He raises his brows.Poke, he mouths.
Swear to God, I’m surrounded by crazy people.
Fine.
“You know I have feelings for Oakley, right?”
Feelingsis such an insufficient word.
Hopper snorts. “I’m pretty sure the dead guy you just disemboweled knew that. It was probably his last thought.” He shrugs. “Other than the screaming, of course.”
Other people might find that kind of thing embarrassing, but I don’t care. I turn to Hopper, and he looks at me expectantly.
Might as well.
“Oakley and I have been sleeping with each other.”
Hopper’s eyes light up, and he bounces in his seat. “Oh my God! Congratulations!”
His happiness makes my chest hurt.
“Wait. Not congratulations?” Hopper shakes his head, confused. “I can’t imagine Oakley would be bad in bed.”
“He’s not.” I shudder at the thought. “Not that I’m ever gonna talk about what he’s like in bed.”
Fantastic. Generous. Amazing.
“Then, why no congratulations?”
“Because his dads busted in on us, and Ronan was…” I search for the words. “I always knew he didn’t like me, but I didn’t realize how much hehatedme until this morning.”
“Why were they busting in on you?” Hopper asks, wrinkling his nose. “That’s just…weird.”
I laugh. “You know what? Ifyousay something is weird, it’s probably pretty fucking weird.”
“Exactly. And why would they do that?”
“Short answer? They’re afraid I’m gonna kill Oakley.”
Hopper snorts derisively. “As if. You’re so in love with him that you would never kill him.” He pauses, tilting his head side to side. “Well…you probably can’t do primal play because of your prey drive, but…”
“I would never put Oakley in that position.”
“Exactly,” Hopper says, tossing his hands up. “So, why would they think you would kill him?”
I widen my eyes at him. Surely he can’t be this naïve. He crosses his arms, waiting for my answer.
“I’m gonna need your words, nephew.”
“Oh, I dunno, Hop.” I roll my eyes. “Maybe it’s because I kill so many fucking people?”
“Well, yeah, but we’ve all killed a bunch of people. His dads have too.” Hopper taps the steering wheel, deep in thought. “Wait. Do they not trust his judgment?”
I think back to how helpless and hopeless Oakley looked.
“I don’t know. Oakley tried to defend me, but they weren’t hearing it.” I let out a shaky breath. “They’re too terrified of me to get to know me.”
Hopper widens his eyes again.
