I’ve changed considerably from the girl he knew. I’d grown up hiding in thick turtleneck sweaters, my hair always pulled up and away in a messy bun. In this moment, I realize how I even used to stand differently, rounding my shoulders forward as if I could disappear into myself. But now, my shoulders are rolled back as I stand straight as a rod.
I can’t tell if Hunter likes what he sees or not, but suddenly I’m far too aware of my bare midriff and all the piercings and tattoos I have on display. My stomach burns with shame and arousal.
“Why are you here, Hunter?” I manage to get out through rubbery lips.
There. His face clears and he returns to a businesslike manner, his normal mode. No time for nonsense. He’d been so adult, even when we were kids. “I believe you are in danger.”
My hands grip the chair harder. “Do you know where Gigi is?”
After graduating, Hunter immediately went back to work under his father, who is head of security for Grandma’s House. Last I heard, his father was grooming Hunter to take his stead for when he retires in a couple years.
Hunter shakes his head. “She’s gone underground. My father may know something, but he won’t share with me.” His expression darkens.
If he’s so serious, it’s because he wants to live up to his father’s expectations. Gigi’s head of security never cracks a smile.
“No one knows much of anything right now, but I had to come find you. Make sure you are ok.”
Hearing him say words I once longed to hear, suddenly I don’t know how to act, what to say, or how to feel. I’d been so preoccupied the last twenty-four hours, I forgot to pine over him. Considering that had been a solid forty percent of my personality the last four months, I wonder who I am anymore. Who I am around Brexley . . .
“I’ve b—been fine.”
“Dahl has been going out of their mind,” Hunter says, taking a step closer.
The corner of my mouth twitches.
Dahl is my grandmother’s chief assistant, who is nonbinary. They are strung as tight as a rubber band stretched between two cities. I can’t imagine the hysterics they are exhibiting in the absence of Gigi, not being able to commit her to interviews, news spotlights, or promotional junkets.
Hunter and I grew close initially from our dislike of Dahl’s tyrannical hold on schedules, and dramatics when a sponsorship didn’t work out. Even as kids, we recognized Dahl was over the top.
I can’t suppress my chuckle. “I bet that’s something to see.”
“If it weren’t for your grandma going dark, I think you’d quite enjoy it.” A small, elusive smile appears on his face. He so rarely smiled; a sighting always took my breath away. But I’m already holding my breath, so it’s hard to say if it has the same effect.
No, no, no, don’t fall back into this. You know he doesn’t want you. Stop falling back in love with him, right now, you little idiot.
Hunter closes the distance until he is inches away. He encircles a hand around my forearm before I can move away or stop him.
It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes in the back of my head as liquid heat sweeps through my body. I want his hand to touch every part of me at once.
Fuck, lick, bite. Mark him.
Hunter’s eyes darken and his voice drops into a husky tone. “I think you should come with me, Red. So I can protect you.”
Then another presence interrupts, and the only reason it penetrates my sex-drenched brain is because of its potency.
Brexley. He stands on the other side of me. That uniquely spicy masculine scent envelops me.
Hunter meets Brexley’s gaze over my head. The wolf has several inches on Hunter, both vertically and in the broadness of his muscled shoulders. I can feel the warning emanating from his body directed at the boy on my right.
“Who’s this?” Hunter asks, his hand slipping away.
I want to sob with relief and frustration. Instead, I cross my arms, digging my nails into either bicep to get control of myself.
“You don’t know him?” I ask, working to make sense of the present. How does he not know Brexley, if they both work security for Gigi?
“I’m her bodyguard,” Brexley’s words come out in a smooth low rumble, but I sense his dislike for Hunter instantly.
“Hunter,” he introduces himself to Brexley before turning back to me. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, but I’m here to take care of you now.” He reaches out as if to grasp my arm again.
