Page 41 of Hunting Little Hope
If I could get them to claim her, then I could work on getting Master Lee to claim me... but most importantly gettinghim and Daddy together. Honestly the lust that floated in the air whenever the two of them were together wasinsane.
I dropped my hand from the air and leaned in closer to the table. “Okay,” I said, lowering my voice like we were planning a heist. “What kind of trouble are we talking about?”
Sadie’s grin went feral.
But beside me, Hope went quiet. Glancing at her I noticed she wasn’t smiling or excited.
Instead, she was watching the table where Daddy and Master Lee were sitting with a pensive expression on her face.
The excitement in my chest didn’t vanish, exactly, but it definitely felt less jubilant.
“Hey,” I murmured, nudging her knee under the table to get her to look at me. “It’d be harmless. Right?” I looked at Sadie for confirmation.
“Obviously,” Sadie said. “We’re all about being safe here, but we have to keep our Bigs on their toes.”
Hope gave a small smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
And that’s when the boulders fell into the pit of my stomach and all of my excitement died away. Because... what if she doesn’t want to be pushed or claimed?
I’d been so focused on the idea of it—on the way she’d saidI’d like them to belike it was a wish she was scared to make too loud—that I hadn’t stopped to consider that maybe she was still figuring it out.
Which wasstupid, stupid, stupidof me.
It was only like a couple of hours ago that we told her it’s okay that she’s still playing the field and getting to know everyone and here I was pushing her after we told her we wouldn’t.
My stomach twisted.
“I don’t think we need to trick anyone into claiming her,” I said, the words coming out before I could stop them.
Sadie blinked at me.
Hope did too.
“They—” I cleared my throat and tried again, softer. “They already look at her like she’s theirs.” I risked another glance at the table across the room. “And Hope... well, Hope’s still figuring things out. Whenshe’sready, then maybe we can revisit the idea.”
This was one of the hardest things I’d ever said in my life. Because I didn’t want to wait.
Being patient and thinking about someone else’s needs super-duper sucked sometimes. Especially when I had so many needs and wants myself.
I wanted her there at breakfast. Wanted to argue about who got to play with my favorite blocks and watch her pretend like being Little wasn’t exactly what she was made for. Ineededto call her my baby sister and have everything that came with that.
But the truth of the matter was... I didn’t want any of that if she was being nudged into it.
Not if she felt cornered.
Across from us, Sadie’s gaze bounced between our faces, her expression softening in a way that told me she’d picked up on the shift.
The prank energy had cooled, but it hadn’t died. Not completely.
I leaned closer to Hope, lowering my voice again. “How about,” I said carefully, “instead of trying to trick the Daddies into claiming you, we do something that won’t get anyone caught and just for the fun of it?” My thumb brushed over her knuckles.
“We could do that,” Sadie commented easily. “Does anyone have any ideas?” she asked the table at large. “Because the plan we were working on would definitely end up in a few of us having some hot bottoms tonight.”
Immediately, three Littles started talking at once.
“Switch the salt and sugar!”
“Hide all the forks!”
