Page 100 of Theirs to Hunt
I let out a shaky laugh." That's a polite way of saying emotionally stunted."
"It's a polite way of saying I see you. And I'm not going anywhere."
That undid me a little. Not what he said, thewayhe said them, a promise, not a pick up line. So I leaned in, rested my head on his chest, let my guard slip for the first time in a long time. Maybe ever.
And when he kissed the top of my head, soft and steady, I didn't flinch.
I just let him.
Chapter eighty
Grayson, Monday 08:30 p.m.
The food arrived after the tension had already thickened, after Devon and Bobbie had disappeared with shared glances and half-smiles.
I handed the driver a generous tip and took the bags to the kitchen, barely noticing what I had ordered.
Did not matter.
Not really.
What mattered was the ache behind my temples. The tightness in my chest I had not been able to name all night.
I went out back to call them in, still clutching the handle of the front bag.
The patio was quiet now, dimly lit by one flickering lantern and the haze of moonlight through the moss.
I was halfway down the path when I heard her voice.
"I used to pretend she was mine. That I just got dropped off in the wrong house by accident."
I stopped.
Reagan.
Her voice was soft. Unsteady. Not the sharp-tongued vixen who called me out and left smoke trails in her wake. No, this was something different. Something broken. Something buried.
And Brooks...
He just listened. No interruptions. No corrections. Just present.
"You are not gonna ruin anything," he said. "You are not broken, Reagan. You are just strong in a way most people never had to be."
It hit me harder than I expected.
I had seen her fight. Seen her run, hide, claw, survive. But this? This was surrender.
Not to me. Not to power or control or chase. To him.
I should have turned around. Given them privacy. But I did not.
I stepped back into the shadows, unseen, and watched as she shifted on his lap.
Her hips rolled, slow and deliberate, as she rose to her knees and worked him free with a comfortable ease.
Not urgent. Not vulgar.
Just... theirs.
