A natural smile spread across my lips. “Damn straight. It’s about time someone recognized.”
He chuckled. “Man, I’ve missed you.”
“How about we play a round of Search and Destroy sometime soon?” I couldn’t stop from asking.
“You’re on.”
For the first time in weeks, the world felt right as rain.
Once Travis left, I hit the shower. Stripping off my ratty clothes, I dropped them on the floor and stepped into the steaming spray. I stood under the hot water until I looked like a shriveled raisin. As I turned off the water I felt the familiar tingles. I wondered what he would do if I walked out, goods showing and all. Something told me he wouldn’t even bat an eye. Twisting in front of the mirror, I hissed in horror, catching a sight of a bluish-yellow mark on my shoulder. Yuck. Quickly pulling on a t-shirt, I hid the bruise. The last thing I needed was for him to see that. No reason to add fuel to Chase’s fire when it would be healed by tomorrow anyhoo.
I opened the door, my hair dark and damp, and our gazes locked.
Sprawled out, with his hands behind his head, he took up my whole dang bed. I didn’t know what to do, so I stood in the center of my room and nervously gnawed on my lower lip. The silence was killing me. “I’m sorry, for everything,” my lame apology rolled from my mouth.
He zipped in front of me, and I searched his eyes for any sign of his demon. It was just Chase, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t about to get my ass chewed. “What you did was reckless and stupid. I just spent the last few hours making sure your shenanigan don’t blow back in your face.”
A smorgasbord of feelings fluttered in my belly, confusion being one of the more prominent ones. I slanted my head, trying to figure out want he meant.
“Emma’s mom. Her little sister,” he supplied. “You bet your sweet booty that they know the truth surrounding Eric’s death. You don’t think they might find it a little odd that Emma suddenly isn’t angry at the world anymore? That she has feelings again for a half-demon?”
“Umm, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead.” He brought up some valid points, but that didn’t mean I liked knowing I’d jumped in fully without thinking the whole thing through. So Lexi and I weren’t great masterminds. Sue me. My heart had been in the right place.
“But, you were right,” he said, brushing aside a clump of my wet hair. “It had to be done, just with a little more finesse.”
And that was why I had him. To finagle all the little details that never crossed my mind.
I blinked. “What? Hang on.” I scrambled around the room in search of my phone.
“What are you doing?” he asked, watching me tear apart a pile of crap on my floor.
Why could I never remember where I put anything? Finally. I snatched it from under a stack of clothes I had tossed off my bed earlier. “Say it again,” I said, switching my phone to camera view. “I need this to go on record. That way I never forget.”
He gave me a dry look, which I captured on film. It was adorable. I couldn’t help but crack a small smile.
“Not happening. I only apologize once. But…I can give you something else to remember.” He proceeded to wink at the camera and blow me a kiss. There were flecks of gold that glinted off the camera’s lens.
Good grief. I almost dropped the thing.
I hit the stop button and glanced up. “Does this mean we are okay?”
His lips turned into a sexy grin. “As if I could ever stay mad at you.” His hands circled my waist. “But that does not mean that I condone what you did.”
I laid my cheek on his chest.
“I also understand why you did it. If I could have, I would have done the same. I wouldn’t have hesitated, but you have to realize, Angel Eyes, the dangers you put yourself in when you use those abilities. If anything happened to you…”
I put my finger to his lips, silencing those thoughts. “Nothing is going to happen to me. You won’t allow it.”
Usually that would have enticed a smug smile from the jerk, but not tonight. He stared off over my shoulder, lost in thought.
“What else is going on?” I asked, feeling just an underlying worry seeping inside me. The closer he was to me, the easier I found it to zero in on what he was feeling. It had taken a little effort to weed through, but I had sensed there was something buried that he didn’t want me to feel.
When he didn’t answer right away, I contemplated pinching him. Finally, he let out a heavy, reluctant sigh. “I didn’t want to worry you.”
Too late. Immediately I felt a rise of panic in my chest.
He laced our fingers together. “This is exactly why I haven’t said anything,” he replied, feeling my rapid heartbeat.
I pinned him with a glare. “Spit it out already before I go into full panic mode.”
He went to my window. “There is something coming. I can sense it in the air.” His body was lined with tension.