Page 44 of How to Flirt with a Hellhound
Dex grabbed my hand next to his on the table, holding it. He wasn’t at all shy about his affection in front of his brothers, and it was really awesome. I’d dated in the past, and sometimes guys didn’t like PDA, which I totally understood—it wasn’t for everyone. Some guys just weren’t touchy-feely in general, but that definitely didn’t seem to apply to Dex. He had no problem holding my hand, kissing me, or just generally being affectionate.
I loved it. Not only did I love being touched, but I loved how it showed that he was proud we were together. He’d introducedme to them as his boyfriend, for goodness sake. I was still having a hard time getting over that. It was pretty freaking awesome.
We all cleared the breakfast dishes together, and Dex took a few scraps and left them on the open windowsill, muttering something about not getting shit on, which made everyone laugh. I sensed there was a story there. That and the caw I heard reminded me of the delivery van from that morning.
“Oh, hey, I thought I saw a delivery van coming up my drive this morning. They didn’t leave anything?” I asked.
The guys all looked at each other, and Dex seemed to be rumbling in his chest. I just sort of stared, getting a little more nervous as no one answered.
Finally Jude said, “Well, look at the time. Corbin and I are gonna go and check out the house next door!”
Corbin looked at him oddly. “We already did that.”
“We’re going to do it again,” Jude ground out between clenched teeth.
“Why?” Corbin asked, looking confused.
Dex just kept growling, and Jude came over and gave him a pat on the shoulder before sighing at Corbin. “Dex and Toby need some alone time,” he said, eyebrows raised.
Corbin raised his eyebrows then, asking, “Are they going to have sex again?”
Oh. My. God.
I knew I turned bright red, Dex growled even louder, and Jude sighed and leaned his head back, probably praying for patience. Corbin just looked even more confused, like he had no idea what he’d said wrong.
Jude finally looked at me. “I’d apologize for him, but Dex is just as bad, and you’re stuck with him.” He smiled at me then, walked over to Corbin, and grabbed him by his sexy man-bun. Corbin growled at him (must have been a thing in their family),but Jude just dragged him out of the house, and I heard them bickering as the front door slammed.
I smiled after them—I had a bad feeling about the delivery, but they were kind of hysterical—then looked over at Dex, who looked at me possessively. Usually that look was hot, but I didn’t think he had good news for me.
“Dex?” I asked.
He came over and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tight. I could feel his nose pressing into my neck, and he was totally sniffing me, which was weird but also kind of sweet, although I was too nervous to be turned on at the moment.
“We took care of it,” Dex mumbled into my neck.
“Ok,” I said, hugging him back. I enjoyed the closeness for a moment before I asked, “Took care of what?”
I mean, I probably didn’t want to know, but at the same time, I couldn’tnotknow. I’d just make up worst case scenarios in my head. Curiosity and my imagination was what made me a good writer. It also made me an anxious mess sometimes, but we couldn’t have everything in life.
Dex growled again, and I guessed that the delivery was something from my stalker. It made sense as to why everyone had gotten all weird when I mentioned it. I was trying not to freak out, because it meant the guy knew where I lived. Unless the guy himself had been the one making the delivery.
If that was the case, had they killed the delivery guy? Although the van would still be here if they had, right?
“What happened to the delivery guy?” I asked.
“He’s quitting his job,” Dex mumbled.
Ok, so still alive then, and probably not my stalker. “Why is he quitting his job?” I asked. Had they terrified him that much?
“He realized he worked for a bad human,” Dex answered.
The phrasing and tone was odd, but I didn’t have time to figure that out. “Dex, what was in the delivery?” I asked.
“Flowers,” he growled.
Ok. Flowers didn’t seem so bad, but… “Were they, like, dead flowers? Or poisonous flowers?” I asked.
Dex gripped me tighter. “They had cameras in them.”
