That word had a new meaning.
Fuck, I was so in love, it was disgusting—somehow, even more than I had been just weeks before.
As we lay on the couch that night, watching reruns of our favorite show, I noticed how much more attention he’d been paying to his phone since we had gotten out of the shower, almost sighing in annoyance at the distraction when it lit up.
“Who is it?” I asked when he nearly tossed it onto the table beside him.
“My mother and Persephone. Say the word, and I’ll turn it off,” he added.
“You sound like you want me to tell you that,” I replied.
“I might,” he said, and I smiled.
“What do they want?” I asked.
“Ah… mostly just to know if we’re going to that retreat in a few weeks. Though, my mother wants me to go home before that.” He ran a hand through his hair and then slumped his head back, lolling his face toward me. “Save me.”
“What exactly would you like?” I asked, almost chuckling at his frustration. “I didn’t think you wanted to go to that retreat anyway.”
“Yes, but you want to go,” he said.
“I mean… of course, I would love to go to some extravagant oasis in the middle of the desert held together by magic and meet gods and goddesses I’ve only ever read stories about while also watching you squirm at their questions since, apparently, you haven’t been to one of these in years.” I blinked twice at his taut lips, fighting my own amusement. “Did I miss anything?”
“I think you covered it,” he replied.
“Although, you know, you still haven’t offered me proof of your own godliness, so for all I know, I’m just going to meet a bunch of actors. It’s a pretty elaborate scheme, but I’ve heard of worse.”
He ogled at me, the challenge rising in his gaze. “You want to meet your god?” he asked.
I knelt on the couch, eager for his plans. “Yes.”
“You realize there is no going back,” he said, leaning over his knees. “Once I show you, you’re in. Forever.”
I held up my hand and wiggled the finger with the wedding ring he had presented me with at the carnival—two rough golden bands, one with five embedded natural amethysts, the other with a vine-like etching around a raw diamond. It was dainty and perfectly rugged around the edges.
I loved it.
“I’m already in forever,” I swore.
A smirk lifted the corner of his lip, and he stood, holding out his hand. “Come on.”
He led me up the last flight of stairs in the building that opened to the roof. We had been up there a few times to gaze at the stars. Someone had affixed a small raised-bed garden with bulb lights strung across the patio.
“Why are we up here?” I asked as he took me to the edge of the roof.
He turned into me, body flush to mine, and I reveled at the look in his gaze.
“Stare only at my eyes,” he said, cupping my face. “Only there, and don’t look away.”
“Whatever you say,” I replied, grinning broadly with amusement.
“I love how you look at me with that smile,” he said softly. He was so fucking cute, his smile widening at mine. He pulled my arms around his waist, his own tightening on my hip and my cheek.
“Hang tight, baby.”
I almost frowned.Hang tight. What did he—
I had to look twice at him when I went to respond. His skin was…glowing. Not like the sun, but a faint gleam, like his features were somehow highlighted against the dark night. Every crevice of his chiseled face looked somehow more godly than usual. His eyes were so luminescent green that I had to touch his face.
