“Hilarious,” he huffs. “Now, are you going to tell me why you’re being a sad sack of shit on the floor?”
Chapter fifteen
Hunter
Bexley’s smile falters, the faint light in her eyes vanishing once more.
I watch in real time as her mental walls become a fortress. The change is almost instant, voice becoming more distant and cold as she glances away as though she’s attempting to stop me from seeing the truth behind her eyes. “You shouldn’t be here,” she murmurs matter-of-factly, but I get the impression the tone isn’t personal toward me.
“Probably not,” I agree. “But I’m here anyway.”
She shakes her head softly, pulling her knees back to her chest in a protective manner.
Everything about this interaction is making me uncomfortable. This is Bexley Spencer, for fuck’s sake. Very little rattles her but clearly something, orsomeone,has. And, unfortunately, the chance of it being someone I know is high. It could even be me.
She’s clearly dealing with something and now she’s acting as though she needs to be my damn therapist, offering a listeningear. Well, that was until I turned it back on her and now she’s shut down again.
I really need to quit this habit of just turning up at her house. One day soon it’s going to end badly.
I can probably rule out Tai or Rylan as the possible culprit—she always radiates when she’s with them.
But if I’m being honest, for once I don’t think I’m the problem. Though, if Bexley was smarter, she’d throw my ass out.
I’d fight her on it, sure. But she should still try.
“Who was it?” I demand when she still won’t give me any answers. I’m getting more and more irritated with each passing second, pissed that someone has ruined my plan. But I’m also furious that someone has done something to cause this reaction from her. It’s unsettling.
The tips of Bexley’s lips tilt up in a guarded smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Nor will she look at me which only heightens my suspicions that I know the culprit.
I take a stab in the dark. “Did my father do something?”
Her eyes snap over to me. “No,” she answers sharply, but immediately, something is off with the way her body tenses up and her tone shifts. It’s darker, matching the energy drifting off her in waves.
And it clicks.
“Rylan or Tai’s?” I push, the toxins in my bloodstream starting to boil.
Both Max and George are in town, so I know it’s going to be one of them. She has about five seconds to willingly tell me before I go nuclear and resort to other means to extract the information.
Five… four… three… two…
I grab my cell from my hoodie pocket, heading straight to the contact list. Bexley stiffens, eyes narrowing.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Ry and T. If you won’t tell me, then I’ll bring them here and have them force it out of you.”
“Hunter, don’t.” Her voice cracks, hand shooting out to gently push my phone toward the ground. “It’s not worth the issues that will follow.”
My expression darkens, holding off dialing for a brief second to give her the opportunity to come clean. “Then tell me, Bexley. I’m not very patient.”
For the smallest moment, there’s a flash of amused defiance before it’s swallowed back into the emotionless void. Our eyes stay locked, and finally, I force her to crack when I lift the phone again, calling her bluff. Well, it’s not really a bluff if I fully intend to follow through.
“Mayor Astor,” she sighs. “It was… Rylan’s dad.”
I lower the phone, pleased to have an answer. “Max? What did he say?”
Bexley glances over at the door, as though she’s waiting for him to appear like an apparition in a game ofBloody Mary. “He broke in,” she murmurs in a hollowed tone. “I’m not sure how.”