I dry off and get dressed in clean pajamas, then take a deep breath and steel myself. I open the bathroom door and immediately smell food. Tomato sauce, cheese, garlic – oh my God, my mouth is watering already. I look over and see pizza boxes on the small table. Two of them, steam still rising when I lift the lid slightly.
Zeth sits on the bed, watching TV like he didn’t just order food without me knowing.
I turn to him, confused.
“How did you...?”
He looks up, his expression neutral.
“I took the liberty of ordering while you were in the shower. You were in there a while, and I thought you’d be hungry after training.”
“But how did you order pizza?”
He holds up my phone.
“I used your phone. The delivery app. I’m sorry, I should have asked first, but I didn’t want to interrupt your shower. I promise I only used the app, nothing else.”
“Oh. Right. Of course, you know my passcode. You’ve watched me unlock it all day.”
I feel myself relax. He wasn’t being invasive, just practical.
I walk to the table and flip open the first pizza box. Pepperoni, my favorite. He paid attention to what I like, and that makes warmth spread through my chest. I sit down and grab a slice. Still hot and delicious.
“Well,” I say around my mouthful, “you didn’t need to worry about privacy. This is my work phone anyway.”
He looks over, curious.
“Work phone?”
I swallow and grin at him.
“Yeah. My booty calls aren’t on this one.”
A beat of silence, then he laughs. It’s deep and genuine, and it transforms his whole face and makes him look younger and less guarded. I laugh too, surprised by my own joke and pleased it landed.
“So, you have a personal phone for booty calls?” he asks, still smiling.
“I did. Before I went undercover as Wren Hayes. That life’s on hold now.”
“Must be hard, giving up your regular life.”
I shrug and take another bite.
“It’s the job. Worth it if we take down the Kyzers.”
I eat and he watches TV. It’s some action movie with lots of explosions. Zeth watches it with interest, leaning forward during the fight scenes. I watch him instead of the TV, studying his profile. He’s beautiful in his own way, I realize. Not human-beautiful, but striking, powerful, and magnetic.
I finish the first pizza and feel comfortably full. I don’t think I can eat the second one, so I wipe my hands on a napkin.
“Don’t you need to feed too?” I ask, looking over at him.
He glances at me and shakes his head.
“I’m fine. Maybe in a few days.”
“You’re sure? I don’t want you going hungry because you’re being polite.”
“I appreciate that. But I fed recently, before we started this assignment. I can go a week easily.”
