Spencer nudges me. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Moving isn’t supposed to be fun. I’d prefer it to be quick, efficient, and involve less back talking. And Six trying to goadGreer into misbehaving. As if that’s hard. He may needsomeprovocation, but not that much. Greer has the weirdest patience I’ve ever seen in a person, infinite one second and not so much in the next—and Six seems to know exactly where all the buttons are. And takes great delight in pressing all of them in new and interesting ways.
I’ve never looked for them; I like all my parts intact, and in the right place. Greer won’t shoot Six; I can’t say the same for the rest of us.
“Where’d you park the truck?” Spencer asks, joining the fray. His muscles flex as he picks up a box, and I can’t look away. Fucking hell, he’s so nice to look at.
“By some miracle, we got a park right out front,” Hunter replies. He gestures with his head to Jericho, who immediately finds a box. Everyone files out of the apartment behind him, all carrying various-sized boxes. Olivia’s chatter echoes from the hallway before disappearing.
Hunter stays behind, and I brace myself because it has to be deliberate.
“Doing alright?” he asks conversationally, leaning a hip against the counter.
I know that face. It’s rarely directed atme, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen it. “Just say what you want to say.” Everyone will be back soon, and he clearly doesn’t want an audience.
“I’m concerned about you.”
I turn to stare at the food on the stove that Spencer hadn’t even ended up eating. I’ll make sure he eats it when he comes back up. The others can handle things for a second while I feed him. “What for?” I already know what for.
“Spencer is complicated.”
“I’m aware.”
“I want to make sure that you are.”
With a sigh, I face him again. “This lecture is about six years too late.” And pointless. Nothing could ever make me second-guess or question Spencer and me.
“Strangely enough, I recall having one quite similar back then.”
I remember it. It’s not hard to work out that my relationship with Spencer doesn’t fit any boxes that people try to squeeze us into. I’ve never been good at following set patterns. Whatever we have, it’s what I want, and I don’t care how it looks to anyone else.
“He’s my person.” It’s as simple as that. Any obstacles that we have, we’ll deal with them. Nothing he can do will ever make me turn from him.
Hunter nods knowingly. “If you need someone to speak to, my door is always open.”
“Likewise.” As if he doesn’t have his own set of relationship issues that arewaymore complicated than Spencer and I could ever hope to be. The fact that he’s still married to one of the biggest—if not the biggest—sharks in the underworld, sets a precedent we couldn’t hope to match.
Hunter smiles wryly. “Nothing to talk about. I closed that door a long time ago.”
“I don’t think he thinks that.” I know for a fact that he doesn’t. I also know that Hunter may believe that he’s closed the door, but he hasn’t.
“It’s locked.”
“He has a master key.” I can’t judge him for it. Either of them. I understand completely. If Spencer left me, I don’t think I’d ever get over it. I would follow him to the ends of the earth, and further. The idea of accepting that we’re over is too foreign to me. As much as I hate Xavier, I can’t lie and say I don’t understand him. He’ll never let go.
Hunter stares at me as if daring me to say something. I don’t need to; I doubt he’s let go either, and he’s well aware of it. He leaves the door ajar, hoping that Xavier will push through it. And of course, the man does. A vicious cycle they can’t get out of. One they don’twantto get out of, not really.
That part at least sounds familiar.
Spencer waltzes back into the apartment, looking at least a little perkier than before. I still need to feed him, though, before he does anything else. He instantly looks for me, and smiles wide, making a beeline toward us.
I’ll never have the strength that Hunter does. I can never turn from Spencer, no matter what he does to me. What Xavier did was unforgivable, but even if Spencer did something on the same scale… It would be a lie to say I wouldn’t welcome him back with open arms every time. Because I would.
He could carve out my heart and eat it right in front of me, and I’d still ask him what else he needs. And then do everything in my power to give it to him.
Chapter seventeen
Spencer
