Page 34 of Knot Shattered
“Absolutely. Because I’m taking you on a date today.”
Her lashes fluttered. “A what?”
“A date. D-A-T-E. You, me, something fun, and zero talk of murder or government conspiracies, unless it turns you on, in which case, I am so ready.”
Odette snorted, burying her face into her blanket to muffle her giggle. “You’re such a menace.”
“I’m your menace,” I beamed, then smacked her ass lightly over the blanket. “Now up, up, up. Put on something comfy. Maybe that cute matching set I like, the one that makes me lose brain cells and forget how to do math.”
She rolled her eyes, but the color blooming in her cheeks gave her away. “You don’t have brain cells.”
“Exactly,” I said, already rising to my feet and stretching like a satisfied cat. “And I’d like to sacrifice the few I do have to the altar of your thighs. Now scoot. I’ve got a surprise planned, and if we’re late, I’m blaming it on your distracting face.”
She sat up slowly, sheets falling down to reveal the oversized tee she wore, one of mine, of course. This one said,“Emotionally unstable but still hot.”
She caught me staring.
“What?” she asked, glancing down at the shirt.
“Never take it off,” I whispered reverently. “Or do. Dramatically. While music plays.”
Her laugh was real this time. Bright. Loud. Alive. And if I could bottle the sound, I’d keep it in my pocket like a relic. She stood, shaking out her hair and stretching, and I could already tell this date was going to ruin me.
“Five minutes,” she said over her shoulder, walking toward her dresser.
“Take ten,” I called after her. “I need to sit here and pray for strength, not to lick your legs.”
I think she was still laughing when the bathroom door closed.
***
I watched her from the corner of my eye as we pulled into the lot, her nose practically pressed to the window like she was seeing some kind of divine vision instead of a glowing sign that said LEVEL UP. Neon flickered over her skin—pink, green, blue—painting her like some cosmic dream I’d hallucinated into reality.
“Oh my god,” she breathed, eyes wide. “You brought me to an arcade?”
Correction: she whispered it like a prayer, like I’d just unveiled the gates of Valhalla and she was waiting for the Valkyries to hand her a joystick. I grinned, chest swelling. “Not just an arcade. The arcade. They’ve got retro pinball, air hockey, virtual sword fights, duck prizes—”
“Duck prizes?” she squeaked, turning to me so fast her seatbelt protested.
“Tiny rubber ducks dressed like historical figures,” I confirmed solemnly.
Her mouth dropped open in this perfect, pink little “oh,” and that’s when I knew: I’d peaked. Nothing I did after this would top her face in that moment.
“I love you,” she said, then blinked, going stiff. “I mean…I love this. This is so cute. Not you. I mean. Not not you, I just… we just met.. I mean fuck.”
I made a strangled sound, somewhere between a bark of laughter and a groan, my whole body thrumming like a tuning fork. “Too late, Omega,” I said, throwing the SUV in park. “I’m taking it. First, ‘I love you.’ Mine now. No backsies.”
She covered her face with her hands. “Haze!”
“Baby, you’re lucky I don’t get it tattooed across my chest.”
Inside, she was a damn force of nature. One minute she was dragging me to the claw machine and screaming when she won a duck in a Napoleon costume, the next she was feeding me glowing orange slush from her cup and giggling when I choked on the sour candy stuck inside it.
“Worth it,” I croaked, pounding my chest.
“You are a menace,” she said fondly, eyes gleaming. “A ridiculous, beautiful menace.”
I actually preened. “Say it again.”
