Page 304 of Flirting with Darkness

She shrugged. “A little, but I’m fine.”

Dex went to adjust the thermostat, trying to ignore how fucking awkward this was. “So, you really don’t mind watching anime?”

“I don’t watch TV, so it honestly doesn’t really matter to me.”

“Not at all?” He found that hard to believe.

“I don’t have the time.” Nova inspected his place with a strangely blank look on her face. Her usual sass and attitude seemed to be missing.

Dex grabbed one of the beers and popped the top off before handing it to her, just like he would for one of his guys. “You okay?”

She tipped her head back and downed the whole thing. “I’m fine.”

Clearly, she wasn’t fine, but he wasn’t going to push her about it. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.” Nova didn’t take the second beer from him. “You got anything stronger than that?”

He felt his eyebrows nearly disappear into his hairline. Something was definitely going on. Dex went for his stash of vodka and grabbed some pineapple juice. He mixed her a quick drink and handed it to her.

Nova took the bottle from him instead.

Okay, so it was going to be like that.

She sat on his couch carefully, slipping her boots off and tucking them underneath. Leaning her head back, she rolled it to watch him standing in the kitchen like an idiot, practically daring him to drink the pineapple bullshit.

Dex didn’t waste alcohol so he downed it, ice and all. “What do you want to eat?”

There was a flash of fire in her eyes and he could practically hear theyouout loud.

He had to bite his fucking tongue so hard it bled. Not even five minutes into this and it already wasn’t going well.

“Whatever, I don’t care.” Nova drank more vodka and Dex decided he needed to get food here ASAP at the rate she was drinking. “I’m ready to see this cartoon.”

“It’s not a cartoon,” he snapped, typing out a message to the place across the street.

“I know.”

He looked up and saw her smirk. Nova was purposefully fucking with him. Something tight in his chest eased and he grabbed a few bottles of water, setting them on the table in hopes she’d drink them.

But Dex wasn’t her fucking babysitter. She was an adult and could manage her own fucking life. If she was too drunk to drive at the end of the night, he’d just sleep on the couch. Maybe she’d talk to him about whatever it was, and in the morning everything would be fine.

That settled, he sat next to her on the couch, a healthy distance apart to make sure there was no way he could accidentally touch her. If he did, there was very little he could do to keep his impulse issues in check once they’d been set off.

And somehow Nova managed to do it effortlessly.

“Food’s on the way. You can talk about whatever is bothering you, or we can watch a ton of people get slaughtered.” Dex studied her in the corner of his eye, wondering why she would take off her boots but not her coat.

Nova took another sip with a straight face and he held out his hand. She passed him the bottle without question, and he drank some, watching as she pulled her hair up into some kind of weird bun.

He had to look away when he realized how cute it was.

“I’d like to see some slaughter.” She held out her hand for the bottle and Dex hesitated.

Even if she wasn’t anything but his friend, he still didn’t want to see her drink herself to death. On the other hand, if she got drunk, she might tell him what was wrong.

He handed her the alcohol and started the show, deciding that he would just keep an eye on her and her water intake. Some food and some water…she’d be fine.

They sat in silence, watching the show, and he couldn’t help but be aware of the way she curled up on the couch, using her coat as a blanket almost. Her eyes almost never blinked, and she seemed pretty content, if depressed.

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