Page 19 of Knot a Bad Idea
I chuckle into his chest. “Sure.”
“And how happy you make my best friends.”
I freeze in his hold, but his fingers don’t stop stroking me. “Are you sure about that?” I ask carefully.
He scoffs. “Baby. Believe me. You should have seen them before you met us. Liam was a nervous wreck, and Donovan was an emotionless freak. And I was stuck in the middle of it, being perfect and all.”
He tugs my hair playfully, and I lift my head to nip at his neck, eliciting a warning growl from him. I nuzzle into him, breathing in the rich scents of cinnamon and pepper.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish, baby,” he breathes. “Unless you’re ready to desecrate this bed.”
It’s tempting. My body always responds to the three of them, and it would be so easy to swing my leg over and grind against Hunter while he sucks on my mating gland.
But I’m also drained. After the painting and the key…
“Could you just…” I swallow, unsure how to ask, “…could you just hold me?”
I don’t know why I expect him to reject me, but the answering kiss to my hair is all I need.
“Of course, baby.”
Hunter’s purr increases as I nuzzle my nose into the crook of his neck, breathing deeply and relaxing against him. We’re quiet for so long that I almost drift to sleep, the wine making my head fuzzy.
“What was it like for you beforeAxton?” I ask softly.
There’s so much more I want to learn about Hunter and his packmates.
At first, I think Hunter actually fell asleep, but then he speaks. “My parents were worried I wasn’t going to amount to anything. My grades were shit, and I was getting into fights all the time. I got kicked out of high school and sent to continuation school because I broke a kid’s nose.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Wow,” I mutter into his chest.
“To be fair, it’s because he was making fun of Liam.”
“Why were they making fun of him?”
“He was nerdy. He spent all his time in the computer lab and wasn’t into sports. Some jocks thought it would be funny to pick on him.”
I frown, thinking of a teenage Liam being harassed.
The kind, gentle giant being teased just for being himself.
“That’s horrible.”
“Yeah, well, Liam and Donovan were best friends, and Donovan hacked into all their computers and exposed them for being pieces of shit. He did it the smart way, and I did it the way that got me kicked out of high school.”
“I know I shouldn’t encourage violence, but I’m kind of glad you did,” I admit.
He chuckles. “Yeah, me too.”
“So, after high school, what happened?” I ask.
“We all just hung out in Donovan’s storage unit and worked. He taught me how to code, actually. He and Liam already knew how to do it, and I figured it was something that could keep me distracted. That and sketching.”
“Skylar and I used to do wreck my mom’s kitchen in high school,” I say. “We would experiment all the time with baking. It’s not the same thing, we weren’t in a storage unit?—”
“It’s still fucking cool,” Hunter says. “You make the best damn cookies I’ve ever had.”
“They’re not the best?—”