But it doesn't matter. She's being insane, which I immediately tell her.“You're being insane.He is a supernatural creature. And I clearly fucked around and found out.And now I need to get him home.”
She nods, all of her joking gone. “Yeah, probably. But where to start?”
“I have some ideas, but I have to get to work. Do you think you could stay with him while I’m gone? I don’t want him to get lonely.”
She watches him out the window, her mouth turning down in a sympathetic expression. “Sure. We’ll have fun.”
I squeeze her shoulder. “Thanks so much, Mack. I don’t need to be gone long. I’ll be back before bed.” I turn and head for the door.
“You are leaving?”
I spin back around. Starlight is standing in the back doorway, looking at me like I told him I ran over his new squirrel friend. His face tugs at that fondness that’s settled in my chest.
Fuck. I don’t want to leave him.
But I have to.
“Just for a bit. I have to go to work, remember? But Mackenzie is going to hang with you while I’m gone.”
I honestly expected him to perk up at this. I thought he’d be just as happy to be with her as he is to be with me. But he doesn’t perk up. He just nods slowly.
Before I can talk myself into staying, I turn and leave.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I’m gone for hours, and I’m more relieved than I care to admit when I come home and see Mackenzie’s car in the driveway. I’m glad she was here to keep Starlight company.
While I was at work, he was all I could think about. I sent out a text blast to some of the paranormal folks in town with a cryptic request to see if anyone was open to talking. I don’t know who I can trust with information on Starlight, but I know I need some help.
When I open the door, I half expect to find Starlight and Mackenzie having a dance party in the living room or Mackenzie telling Starlight ghost stories or something. But instead, there’s an old rom com playing on the TV and Mackenzie and Starlight are asleep on the couch.
Mackenzie has her head on Starlight’s chest, and he has his arm around her shoulders. At least he’s wearing a shirt—one of my old Denver Broncos shirts—but I still feel a tug of jealousy I wish I didn’t.
I want to know what it would be like to snuggle in next to him like that.
Like I’m thinking a little too loudly, Starlight jerks awake, his eyes finding me. His mouth pulls into a smile. “Mason,”he breathes, and my stomach twists into a knot. Fuck, he’s so beautiful. And when he says my name like that…
Mackenzie sucks in a breath and sits up quickly. “Shit. How long were we out?” She looks over at the TV, whereCrazy, Stupid, Loveis still playing. “Oh,” she says, her voice a bit more cheerful. “Not that long.” She stands and fixes her rumpled clothes. “Good day at work?”
I shrug. “It was a day. I asked for a couple of days off to deal with, uh…” My eyes flit over to Starlight. He’s watching me closely, only looking away long enough to watch Mackenzie pull her hair up into a messy bun. “Plans probably need to be made tomorrow.”
I’m not sure anymore if I’m speaking to her or to him. I guess it doesn’t matter.
Mackenzie crosses her arms. “Right. Well, let me know if you need help or anything. I should probably?—”
“Should you not stay?”
We both turn to look at Starlight. He hasn’t gotten up from the couch, just regards us carefully from amidst the cushions.
“There isn’t really—” Mackenzie begins.
Starlight turns to me. “Did you not say that the other bedroom is hers?”
I snort. “The room is mine. She just sleeps there when she comes over.”
He gestures toward her. “She is here now. And it is late. She can sleep in the bedroom.”
Possibilities start to rush through my mind. Is he saying he wants to stay in there with her? Did somethinghappenbetween them while I was gone? Or is he implying…?
