Page 227 of Trick or Stalk

Hades looks down. “You comfortable?”

Her tail thumps once against the couch.

“Of course she is. She slept all night while we destroyed our spines.”

“I slept fine.”

I narrow my eyes. “Good for you.”

His mouth curves.

I should move.

Instead, I keep staring at him.

Last night comes rushing back.

The festival.

The mask.

Hades chasing him.

Coming home.

Hades checking the house and staying because I asked him to.

I felt safe in Hades’s arms. Not worried that a white mask would appear beyond the glass.

His thumb moves against my hip. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure?”

I nod. “Thank you for staying.”

Something changes in his expression. “You asked me to.”

Like that explains everything.

Maybe to him, it does.

“You could've left after I fell asleep.”

“I told you I wasn't going anywhere unless you asked me to.”

My chest does that stupid aching thing again. “Most people say things they don't mean.”

“I don't.” He says it with zero hesitation.

I study him.

I barely know this man.

I know he has a younger brother he'd do anything for. I know they had a childhood bad enough that he describes it as something they survived. I know he keeps emergency clothes in his truck and reads dark romance when a woman in a bookstore tells him to.

I know he likes his coffee black.