Page 154 of Split You Open

I flinch in surprise at the sound of Santiago’s voice. His taunt carries through the woods but he doesn’t sound all that close. Still, I look over my shoulder and scan the dark shadows of the trees. I can’t see him anywhere.

“If you wanted to play, you should’ve just asked, Blair.”

I whirl around, searching for Rhett who’s voice comes from a different direction. He’s nowhere to be seen either. Excitement weasels its way through my veins, gently nudging aside the ache in my heart.

“Stop it!” I snap into the darkness. “Just leave me⁠—”

There’s a loud tsk, closer than the two voices before.

“You don’t get to be alone, not when you’re ours,” Wes scolds. “Not when we can help you.”

He’s out here playing too? I take three hesitant steps in the direction I’ve been heading in.

“That’s right, cariño,” Santiago teases from wherever he’s hiding. “Go for it. Run and see what happens.”

"Don’t listen to him,” Wes says. “Come home. I promise we’ll be sweeter if you don’t fight us on this.”

“I’ll never be sweet to you,” Rhett promises. “I’ll treat you like the dirty little whore you pretend not to be.”

A shiver of desire works its way down my spine.

“I don’t want to play!” I lie loud enough that they can all hear me.

There’s a deep, objecting hum. One that doesn’t belong to Santiago, Rhett, or Wes.

“I know you better than anyone else, darling,” Ledger says, the last of them to speak. A snap of a twig alerts me that he’s somewhere behind me. I whirl around and spot him.

Oh.

Ledger stands just a few yards away, out in the open. I can’t see his face. It’s too dark and he’s too far. Yet I can feel the tension humming between us, despite the distance. Desire and relief, heartache and love burst in my chest at the sight of my godfather’s dark silhouette.

Ledger saved me from my own father.

I always knew he was my hero.

This hit he’d put on my head had made me forget about the man he is.

Ledger has always been there for me—protecting me in one form or another. That was all back before I was his. Now, I have a feeling he’ll go so much farther, cross all the lines, just for me. To protect me. To own me.

Between his obsession, Wes’s gentle possessiveness, Santiago’s playful claiming, and Rhett’s all-consuming energy—I’ve never felt so safe or loved.

The hurt that Dad brought tonight stings but in the presence of my guys, who now stalk me through the woods, that hurt is overshadowed by something far warmer and reaches the darkest depths of my soul, healing it.

“Who do you think will win tonight?” I ask them all.

Santiago snickers. “Definitely me. I want it the most.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Rhett objects.

Both of them sound closer.

“Their exuberance will make them sloppy,” Wes murmurs, the closet of the three. “I can’t wait to win The Hunt tonight. The prize has never been so fucking alluring.”

My thighs clench together at the husk in his voice.

“I’ve never played, so first timer’s luck should be on my side tonight, don’t you think?” Ledger asks, not moving from where he stands.

“And me?” I ask them. “What do I get if I escape you all?”