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“Of course. And also, I feel like this is a really important question. One of those mysteries of the universe things, and you haven’t given me your answer yet.”
She made a sound that was almost a laugh. “You mean my rock death match pick?”
“Yes.”
Alys studied me for a moment, then stuck out her tongue. “You and Reese.”
“Reese would slaughter me.” That just wasn’t fair.
Alys shrugged. “Then I guess you have to call the death match off. I don’t make the rules, the universe does.”
This was much better.
“Besides, I wouldn’t let anyone take you away,” Alys said so quietly, the words vanished in the breeze.
I grasped her hand again. “I promise.” I brushed as much debris from the bench as I could, sat, and pulled her into my lap. The chains might break and then we’d regret this, but for now it was perfect. “Do you have to be anywhere this afternoon?”
“Just here.”
Good. Because this was perfect. Being this close to Alys wasn’t new for us. She’d been sitting on my lap or laying on me or holding my hand for almost as long as we’d known each other.
Today it hit me harder than normal, or it felt like it meant more, or something.
Then again, so did last night, talking to Onyx, and there was no physical contact there.
Or maybe I was just thinking more about the two of them now that Onyx was leaving.
Whether the feeling was new, or I’d never noticed it before, there was an ache in my heart whenever I thought about Alys or Onyx. But it was a good kind of ache.
Was that a thing?
I didn’t have any answers, so I was going to sit here with Alys and focus on how good it felt to have her resting against me.
We sat there for a while, appreciating each other’s company, until we finally decided it was weird to hang out and hide on Ravyn’s property. I dropped Alys at Aubrey’s, though I hated letting her go for the night. She should be going back to Onyx’s with me, and she wasn’t.
19
Onyx
It made perfect sense that Maddox and Alys would go to Ravyn’s alone this afternoon, especially since I had work to do. That didn’t stop me from missing them or the experience. It was different when Alys was upset with me.
I stopped by the grocery store on the way home, to grab dinner. We had a butcher who did fresh cuts of great meat, and that might brighten Maddox’s mood.
When I walked in the door, Maddox was on a kitchen chair he’d dragged into the living room. He was strumming an acoustic guitar, and scribbling chords on a piece of paper on the coffee table. It took him a moment to look up, he was so engrossed in his music.
He looked one-hundred percent fuckable. If he were any other guy I’d be tempted to climb in his lap and stick my tongue down his throat the moment he set the guitar aside.
Why did the fact that it was Maddox stop me?
Because Maddox wasn’t just a random guy.
When he looked up, I held up the grocery bag. “Steak?”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “Brilliant. You start the grill and I’ll prep the potatoes.”
Either the food was enough of an apology, or he’d moved beyond being upset about the call earlier. Regardless of which it was, I was happy to have him acting like himself.
The two of us worked in tandem in the kitchen, because this was how we worked together. Easily. Efficiently. Like we had when we set up the shoot earlier. Like always.
