Page 20 of Winning Back Persephone

I looked away, not wanting him to see how hurt I was by the statement. I didn'twanthim to move on, even if I knew it wasn't fair of me to ask him not to.

"You signed up for Jinx too," he said.

I wiped a single tear away. "My mother was pressuring me." I didn't add that it was also because of how hurt I'd been to run into him at a Jinx event in the first place when he rarely wanted to leave his club in the god realm.

"Ah, I should have guessed."

"She's pleased that we're..." My voice cracked.

"Sephie..."

"Let's not talk about this," I said. "Let's just have dinner and stay on safe topics."

"If that's what you want."

No. "Yes." In truth, I wasn't sure what I wanted. This was an unprecedented situation, and one that I didn't know what to do with. "Let's just enjoy dinner."

"We can do that. It should be ready in about ten minutes."

I nodded. "You've done well with the tree."

"It took some learning," he admitted. "But the internet was helpful."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I did. I wanted to keep it alive for when you..." He trailed off, but I knew exactly what he had been going to say. He'd kept the tree alive for when I came home. He believed that this was only temporary.

Pain lanced through my heart. What was I doing? Clearly he was willing to return to what we had before. The only thing standing in our way was me not wanting to admit that I'd been wrong and worrying that things hadn't actually changed so we'd be right back here again in another two years.

But those were thoughts that I should examine when I was on my own. Right now, I was with Hades, and we were going tohave a nice dinner together. I should focus on enjoying that and nothing else.

Chapter 11

PERSEPHONE

The dining table was set nicely, unlike the one back at my flat, and I could tell that it was only partly because Hades had put effort into how it was all laid out. The rest of it was because it wasn't being used as a makeshift office. Hades had strict rules about where was used for work and where was used for living. It had helped me actually have a life that wasn't work, and was something I should try and insist on for myself, but rarely seemed to manage.

Cebby trotted over to his bed and flopped down more dramatically than he had any right to. I knew he was living his best life, he didn't have to worry about anything.

"Do you want me to do anything?" I called through to the kitchen.

"No, just sit down," Hades responded.

I pulled out my chair and sat down, only realising after I did that I was sitting inmychair, the one I always sat on when we had dinner together. Coming here was a mistake in that it reminded me of how good our life used to be, and all it made medo was think about how easy it would be to slip back into it as if nothing had happened.

Hades appeared in the doorway wearing an apron and sporting a glass dish in oven-gloved hands. It was an adorable vision, one that went along with a domesticity that could only come from living together for a long time.

"It smells delicious," I said.

"Thank you." He set the dish in the middle of the table, and my mouth watered at the sight of the stuffed peppers inside.

But it wasn't just my mouth that responded. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. Not just because he'd made me dinner, but because he'd made me my favourite. There was no denying that was why he'd chosen this dish. I didn't even have to ask to know that there was no ulterior motive. He'd made this because he knew I loved it.

I blinked the tears away and smiled at him. He looked genuinely pleased with himself, which only added to the complications of the feelings within me. How was I supposed to resist him when he was being so sweet?

He served us both our food and sat down, passing me a bowl of salad.

"Don't forget the olives to go on top," he said, gesturing to a small pot by my plate.

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