He didn’t like that, I could tell by the way his eyes suddenly glowed for a split second, but he kept his mouth closed. “No one is going to kill you except maybe me.”
I didn’t mean to snort, but it still surprised me when he went dark on me. “Somehow that’s strangely comforting.”
“I’ve been known to be comforting.”
“Probably when you’re telling someone their death will be quick and painless.” I almost laughed, but I was still overwhelmed and hurt and tired and a little scared, to be honest. The future had that effect on you. At least it did on me. Regardless of what he said too, this all still felt like unsteady ground.
What if he changed his mind again? What if someone pissed him off and we had another argument?
His mouth twitched, but his eyes were serious. “Somebody made me mad, and it had nothing to do with you.”
“Who made you mad?” I asked him, going for it.
His eyes flicked up toward the ceiling briefly. “My family. My elders.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it.
He’d said we had ancestors. That some of the Atraxian bloodlines had died off. How long had they been here? There was so much I didn’t know… not that it really mattered, but it would be neat to know about where some of my family had come from, since I didn’t know much in the first place.
That made me sad. I opened the bag of Cheetos and held it out toward him. He took one, then I took one, and we both ate our pieces, watching each other the whole time. Each of us expecting something different, probably.
Alex held out his hand, and I tipped the bag in his direction again. He took two before asking, “We’re good?”
I raised both shoulders then nodded.
“You won’t sleep on the floor again?”
Why was he so hung up on that? I shook my head.
“You’ll ask for what you need?”
I nodded. Practical and logical were my middle names.
“Say it.”
He was such a pain in the ass.
But he really was an honorable one.
I rolled my eyes, leaned forward, and slipped my arms around his waist instead. Then I did the unthinkable; I hugged him close. I tucked my head and pressed my cheek against his hard chest. His arms didn’t wrap around me, but at some point, something heavy palmed the back of my head.
And just like that, I rocked back and lifted my chin at him, taking in the stunned expression on his face. “Yes, best friend number 20, I’ll sleep on a bed and ask you for what I need.” I paused. “But I’m serious, you hurt my feelings again and I’m out of here. Then I’ll just have to add you to my list of people I’m going to haunt if I die a tragic death.”
Alex looked at me for a long, long moment. “It annoys me when you’re fucking cute.”
Was he high? I had to keep him in perspective. Keep everything he was saying and doing in perspective. We were… whatever we were. I was here because of the things that had happened that I didn’t totally understand yet and was too tired to try and process.
And maybe he was just sucking up to me because he knew I was one wrong comment away from poltergeisting his ass in the future.
The sides of his mouth curved, and he surprised me by reaching forward and tugging at a lock of hair tucked behind my ear.
I held very, very still. “What’s with all the sudden touching?” I asked cautiously.
“I don’t mind touching,” he said, giving it another tug like he’d done it a hundred times before.
“Since when?”
“Always.”
I kept watching him.
“Touch is important. I just don’t welcome it from everyone.”
I eyed him cautiously. “What? You’re fine with it from me now?”
He didn’t even think about it. “Yeah.”
Did he have to look so innocent? Why did this have to be when he had the least grumpy face on? I couldn’t trust this version of him.
I didn’t want to.
“One more question.”
He said nothing.
All righty then. “Just so that I know and don’t put my foot in my mouth. You said it was your family’s fault why you were grouchy. Will you tell me what happened?”
He didn’t want to tell me. I could see it on his face, but he settled back onto the floor in front of me, crossing those long legs. “My uncle and grandfather came by while you were gone buying your things.” Then he scowled. “I’m not going to get mad about you being nosy.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Why? Because you are too?”
That got his mouth to twitch just a little bit. “They’re on my case about making a decision I’ve been putting off.”
Dramaaa.
I’d watched way too much reality TV to not instantly be sucked into what he was saying and what he wasn’t. Plus, this was Trinity family business. Trinity business. I couldn’t believe it was even a thing, much less that I was here because… well, because somewhere down the line in my family tree, someone had once been like him. It still didn’t seem real, and I wasn’t sure it ever would.
“What do they want you to do?” I asked. “An environmental campaign?” I eyed him. “Smile in pictures?”
The look he gave me was exactly what I expected.
“They want you to be nice, don’t they?” I whispered, trying to antagonize him.
“You want to be number 21, don’t you?” he deadpanned.
I smiled at him just a little bit. “I’m number 20 now, no take backsies,” I told him with a straight face. “And I don’t know what they want you to do, but I know if it was really important, you would. Bitching and complaining the whole time, but you would. I guess it isn’t that important then, huh?”
Alex moved to lean against the dresser behind him and crossed his arms, his eyes briefly flicking lower than my face before going back up.
Did he just look at my boobs again?
“I’m considering retiring.”
Say what?
“After what happened in the fire…” His Adam’s apple bobbed, referring to the big fire that I’d heard about a dozen times already.
It had been this apartment fire that had gotten out of hand, and he hadn’t been able to save everyone unscathed. It had happened over a year ago. I had actually been in the same city that day. I had been checking my PO Box. Everyone had gotten out, but some people had gotten hurt in the process and the victims were trying to sue him, even though there wasn’t anything concrete to actually sue because no one knew their names. Except a very, very select few, from what I was starting to learn.
“I didn’t want to do this anymore. They made me take a break to think about it,” he told me, his voice level like it was no big deal.
But that was a fucking lie because I could feel his power rising from his skin, from him.
“I was just about to go on it… I was on my last duty… when I met you. I haven’t had time to think about it, and they want an answer,” he explained.
Well, that was a lot more information than I’d expected.
But he wasn’t done, and his power kept rising, pulsing like the Godzilla movies I’d watched, right before he laid radiation waste on another monster’s ass. “I know there was nothing else I could have done.” He tipped his face up toward the ceiling, and I watched him take a deep, deep breath that made his chest rise and suddenly fall. A totally unnecessary breath. “I can be replaced. I’m going to be eventually. I was never supposed to be one of the faces anyway.”