Page 30 of Worlds Collide

“I never know what you’re going to say, that’s another thing I like. Well, except with your brother.”

“What about my brother?” he growls, his face once more going stony when it had relaxed at my burst of laughter.

“Relax,” I say, and reach for more tacos. “You better learn right now that I think Hawk is an all-around awesome human, okay?” He nods once, and does relax a little, but I can still tell he’s on edge waiting to hear what I have to say about his Birdie. “What I meant is that when it comes to Hawk your actions and your words are predictable. It’s the only thing predictable about you.”

“What?” His shoulders have dropped and he still hasn’t smiled—something I’m still aiming for—but he reaches calmly for another taco.

“You’re protective of Hawk, and lenient with him. I’m pretty sure you would do anything for him. And the only other person you allow to tease him is Derek. So yeah, it’s always easy to know how you’ll act when it comes to Hawk. That’s why I made sure he called you after the wedding.”

He looks up sharply but doesn’t seem to be angry now. I knew I would get a strong reaction by saying that last thing but I didn’t know if it would be anger or something else.

“What do you mean you made sure he called?”

“I, uh, mentioned how Carter had come to brunch but you hadn’t.” I think about leaving it there and letting Wolf reach his own conclusions, but I can’t be that cruel. “Hawk got worried immediately when Carter said he hadn’t seen you when he woke up.”

“Why did you do that?” he asks, softer than I thought he would.

“Because I was worried,” I admit quietly and take another bite. “I didn’t know if you were okay or where you had gone or at what time. And I knew you clearly wouldn’t want to hear from me, so...” I trail off and shrug, keeping my eyes firmly on my hands. There’s what seems like an eternal moment of silence while he processes everything I’ve shared. I just keep eating, hoping against all hope that he’s not gonna kick me out the second he’s done withhis dinner. After five minutes of silence, though, I can’t take it anymore. “Your turn,” I say, trying to sound cheerful and not at all desperate to hear something other than my own thoughts. “Why are you attracted to me?”

He scoffs but doesn’t look up. “You’re hot,” he mumbles.

“I’ll raise your bullshit with acomeon. You’re probably surrounded by hot models—male and female—all the time.” I stare at him, willing him to look up, and after he tosses his makeshift plate onto the coffee table with a heavy sigh he finally does look at me.

“You seem like someone who’s just happy. You’re always... I don’t know, relaxed. Content to go along with whatever’s going on. You can just live andbe.”

“And you like that?” I ask, just to make sure.

“I mean.” He rubs his eyes with jerky movements then rests his cheek on his fist and shrugs. “You’re clearly smart. Not stupid, so the ignorance-is-bliss thing doesn’t apply to you. You obviously have something going on, otherwise you would’ve come out of the closet a long time ago. And still you’re always smiling, always happy to hear about your friends’ lives. I think that’s the closest thing to a superpower I’ve ever seen in real life. I can barely handle my own shit, and most days I can’t even listen to my brother’s troubles, so yeah, I like that about you.”

“Wow,” I whisper in wonder.

“Whatever,” he mutters, and grabs his plate again only to shove a whole taco into his mouth.

I can’t help but chuckle at his obvious discomfort. “So what were your plans for tonight before I crashed them?”

“Nothing really. I was probably going to stream something until I fell asleep.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I bite my lip to stop myself from saying anything stupid. Again the silence goes on for a long time, and I’m grappling with a way to invite myself to stay with him without it being super weird when he saves me.

“You wanna stay?”

I look up in surprise, and see Wolf shift in his seat and look away the second our gazes clash.

“Sure,” I answer in a breathy voice. “What are you watching?”

“I’m re-watchingThe Good Place.”

“What’s that?”

“You haven’t seen it?” he asks, clearly shocked.

“I’ve spent the past four years studying my ass off, and all my free time I spent making sure I kept my friendships alive and going to charity galas with my parents.” As far as defenses go, I think it’s a pretty good one.

“That makes sense I guess. Then we’ll start from the beginning because otherwise the whole thing will be ruined for you.”

A smile stretches my cheeks to an uncomfortable degree, but I can’t help it.

“That’s sweet, thank you.”

---