.

“Like what?” Jeffrey arched an eyebrow, his scent skeptical. “What kinda business does a werewolf from Colorado have in Elmwood, Maine?”

“We are setting up a new compound,” I told him. “A home for our pack,” I added, because I wasn’t certain he knew what I was talking about. “We are growing too fast for our current space. There are negotiations that need to be finalized with the local pack and council, but soon things here will be more permanent. Right now, it is just me and my brothers, but one day soon it will be half our pack. And it will be beautiful.”

That was the most I’d ever talked all in a row.

It was exhausting.

“So…you’re staying here?” Jeffrey peeked up at me through his lashes, an almost shy look on his face. It was so different from the flirty apathy I’d seen on him at the club—or the blank-faced sadness I’d seen in the alleyway. “Like indefinitely?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, suddenly at a loss for words all over again.

Because I knew what he was asking.

And I couldn’t give him the answer we both wanted.

“Till January,” I said instead. The truth. “Then I’m going back home.”

“Oh.”

Jeffrey was silent the rest of the meal.

When we walked out onto the night-dark street his scent was murky enough I couldn’t recognize the emotions. He did, however, smile at me. And it was summer soft—his dark eyes full of warmth as he gently bumped our shoulders together before twisting away.

“Thanks for dinner, man. And the hug.” His cheeks went bright red. “It was good to see you…you know. Without bumping uglies.” He bit his lip, then added, almost bashfully, “you’re cool.”

“I am not cool,” I frowned. “It is very hot outside.”

“Too true,” Jeffrey laughed, like I’d said something funny. “You said tomorrow at eight, right? For your vet friend?”

I nodded, my heart in my throat. He was gorgeous, glittering beneath the streetlamp, that lovely bright hair practically glowing.