Chapter 23
Rhett
The smell of sizzling, greasy bacon hits me the minute I reach the bottom of the stairs.
My mouth waters and my pace quickens. Damn, I’m hungry.
The sound of soft conversation between Wes and Blair isn’t a deterrent this morning.
Usually, the sound of Blair’s voice is like nails scraping against a chalkboard—not because it’s unpleasant.
In fact, her soft, husky tone is almost comforting.
Her voice is a steady sound filled with warmth that I’m not used to hearing around here.
The problem is that hearing it at all reminds me there’s someone under this roof who could ruin my entire life.
“—once those are ordered, I should be good,” Blair says as I enter the kitchen.
“We can probably go into town later and get a lot of this at a few different stores,” Wes replies with a nod, looking down at whatever she’s holding out to him while he shakes the handle of the pan he’s holding over the stove.
“It would be quicker than ordering them. Then the nurses’ station can be up and running by mid-week. ”
Both she and Wes have their backs turned to me so they don’t notice me entering.
I take the moment to study Blair’s lithe frame.
Ledger’s icy words chased me into my dreams last night.
How had Blair survived a life like the one he’d described?
One where she’d been trapped and mistreated by her own father.
You’d never know by looking at her that her past wasn’t typical.
She seems… normal. I suppose normal can be an illusion.
If it is a guise, what’s she like beneath her pretty exterior?
She turns around suddenly and catches me staring. I stiffen as she gives me a tight-lipped smile.
“Good morning,” she greets.
My head lifts in a stiff salute as I fight back the embarrassment heating my face. I saunter over to the island and flop down onto one of the stools.
“What’s for breakfast?” I ask Wes who looks over his shoulder at me.
His smile is warmer than hers. “Biscuits, with some spicy sausage gravy, and bacon.”
My stomach grumbles with anticipation. Wes always makes us good meals, but I swear since Blair showed up the two of them have been competing on who can cook the best. I’ve yet to be disappointed in anything they make.
Before I can respond, the hurried sound of familiar footsteps draws near. I look over my shoulder to see Santi hurry into the room, showered, dressed, and ready for the day.
“Hey,” he greets, patting me on the back as he passes me, then heads straight for Blair.
“You stayed the night?” I ask him.
I hadn’t heard him slip into the guest room next to mine where he usually stays when The Hunt goes late. That, or he ends up in my bed. Ledger and I were out late handling shit, maybe I missed their arrival?
“Yup,” he replies simply.
I don’t know why but his answer bothers me. It’s the lack of information that really rubs me the wrong way. I track his progress through the kitchen as I wonder who won the game last night. What did winning look like to them? And more importantly, why didn’t Santi come find me when he came back?
When he told me he was going out last night with Blair, I tried to play it cool.
I tried to be relieved that he wasn’t demanding my attention or affection.
I wanted to appreciate a night on my own.
I was not cool. I was not relieved. And I had no appreciation for the solitude. Rather than examine why, I stood by and watched Ledger torture a man. The blood did nothing to distract me from wondering about what these two were up to.
Santi stops before Blair. He grabs her face with both hands, then bends his head to give her a deep kiss right on the lips. She stiffens in surprise and I mirror the reaction, too stunned to do anything but stare.
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
Heat flares in my chest and billows up into my face.
My heart races while simultaneously fraying along the edges.
I can’t look away. Nor can I stop myself from watching Santi melt up against Blair as if the kiss is making his knees weak.
Despite the heat in my face and chest, a painful chill weasels its way through my veins.
Wes catches the tail end of the kiss and smiles before his attention returns to the bacon.
Santi pulls his mouth away from Blair’s so that he can beam down at her.
“Good morning,” he says cheerfully. “Sleep well? I know I did.”
Blair giggles. The sound is more nervous than amused.
Her eyes slide in my direction. They lock with mine for a fraction of a second, before she quickly looks back up at Santi.
Blair reaches up to wrap her fingers around his wrists, and she gently pulls his hands away from her face.
Rather than drop them or step away, though, she simply holds them as she smiles up into Santi’s face.
“Yeah, I did,” she admits.
My mouth drops open as I watch Blair get flustered under Santi’s smoldering look. This is the girl with a grisly childhood? She could’ve fucking fooled me. Blair looks utterly smitten.
That freezing burn in my veins intensifies.
I try to ignore it, hoping like hell it’s not something like jealousy or resentment.
That would be dumb of me to react that way.
I’ve made it a point to keep Santi at arm’s length.
No feelings—those were my terms when we started fucking.
So why is it that my throat is threatening to close on me?
Why are my hands, now fisted, trembling?
“Are we still going to head out after work to pick that thing up?” Santi asks her, unbothered that he has an audience of one openly staring at the two of them.
Blair nods. “Yeah. Are you sure it’ll fit on the trailer?”
“What are you two going on about?” Wes asks. “What are you picking up?”
Santi grins at him. “Last night, on our way home there was a for sale sign on a hot tub sitting at the bottom of someone’s driveway. We’re going to buy it and bring it back here.”
“I hope you plan on cleaning that thing,” Wes grimaces. “They carry germs and if it’s been out in the elements—”
“Wait,” I snap, my shock finally fading away. I point between Blair and Santi. “What was that?”
They both look at me, then trade looks with one another. Blair at least has the good grace to look guilty. But Santi? He’s grinning at me like he just found out he won the lottery.
“Oh that? People call it PDA,” he replies, his grin shifting into a coy smile. “That stands for public display of affection.”
“I know what it stands for!” The volume of my voice raises as a barrage of emotions pelt at me from every angle. “Why the fuck are you two doing it?”
“Because kissing is what people do when they like each other,” Santi explains. He throws an arm over Blair’s shoulders. “What’s wrong? Does it bother you?”
“No.” I’m not sure if my response is all that convincing. The heat in my words is very clearly at odds with my denial.
Santi turns to Wes. “And what about you? I saw the two of you the other night together. Are you okay with me joining the fun?”
She’d been with Wes, too!? I gape in surprise.
Blair swings her attention over to Wes, who smiles at her.
“This what you want?” he asks her.
Blair opens and closes her mouth, falling silent as she considers this. After a moment she speaks up, “I, um… Well, would it be selfish for me to say yes?”
Wes and Santi laugh.
“No, baby girl. If you want us both, I can be open minded,” Wes says. He glances over at Santi and winks. “A goddess needs more than one devotee, don’t they?”
Blair’s smile is twisted with embarrassment and Santi laughs.
“WHAT IN THE EVER-LOVING FUCK IS GOING ON?” I bellow.
Wes shoots me a bemused look before returning his attention to breakfast. The others stare at me with surprise.
“What?” Santi asks innocently, despite the sparkle of delight in his eyes. “You just said it doesn’t bother you.”
“You don’t even like women!” I remind him. “You’re—”
“I think I was just waiting for the right woman to like,” Santi corrects with a grin down at Blair. When he looks back at me, it’s with a smirk. “Any other objections?”
I want to tell him that he has no fucking right going around kissing people. Instead, I take a different route.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I snarl, my temper rising. “Maybe it’s the fact that you’re staking a claim on a woman who I had to cut up a body for last night!”
All three of them react to the news differently.
Santi’s brows fly upwards but then twist together with concern.
Wes shoots a worried look at Blair before hardening it to glare at me.
But it’s Blair that I stare back at and watch as horror makes her pretty face go slack.
Instantly, I feel a little guilty. The way her eyes grow wide with alarm and she seems to shrink ever so slightly makes me feel like a real piece of shit.
Not enough to back down, though.
“W-what?” she steps out from beneath Santi’s arm, toward me.
“Yeah, that’s right. Someone finally came snooping around looking for you,” I jeer. “And it was me and Ledger who had to take care of shit while you were off on your little excursion with Santi.”
Heavy footsteps announce Ledger’s arrival. We’re all silent at his approach. I promised that I’d let him tell her, but the cat’s out of the bag now.
“What’s going on?” Ledger stops in the middle of the kitchen clearly sensing the sudden tension.
Blair’s horror-filled gaze drifts from my face to his. “Someone found me? Here?”
Ledger shoots me a dark look before his attention returns to her. “They didn’t find you here at Gnarly Pines—we brought him here.”
“Yeah and put him in the secret room in the basement where apparently we have a cage for people like him,” I add.
Ledger sucks in a deep breath as if gathering patience for this conversation. When he lets it out he continues, “A friend let me know someone had checked into the local motel that looked suspicious. Rhett and I went and took care of it. There’s nothing to worry about, the threat is gone.”