Page 54 of How To Catch A Killer … And Date His Best Friend

I nod. “My thoughts exactly.”

Hunter scoffs. “I’m literally standing right here.”

I ignore him and continue with my explanation. “Okay, so I met him first, and we went out the same night. I’d hate to admit it, but I was actually having a really good time and getting excited for the mind-blowing way he’d promised to lay it down, but then he got booty-called and just left. He was a total asshole, I mean, who the hell does that on a date?”

Maddox glances at his best friend. “She has a point.”

“Fuck me,” Hunter grunts. “How many times do I need to explain that it wasn’t a booty call? It was work. I had to go.”

I scoff. Work. Which means he wasn’t actually leaving me to fuck some other woman, he was leaving me to fulfill a contract and shoot some unsuspecting asshole through the eyes. I wonder how much he got paid to do that. Hell, I wonder if it was enough to justify the situation we’re in now, because had he never left during that date, there’s no way I would have been out on that street, sexually frustrated and willing to throw myself at the first man who came along.

My gaze shifts to Maddox, and my heart suddenly breaks for him. I wonder how he’d feel if he knew exactly what it is that his best friend does for work. Would it change the way he felt about him?

I roll my eyes and glare at Hunter. “If you wouldn’t mind, the grownups are trying to have a conversation,” I tell him, indicating between me and Maddox. “See yourself out.”

“No can do, princess,” Hunter says. “You don’t strike me as the type capable of giving an accurate rundown of events. Someone’s gotta keep you honest.”

“God, I hate you.”

“No, you don’t. You’re fascinated by me. Every thought in that pretty little head is about me. How I touch you. How I smell. How I fuck. You’re obsessed.”

My brow arches. “The only thoughts I have about you are homicidal.”

Hunter grins. “See. Fascinated.”

Fuck me. I think I’m actually going to kill him.

Maddox clears his throat. “Could we leave the murder foreplay for another time? I need to know how we ended up in this situation.”

I creep closer to Maddox, putting the ice cream down on the hallway table just inside my door. “Honestly, it’s all just one big clusterfuck of coincidences. Hunter left me with an itch to scratch and when I saw you the next day, you were more than happy to put out the fire he started, and the rest was history. I had no idea that the best friend you talked about was the same guy who couldn’t close a deal. And trust me, if I knew he lived across the hall, I would have busted down his door days ago and—”

“Fucked me?”

I turn my glare on him. “Beat the shit out of you.”

Hunter’s eyes darken with a deep desire. “Oof, Savage, I’d love to see you try.”

Maddox rolls his eyes and cuts in as he looks at his best friend. “You need to find a new name for her. Savage is my thing.”

“Fuck off. I was calling her that first. You come up with a new name.”

“Both of you can fuck off,” I say, stepping back into my apartment and attempting to close the door, only Maddox shoves his foot in the way, blocking my hasty escape.

“Uh-uh, not so fast. We aren’t even close to being done here,” Maddox tells me. “There’s still a few very important questions that need to be answered.”

I let out a sigh and go back to ignoring Hunter as I focus on Maddox. “Like what?”

“This right here,” he says, indicating between the three of us. “As fun as this is, it’s gonna get messy, so we’re gonna need you to pick.”

I pull back, my brows furrowed. “Pick?”

Maddox nods. “Pick. Between us.”

Hunter looks offended. “That is not how this works.”

“Uh, yeah it is,” Maddox throws back at him. “Neither of us are willing to bow out, so Lyra’s gonna have to cut one of us loose.”

Hunter scoffs. “We’ve already worked out that she’s not a fan of cutting me loose.”