Page 41 of Love's Ace

I hated him, but it wasn’t enough to stop me from touching him, apparently.

We made it to the store without issue. I was worried we were going to get jumped at every turn, that something would slam into the side of the car and we’d have to fight again. Instead, I listened to Wren give an explanation about night shifts to the driver and silently kept my fingers entwined with his as we rode to one of the twenty-four-hour stores on the edge of town.

I kept my eyes to the ground as we walked inside, and waited until Wren spoke before I lifted my head.

“We’re fine. There’s no one here but us. I’ll keep an eye on the door—just keep your back turned and go pick out whatever you need.” He gestured to the aisles in front of us, and I frowned at him.

“I don’t—”

“Have money to pay. I know. Just go.”

When I hesitated for another second, he frowned. “It’s fine, Theo. Look, I get paid for this cupid shit… I might as well spend the money on something.”

Since I didn’t want to tell him that my hesitation stemmed from not wanting to walk away from him, I bit my tongue and stepped forward, only going as far as the rack of shirts in front of us. I didn’t look at him when I spoke.

“You don’t sound like you enjoy your job much.” My voice was barely a whisper, but he seemed to hear it just fine.

There was silence behind me for so long that I thought he wasn’t going to answer. I grabbed a few shirts without paying attention—dark on dark. It would show less blood if they got dirty again.

I’d given up on an explanation when Wren stepped forward and handed me a white button up with a dark jacket. I frowned, but took it. “I think I enjoyed it in the beginning? I’m not sure.” His expression turned bitter. “It’s hard when you spend your time watching mortals fall in love over and over again and you don’t understand it. I’ve never been able to…” He drifted off, his dark brows so drawn together I wondered if it hurt. When he half tossed a pair of red suspenders at me, I caught them without a word.

This wasn’t my style, but it seemed to distract him. It gave me an opening to press.

“You can’t feel?”

“Couldn’t.” He corrected, and the flash of his violet eyes glancing up at me like he was trying to make a point was nearly a lance in my chest.

“Right. Before…” I didn’t say anything, and he caught my wrist when my hand raised to tug on the red thread again.

“Before this. Yes. A century of feeling nothing but the joy of killing, the thrill of almost dying, the knowledge that it was just that. Endlessly. Forever. A century of seeing eyes go soft when a human found the person they were supposed to be with… A century of knowing that once upon a time, I was a human like that too.” He dropped my wrist, but I felt the sweep of his thumb along the underside, trailing my pulse that had picked up without warning. When he stepped away from me and handed me a leather jacket that looked entirely too expensive, I shook my head.

He thrust it into my arms anyway and shrugged.

“Wren…”

“Like I said, I get paid for this. I have more money than I need, more time than I want, and nothing to do with any of it. Get the fucking jacket, Theo. It’ll look good on you.” His eyes glanced up the aisle and he gestured. “Get anything you want.”

It’ll look good on you.

I shouldn’t have fixated on that, but I kept the words trapped behind my ribcage when I finally wandered away from him and started to grab a few things so I wouldn’t look like the half-homeless killer I actually was.

I spent longer shopping than I ever had in my entire life… and even then, it was only twenty minutes of us grabbing clothes and a few essentials, then a backpack to put it all in. I didn’t know if Wren had all the same needs as a normal human, but he still threw a few food itemsI didn’t ask for into a cart. He pretended not to notice when I trailed into random aisles, grabbing a toothbrush and deodorant, a few other necessities I hadn’t thought about when I’d run out into the rain and left everything behind. He just shrugged and waved his hand.

“Get whatever you need.”

Fuck, what a life, being able to say that. There’d been times when I had to choose between food and shampoo, and suddenly the world wasopento me. I was torn between irritation and wanting to…teasehim. The latter won out, and I made a show of tossing a bottle of lube into the cart with an arched brow.

The asshole just watched me calmly, without saying a word, and I realized I wasn’t sure if I was trying to provoke him or inviting him touseit. Ialmostdumped the contents of the cart and left the store.

Almost.

Wren didn’t bat an eye at the price when we checked out, even though it was more money than I usually saw in months.

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him he was a privileged little shit, and I might have done it to break some of the calmness that was spilling between us before I tried to settle into the sensation of it… and then I saw it.

Out of the corner of my eye.

A flicker of red—and the rage that roared through me was so painful I doubled over.

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