Then Silver crawls onto the bed beside me, carefully rearranging the covers and avoiding touching my bad side. My heart rate goes back to normal as she snuggles against my chest and I let out a soul-deep sigh.
“I’m a cuddle slut,” I tell her. I kiss the top of her head and soak up her scent.
Bliss.
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I tell her. “Love you more than llamas. And you should see those guys. They’re stinking cute.”
Then her voice lowers until it’s barely more than a husky murmur. My eyelids are growing heavy, like all my body needed to relax was her right here next to me.
“I love you, too,” she whispers.
My chest grows about three sizes. Warmth fills me up and golden light breaks out across the city.
Somewhere, angels sing an ode to us.
And my chin drops onto my chest. I want to bask in this moment. This joy. Then she kisses my cheek and lets out a soft sigh and I let sleep claim me.
10
Silver
Iguess one good thing about telling your boyfriend you love him for the first time while he’s high as a kite, there’s every chance he won’t remember it. So, if he didn’t mean it when he said the same thing to you and it was just the drugs talking, there’s no harm done.
I mean, sure, there’s besomeharm done to my fragile little heart. And maybe to my ego too, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
On the other hand, one bad thing about telling him I loved him while he was off his tits...
—you guessed it, it’s the chance he might not remember it. Which leaves me vaguely uncertain about where I stand. Do I act like it never happened? Wait until he wakes up and then slip it into conversation and see how that goes?
Maybe I should wake him up by whispering into his ear. Although that last one sounds like a recipe for disaster. Kind of creepy, too.
All the things my suddenly neurotic brain is pondering while Ro snores softly beside me.
He’s the world’s worst patient, but he’s painfully endearing when he’s dosed up on Luna’s potions. For a guy with illusion magic, there’s isn’t much artifice to Roscoe at the best of times.And when he’s drugged up, he’s a squishy ball of vulnerability and raw feeling.
It makes me want to scoop him up and protect him from all the world’s evils, even though that would be physically impossible considering how much bigger he is than me.
I drop my head back and let out a sigh. It’s the first time I’ve ever said those three words to anyone who isn’t family. First time I’ve felt them too. After over two decades of having absolutely zero time or luck on the romantic front, I’m suddenly brimming with feelings.
Not just for Roscoe, either.
It’s scary as shit.
Part of me wants to tell Zeph exactly how I feel, with all these burgeoning emotions bubbling up inside me. I really want to see his face and see if he freaks the fuck out.
