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And halfway down the hall, I darted back in to brush my teeth. If this went well, then I wasn’t about to spoil it with morning breath.
With my mouth tasting a bit more pleasant, I once again hurried down the hall, then out of my apartment and down the stairs. I pounded on his door as frantically as I had the morning Andras and Raziel had first appeared. Maybe a little more frantically. Because somehow I was in an even bigger panic now than when I’d awakened to find a pair of winged weirdos on my shoulders.
Just as it had that first day, the deadbolt clicked and door opened.
Just as he had that first day, Cory met my gaze across the threshold.
But this time, his expression wasn’t full of concern or worry.
No, those beautiful eyes were regarding me uneasily. Suspiciously, even. And when they flicked from my left shoulder to my right, some hurt crept in as he said, “Looks like you got rid of them.” His smile was thin, hinting at more of the hurt in his eyes. “Glad I could help.”
“No, I asked them to—I’ve only got fifteen minutes. Probably closer to ten now. But I—”
“The Trickster King favor. Right.” He stood aside and gestured for me to come in. “Let me get the—”
“No! I’m not here for…” I paused to collect my thoughts. I didn’t want to do this out here. If I humiliated myself, fine, but he didn’t deserve to have our neighbors staring at us. Voice as calm as I could manage—and that didn’t say much—I said, “I’m not coming to ask for anything from you. Just… can we talk?” I nodded past him. “Inside?”
The suspicion and hurt hung on tight, but curiosity pushed one eyebrow up ever so slightly. Swallowing hard, Cory stepped aside and gestured for me to come in.
And as soon as the door was shut and we had the privacy he deserved, I started talking, and I started talking fast.
“I’m sorry. I’m—I fucked up last night. And I don’t mean by getting into bed with you.”
Both eyebrows were up now.
I went on before I lost my momentum, “Everything—the club, in your bedroom—it was all perfect. It was amazing. I… I don’t know why I freaked out. Or why I left. Because to tell you the truth, I’ve been wishing for a long, long time that last night would happen.”
Cory’s lips parted. “You… Seriously?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “And I think… I think when I realized we were there… That we’d slept together…” I shook my head and pushed out a breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t know. I guess I was afraid you’d do exactly what I ended up doing.”
He cocked his head. “What? Leaving?”
“Or, well, telling me to leave.”
He stared at me like I’d spoken in another language. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you can do so much better than me.” God, I sounded pathetic. “I know you’ve been frustrated being single, but I’ve been absolutely sure all this time that the right guy for you is going to show up any minute. Because holy shit, if there’s anyone in this world who deserves to have the most amazing partner on the planet, it’s you. And no matter how long I’ve been completely and stupidly in love with you, I can’t imagine ever living up to that.”
Once again, Cory watched me as if he hadn’t understood a word I’d said. But before I could keep rambling, he softly asked, “You… You’re in love with me?”
My chest ached, and my voice came out ragged: “Yes. How could I not be?” I raked a hand through my hair. “I mean… Hell. Dancing with you last night? Ending up back here? I think that was inevitable as soon as we walked in the door.”
“How… How do you figure?”
My shoulders sagged. “Because you were the only man in that building who caught my attention. That’s why I couldn’t resist asking you to dance, because it wasn’t like I noticed anyone else.” I sighed, dropping my gaze. “And then afterward, I guess I freaked out. All this time, I didn’t even want to let myself believe I was because there’s no way in hell I’ll ever be what—”
“Matt.” Cory’s voice was sharp enough to stop me mid-sentence. He held my gaze. Then he shook his head, stepped closer, and whispered, “Shut up,” a second before he grabbed my neck and…
Kissed me.
My God. This was nothing like the way he’d kissed me last night. It was soft, and sweet, and stopped time. I wrapped my arms around him, both to hold him to me and to make sure he was real. That this wasn’t some bizarre dream.
It was so, so real. So perfectly, earth-shakingly real.
When Cory’s lips finally left mine, he still held me close, and we were both trembling and out of breath. I couldn’t find my voice, never mind words, but he didn’t have that problem.
“I almost married someone once,” he said, voice as unsteady as I was, “and I didn’t love him half as much as I love you.”
