Page 62 of Red Flag, Green Light

“Working. Yes. Of course. In the kitchen?”

He nods, again, exhausted.

And it clicks. “Jovey…” I press my lips and palms together. “Please tell me you aren’t looking for inspiration so that you can wax poetic about food for five hundred words.”

Distress riddles my dear big brother’s brow as he murmurs, “I was hoping for a thousand…”

Why am I not surprised?

“What counts asFlag Dayfood?” he asks.

Tempering my inner editor that says a thousand words aboutfood will need to be cut like a slice of carrot cake, I smile. “Sandwiches. The ones with the little flags in them. Obviously.”

A dull light that scantily looks like hope gleams in the back of Jove’s eye. “That makes sense.” He turns. “Thanks, babe.”

“Anytime, babe. But, also, why don’t I make you one?”

“That seems unnecessary. I’ll look up pictures online.”

“Looking up pictures online would probably only get you three hundred words. You’ll need the full experience for a thousand.”

Eyes narrowed, Jove peers at me. “I know what a sandwich tastes like.”

“Don’t argue with the process,” I declare, and begin gleaning ingredients from all over the kitchen. Blessedly, Jove doesn’t argue with the process and takes at least one bite before I pack a second and third sandwich to come next door with me.

“Beloved?” I call the moment the tumblers click into place and I swing open my goddess’s front door. “Where are you, darling?”

Scooting in her desk chair, Ceres peers down the long hallway at me as I kick her front door shut. “I think I should give you my spare key before you break my lock.”

My heart bursts as I make my way to her. “With such open permission to visit, I might pull an Edward Cullen.”

“If you watch me while I sleep, we’re done.”

“Wow.” I offer her one of the two napkin-wrapped sandwiches. “Was that a boundary? Never thought I’d see the day.”

“It’s actually the opposite of a boundary. If you’re coming into my bedroom in the middle of the nightjustto watch me sleep, I’ll assume you’re also using your immortality to go to high school for the five thousandth time instead of, I don’t know,curing cancer? Do you even know how much good you could do with unlimited time to compile knowledge? But, no, yousquander your gifts among tweens. Makes me shudder. Watch me after you’ve woken me, ravished me, and made me pass out.”

“Ceres.”

A lovely smile flutters to her lips. “Yes, villain?”

A curse word tightens in my skull. I. Love. That. “Eat your sandwich, beautiful girl, and stop giving me roadmaps to felonies.”

She takes her sandwich. “And here I thought you’d agree that crimes are only crimes if you get caught.”

“Crimes are only crimes if they contradict my own personal moral code. You’ll be shocked and alarmed to discover that ravishing you in the middle of the night with no prior communication lands pretty high on my crime list.”

“That’s really disappointing.”

I settle onto the arm of her loveseat and unwrap my own sandwich. “Don’t worry. Whenever it happens that any ravishing takes place, you won’t be disappointed.” I hope. I mean. Come now. It’s not like I know what I’m talking about. Every last bloody girl growing up likedBrian. Yesterday was my first kiss, and it was a haze of emotion melded withI’m pretty sure this is how it’s described in books.

Ceres crunches into her sandwich and fixes her attention on her computer, where she has an email open. Even though I haven’t sent her any. And Tempest Rain’s book isn’t blocked off until April.

Surely, she’s not looking at queries and trying to fill any more of her precious time with something that’s not me…

“Whatcha doin’?” I ask, completely secure and willing to share my lover’s attention with her job and stuff.

“Amelia sent me an email.”

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