Page 139 of Stay Scared

“I still think you’re going to vanish.”

I look at him.

Cade’s grip stays loose.

“I figured.”

“Sometimes I can feel myself reaching before I decide if I should.”

“I’ve noticed.”

He studies my hand inside his. “I hate that second where I have to stop myself.”

“That second is probably going to save us a lot of arguments.”

His mouth shifts. “Optimistic.”

“I’m trying something new.”

I smooth the last edge of tape across his ribs.

Cade watches me. “I don’t know what happens after tonight.”

“Neither do I.”

His expression tightens.

Before he can turn that into another question, I hook my fingers into the front of his shirt. “If I decide to leave, I tell you.”

His breath catches.

“I am not promising where I’ll be next month. I’m telling you that I will not disappear without a word.”

His hand closes around my wrist, loose enough that I feel his pulse without being held in place.

“I can live with that.”

“You’ll want more.”

“I already want more.”

“Then suffer.”

A rough laugh escapes him.

His hand turns palm up between us.

I look at it, then put mine into it.

His fingers close after mine.

Owen calls from the projection booth. “The relay is stable enough to test.”

Cade releases me without ceremony, and we move.

He threads the belt back through his jeans and reaches toward the skull mask hanging on the hook.

“Bring it,” I say.