Page 84 of Cat’s Guide To Romance

I nod and lean into Lucien. “I’m glad you took my advice.” I grab the front of his shirt, pulling him close enough to kiss his cheek. “I’m proud of you.”

Lucien blinks, and the smugness disappears so quickly that my smile softens. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I run my hand down his chest. “You deserve to have a life outside this place, too.”

His gaze stays on mine for a moment before he leans down and kisses the tip of my nose. “Look at us. Learning things.”

Lessa clears her throat behind us. “I can already tell this job is going to be interesting.”

Lucien waves dismissively at her, but he doesn’t let go of my hand. We wander toward one of the empty tables while Lessa goes back to whatever she was doing. I keep glancing at Lucien as we walk because he actually listened to me.

That shouldn’t feel as gigantic as it does, but Lucien didn’t offer me the job. Thank fuck. He didn’t decide that because I handled one bad night well, I should take responsibility for his club. He looked at his own life and changed something for himself. For us.

I think I love him.

My feet stop moving. Lucien takes another step before my hand catches him, and he turns back immediately, with his brow furrowing.

“Sparkle?” His gaze moves over me like he expects to find an injury. Lucien steps closer and rubs his thumb across the back of my hand.

I shake myself and start moving again. “Sorry. Thinking.”

Lucien pulls out a chair for me and pushes me down. My brain refuses to move past the realization. Of course, I love this ridiculous demon. I love the way he gets too excited and ruins his own romantic gestures. I love that he collects silly souvenirs. I love that he lets me climb all over him in cat form and acts like being covered in fur is a privilege. I love that he wanted my family to like him badly enough to buy emergency pastries. And I love that he listens, even when I don’t think he is. Especially then.

Lucien drops into the chair beside me and stretches his legs beneath the table. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing.” I lean back and smile when his eyebrows shoot up. “I’m not working. I’m not helping Mama. I’m not taking Ferris anywhere. I have absolutely nothing planned.”

Lucien slowly grins. “Darlin’, I’m so proud of you.”

I laugh and kick his ankle beneath the table. “I slept until eleven, ate cereal out of a mixing bowl, watched terrible television, and ignored my dishes. Again.”

Lucien presses a hand over his heart. “You’ve grown so much.”

I love you. The words sit right there in my throat, and I almost say them. I don’t stop because I’m afraid he won’t say them back. Not really. Lucien looks at me like I’m the greatest thing that’s happened to him in several centuries. I just don’t want to blurt out that I love him because he congratulated me for being lazy.

Lucien reaches across the table and takes my hand, absently playing with my fingers while telling me about Lessa and all the things he’s going to hand over to her. He wants to keep running The Rot. He loves this place. But he doesn’t need to personally make every schedule, approve every delivery, cover every callout, and fix every broken fucking register.

I listen while his excitement grows, and eventually something occurs to me. “What are you going to do with all that free time?”

Lucien stops talking. His mouth opens, then closes without anything coming out.

I laugh and squeeze his hand. “Looks like you’re gonna have to figure it out.”

Lucien narrows his eyes, but there’s no irritation behind it. If anything, he looks thoughtful as his thumb brushes slowly over my knuckles. “I suppose I will. We could do it together.”

Neither of us knows exactly what we’re doing. I don’t know what my life is going to look like in five years, and Lucien doesn’t know what he’ll do with himself once The Rot stops consuming every hour he’s willing to give it. We don’t have to know.

I spent so many years thinking adulthood would arrive one day and I’d suddenly understand what I was supposed to do with the rest of my life. Instead, I’m sitting in an empty nightclub in the middle of the afternoon with a demon who has lived for centuries and apparently hasn’t figured that shit out either. Maybe nobody does. Maybe you just keep choosing.

I chose my apartment and chose to stay in Hex. I chose ridiculous pink furniture and too many pillows. I chose Flutter and Fangs because I like working there, not because my family needs the money. Today, I chose to leave the dishes in the sink again because I didn’t fucking feel like washing them yet.

And now, looking at Lucien across the table, I know I’m choosing him too. Not because I need him or because he makes my life possible. I want him in the life I’m building because everything is a little brighter and a lot more ridiculous when he’s there.

Lucien lifts my hand and presses a kiss to my knuckles, completely unaware that I’ve just had an entire fucking revelation while he’s been sitting there looking pretty.

“What?” he asks, his lips still brushing my skin when he catches me staring.

I smile and lean across the table. “Nothing.”