“That’s what you’re always working on in that notebook? What you’re always mouthing to yourself?” I croaked.
“Yeah.”
“It’s so obvious though! How do you not get caught? I know you aren’t directing the movies and walking the red carpet, but you won a Pleitsky!”
“They mailed it to me. Plenty of manga artists keep their identities a secret. It helps that family runs the business so no one can force me to do something I don’t want to do, or be somewhere I don’t want to be.”
I hated when he made sense. I patted my heart twice as I shook my head. “I can’t believe you.”
“Yeah, you can.”
This mother… I couldn’t help but snort. “You’re right, I can.” I laughed. “You sneaky shit. All you told me was that both sides of your family had successful businesses and investments… That’s incredible, Alex. Do you work on the Steelflyer comics too?”
“They do. Before Shinto Comics, my grandmother bought a lot of real estate then developed it. The family trust owns shares in a few companies too, most of them involved with renewable energy. But no, I only work on Electro-Man, but I read the scripts before they go into production.”
I squeaked. I didn’t give a shit about how much money or land or whatever his family had, but it was neat to know. “I always wanted to be a superhero, you know, but I think that’s just about everyone. But the only thing I’m really good at is lying to people even though I hate it.”
His head tipped to the side. “The Damsel of Deception?”
I blinked. “I prefer Sorceress of Secrets, thanks.”
“I like Lady of Lies.”
I thought about it. “Yeah, that’s pretty good.”
Alex grinned that fucking grin that had the power of a nuclear bomb.
“You’re the Defender of Deceit after you lied to your siblings that day, telling them I was in witness protection. Now this.”
He shrugged, still wielding that grin. “They don’t need to know everything.”
“You never told me that was your cabin we stayed at, by the way.”
“You know now.”
I sighed as I shook my head, taking a couple wobbly steps toward his bed. I laid down. “I don’t even know what to say to you anymore. I don’t know if I can forgive you for not actually telling me you’re the Electro-Man writer.”
“You can. You will.”
I couldn’t believe him. I really couldn’t. I knit my fingers together and set them on top of my stomach.
A brief thought entered my head, making me feel like a hypocrite for a second, but…
No, no, I didn’t want to tell him. Not yet. But maybe someday. Maybe someday soon.
“After that stunt earlier, you can’t give me any shit about anything,” he said, as I watched him out of the corner of my eye. “We’re even.”
Oh, now he wanted to talk about it. “I knew you wouldn’t let me hurt myself,” I told him, still hung up on him not telling me what his job was.
The mattress dipped, and I looked over to see that he was sitting on the edge. “You did?”
I nodded, inspecting his traitorous, deceiving face.
His eyes glowed for a split second.
“But if you couldn’t, it would have been worth it,” I told him. “I really can’t believe you.”
Alex’s laugh was a puff. “It’s not my fault you ask the wrong questions.”
I hated it when he had a point.
The mattress dipped again as he stretched out beside me on top of the covers, on top of his bed, and before I could talk myself out of it, I scooted over until I was right next to him, literally lined up against him. I pressed my cheek against his shoulder. He’d tell me to beat it if I got annoying.
“You’re still not feeling good?” he asked quietly, the back of his hand wedged between my thigh and the mattress.
He thought I just wanted him to make me feel better. I did, but not… like that. Not like that at all. I didn’t want him to know that though, did I? “Yeah,” I lied, knowing he could more than likely tell. “I’m feeling a little off. But hey, I’m really glad you were able to fly again.”
His silence had me finding his grouchy face.
“It worked. You don’t need to be mad,” I told him.
“You could have broken your neck.”
“Maybe.” I pressed my cheek a little tighter to his shoulder, focusing up on the beams of his ceiling. “I had faith. You told me you wouldn’t let anything happen to me, remember?”
He tensed for a split second. “I remember.” I felt his exhale. “I’m never going to let anything happen to you.”
Oh boy. I swallowed that statement for safekeeping. “For the record, that was the most exciting thing to ever happen to me.”
“You all right with that?”
I snorted and closed my eyes, taking in the sweet scent of him. “Are you kidding me? I dreamed of that my whole life. Thank you for not letting me down. It was my choice, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted.” I paused. “It was totally worth it.”
His “hmm” puffed against my hair.
And I hoped he believed me when I reached over and wrapped my fingers around his index and middle finger.
I held on real fucking tight.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
He was gone.
Tapping the pad of my finger against the note on the kitchen counter, I blinked. Then I read the note again like there could possibly be some kind of secret message hidden on the back of the grocery store receipt.
Call Selene if you need something
Other than a cell phone number and a four-digit code below it, that was all that was written on it. Right beside the paper, he’d left what I was pretty sure was a house key, what definitely was his car key, and the same card he’d let me use to buy my laptop.
Had he made his decision about continuing to be The Defender? Was he back on duty? How long would he be gone? Where was he going? Last night, we hadn’t talked about what it meant that he was able to fly again, and we’d laid on his bed and talked for a while, mostly about his secret comic book career.
That sneaky son of a bitch. Of course he’d told me the truth in the most disbelieving way.
I really admired him.
Too much, and that made me mad.
We were both skirting around the vision thing again, and I damn well knew it. I was going to keep doing it too. So was he, from the feel of it.
He liked me as a friend. He liked my boobs, but so did random strangers. Him staying in my life in a positive way was the most important thing, and I wouldn’t let myself forget it.
Because in what universe would a man like him end up with someone like me?
I folded the note and slipped it into my pocket. His handwriting was scribbly, and it made me smile that there was one thing he wasn’t good at. I could make fun of him later and remind him about that time he’d lost at the carnival over and over again.
It was while I was thinking about that, that a knock came from the front door.
My first thought was that I shouldn’t answer, but then I remembered where I was. In the safest place I could be. But just in case, I grabbed my phone and pulled my new multi-tool out of the back pocket of my jeans as I crept toward the front door just as another knock rattled it. I flipped the sharp blade out.