I missed my Crabby Pants, I thought just as my heart freaking pulsed.
Oh no. Oh, no, no, no.
I couldn’t think about it. I wouldn’t. “I know you have things to do. I just… don’t know how much longer it’ll be until my ID stuff gets sorted, and I wanted to tell you bye just in case. You know, if you’re gone doing Defender stuff, and I’m moving out…”
Alex’s face tightened. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I gave him a weak smile that I was sure he could tell I wasn’t holding my breath on that actually being the case.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he insisted. “I was only gone that long because there were things I needed to think about.”
That didn’t sound ominous as fuck.
“I had to think about the future,” he said, like he could read my damn mind. “I had to come to terms with some things.”
The future, huh? And what things? I hummed and dropped my attention to my hands, reminding myself of what was and what wasn’t. “I’m really glad you decided to keep being a member of the Trinity, by the way.”
The way he grunted was so suspicious, I flicked my gaze up. His eyes moved over my face so slowly…
My stomach churned.
“What do you want?” Alex asked suddenly.
“For what?”
“To repay you,” Alex answered seriously.
Oh boy. He wasn’t going to let it go, was he? Clenching my hands into tight fists, I shrugged at him. “Just make sure nothing happens to me. If you’re around.”
He’d started shaking his head before I finished talking. “I’m already going to do that. Tell me what else you want.”
Time. To be a different person. Love.
But I patted the spot on the bed next to me instead, going with the next best thing.
Those dark eyebrows rose straight up his forehead.
“What the hell are you thinking about?” I snorted. “Talk to me.”
I couldn’t tell if he was smirking or smiling.
“What? I missed arguing with you. I missed your grouchy little face too. And I have so many questions I couldn’t ask Hiromi or Selene, even though I like them a lot.” I smiled. “They aren’t you.”
Part of me expected him to grunt, but he gave me a long look instead and made his way around to the other side of the bed. From one blink to another, he was lying next to me, his long legs stretched out in front of him. He’d even pulled the pillow up to pad his back from the headboard before crossing his arms over his chest.
There went my Grumpy Goose.
Honestly, he was my favorite. This version of him. All bark and no bite.
He slid those purple eyes toward me, and even though his mouth was flat, I didn’t think he was really all that crabby about having to talk to me. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. “What do you want to talk about?”
I rolled onto my hip and twined my fingers together. “Things I had too much time to think about since you snuck out of here a month ago.”
“I didn’t sneak out.”
I snorted. “You were gone by the time I woke up the next day, after you slept in the same bed as me. If that’s not sneaking out, I don’t know what is.”
“Not sneaking out.”
My mouth went flat, but fine. It didn’t matter. I knew what had happened, and so did he. We didn’t need to talk about it. “Were you really three when you learned how to fly?” I asked, bringing up that conversation from a month ago.
“That’s what you want to talk about?” He sounded so surprised, like he didn’t understand how or why I remembered that tiny fact.
But he wasn’t the only one who paid attention. “I’m just getting you warmed up. Don’t get excited. I’ve been thinking about it for a month, and you said I could choose so…”
His biceps bunched under his T-shirt. “Yes.”
“Flying-flying? At three?” I hadn’t believed it then, and I didn’t believe it now.
“With my mom. When I was six, they let me go with Alana.”
I’d bet it was the cutest thing in the whole world. So cute it was hard to picture. “How amazing is it? To be able to do that?”
“It’s the same as walking. Until I couldn’t, it wasn’t something I really even thought of. You just… do it.”
You just do it. Like breathing. Oh, how I fucking wished.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing, I’m just a little”—I lifted my hand and held my index finger and thumb about an inch apart—“jealous. I would trade ten years off my life to be able to fly.” I side-eyed him. “Do you ever offer rides?”
“Rides where?” he asked like he didn’t know exactly what I was talking about.
I pointed upward, mostly joking.
Mostly.
That got me a subtle snort. “Hell no.”
“Never?”
He shook his head, and I completely believed him.
At least I’d asked. It wasn’t like I’d genuinely believed he would take someone on a joy ride up there. “I’m sure you already know by now, but I spent some time with your grandma and Asami. She told me that you promised to go up with her soon.”
Go up, like it was an elevator. Oh boy.
Those purple eyes lit up a little. “I did tell her that.” His eyes crinkled. “She’s going to be something. She’s already strong.”
“I know. She gave me a hug and my ribs were sore for a few days.”
He frowned.
“It was an accident. She said she was sorry, and we tried again,” I explained. “Your grandma seems to really love her.”
“They spend a lot of time together. We all did when we were small. She’s the best teacher we could have.”
I’d bet she was.
“What else do you got?” he asked.
“I’m thinking about it.” I smiled a little, letting the easiness between us guide me through this conversation that left a funny little flurry of a feeling in my stomach. “All right, I’ve got one. If you could have another power, what would it be?”
“Nothing. I’m already perfect,” he said, with a straight face too.
There was no hesitation. I reached under my head, pulled the pillow out, and whacked him in the face with it.
Well, I tried to. He grabbed it right before it touched him.
“You’re such a shit, Alex.” I laughed. “Your brother and your sister are so nice and humble, and you are just…”
He tugged the pillow out of my hand, smirking.
I had to fight the urge to squeeze my eyes closed so that I wouldn’t have to see it.
“It’s not useful, but I like the guy in the Shinto comics who could put magic into objects and throw them,” he told me.
I took the pillow back and stuffed it under my head again. “That’s what you would want?”
“It looks fun.”
Fun. I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my mouth. “You are the most complicated person I’ve ever met in my life. When we first met, I thought you were so damn grumpy all the time, but you’re not. You’ve got a little bit of everything in you, huh? Being a superhero is just a tiny part of who you are.” My heart gave a single, hard beat. “Anyway, did you choose your costume? Is your cape just for decorative purposes?”