Page 89 of The Hunt
“All we did was change,” Fenris said. “Eliana doesn’t like an audience.”
Nothing he said was a lie. Yet, the implication was.
“We need to go,” I said, grabbing his arm before he said anything more. I set the container on the counter.
“I made a few sandwiches,” Mrs. Quill said quickly. She grabbed a paper bag I hadn’t noticed on the counter and shoved it at me.
“Have a good day at school.”
Saying nothing, I fled with Fenris in tow.
“Can you please stop lying?” I asked as soon as we were in the car.
“Nope. I have no problems with letting people think what they will. Especially if it keeps them minding their own business.”
Frowning, I twisted in my seat to stare at him as he turned the car around.
“Have you lied to me? Or purposely led me to believe something that wasn’t true?” The idea that he might have robbed my words of any volume.
Yet, he’d heard because the smug amusement fled his expression. The silence that followed hurt more than I expected.
“About what?” I asked.
“Like I said in the caves, there are some things you’re not ready to hear. When you are, I’ll tell you the truth. I swear it.”
“Why do you get to decide when I’m ready? Tell me now. What have you not told me, Fenris?”
He gave me a side glance then slowly shook his head.
“It took you four years to admit why you’ve been avoiding me. I like spending time with you, Eliana. I don’t want to wreck that.”
“Keeping the truth from me is definitely not going to help with that goal.”
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove.
“I’ll give up my two daily hugs if you’ll agree to give me four more weeks before coming clean about everything I haven’t yet told you.”
My brows shot up in surprise. He loved hugs. That he was willing to give them up meant whatever he was keeping from me was big.
“I’ll double the daily hugs if you tell me now.”
There was no hesitation in his immediate rejection of the offer. His secrets weren’t just big, then. They were huge.
“Four hugs and five minutes of petting.”
The car swerved.
“On your head,” I said quickly before he thought I was hitting on him.
“I’m sorry, Fenris. You joked about petting so I thought—”
“Stop. Don’t talk. Just let me use my imagination for a minute.”
He gripped the wheel hard, and the muscle in his jaw ticked like it had when he yelled at Adira. The lust that filled the car told me just where his imagination was taking him, and I hurriedly rolled down the window.
“You’re going to suffocate me,” I said, trying to breathe in fresh air even as my hunger twisted inside of me.
“That petting offer is tempting. Regretfully, I’m going to have to pass.”
