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

“I’m not sure lying about the chairs was the best way to go about that,” Richard said gently. “I get what you were trying to do—and I’m proud of you for that. But…” Richard had always been a serious kid. He’d been grown up before he even knew how to walk. Intelligent. Type A. Bad with people—except for Blair, apparently. “Maybe moving forward we’d be better off not lying.”

Lying.

“I know,” Blair sighed. “But you—I mean. Did you see his face? He looked so happy when he was bringing the chairs in yesterday.”

“Sure,” Richard agreed gently. “But how many deliveries can you cancel like that, Blair, before he finds out? There’s gotta be a limit. Maybe some honesty would help him more than trying to trick him into feeling useful.”

“I don’t know how to be honest with him,” Blair’s voice wavered. “He just smiles, and lies—and—and he never fucking breaks. He’s like a puppet person. Which is so fucking shitty, because you’d think out of everyone in the world, I’d be the one to understand. I was there. I was there the whole fucking time. It was always us against the world—and now it feels like him against me, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

“I know, baby.” There was more rustling, this time less boxes—and more clothing. I could so easily imagine my giant blond brother pulling Blair into his lap. The two of them were inseparable. And…good for each other. They were happy.

It was part of why I felt so…lost.

Blair didn’t need me anymore. Not really.

And I didn’t know how to exist with him without Lydia hanging over us. She’d always been our shared demon. And now she was gone, and I was just me. There were no tasks for me to accomplish, and the lies I kept from Blair to protect him didn’t feel noble anymore. They just felt like lies.

And that…hurt.

That hurt, and I didn’t know what to do.

I felt betrayed, I could admit that. Betrayed by him, and the fact he was happy. The fact he moved on so easily and I couldn’t. Betrayed because he didn’t need me like I needed him. Betrayed because he’d lied to me.

He’d tricked me.

And I knew it was because he loved me—because he wanted to help, but I hated that he thought I was too weak to take the truth, even though I was. He was supposed to think the world of me. He was the only person who ever had.

“Maybe he can’t open up to you because you were there,” Richard added, voice low and rough. “Maybe he needs…space from what happened.”

“I don’t want to give him space.”

“And that’s because you’re…” Richard struggled for words. “You’re a good brother.”

“Right.”

“But if you want to be there for him,” Richard said softly. “Maybe he needs to come to you. And maybe don’t?—”

“Lie.” Blair sighed.

Richard was quiet, like he didn’t know what to say.

And it hurt.

It hurt so much that both of them thought I was falling apart—even though I was.

That they’d apparently orchestrated this entire thing so that I would feel useful.

Which was why I was distracted as I drove. Why I was shaking, and sick, and my vision was blurry even though tears refused to fall. I’d gotten the fuck out of there, as quietly as I could—escaping to my truck and onto the street with my heart pounding and a sick churning in my stomach.

“Oh my fuck.” I slammed on the breaks, the car swerving a little and hitting the curb as I sucked in a panicked breath, and Mutt’s familiar broad frame popped into view. He crossed to the side of the car, face pressed right up against the glass of my window.

That shit was diabolical. I couldn’t believe Collin had done this to Richard on purpose.

“Jeffrey!” he yelled in excitement. His blue eyes were bright, and I didn’t need to see it to know his tail was wagging.

I rolled the window down, and then jolted when Mutt reached inside and immediately yanked me close enough he could push his face into my neck. He snuffled happily, his hot breath tickling my throat as he inhaled my scent greedily.

“Mmm,” he sighed, teeth nicking my skin as he opened his mouth and gave my throat a single, sharp suck, before pulling back. “You are distressed,” he frowned, brow furrowing, like my distress was ruining his whole-ass day. I was surprised it had taken him this long to figure that out—considering the fact that usually he read me like a book.