I glance down at my chest to check I am, in fact, wearing clothes. There’s a fifty-fifty chance when I’m in here alone.
She’s pretty lucky I don’t have my dick out.
“Your face, I mean,” she clarifies with a frown. “I can look at you. How come I can look at you like this?”
How indeed.
I stare at her for a moment. Honestly, I have absolutely no idea. Could my gaze be getting less effective as I get older? Or is this merely a one-off? I rake my hand through my hair, thinking hard.
The only other person who can look me in the eye with no barrier is my mother.
“I need to call my mom,” I blurt out, sounding less a grown adult and more like an introverted eight-year-old at a sleepover party.
Sin nods, surprising me by climbing onto the bed beside me and nodding expectantly at my phone.
Well... I guess I’m making that phone call with an audience.
The next hour is the strangest one I’ve had in a while. Even stranger than that hour at the weird club Iri brought us all to in the city a few months back, where everyone was dressed up like sexy cartoon characters.
My mother is a terrifying woman to most people at the best of times. But somehow, with Sinjin, she morphs into someone who’s chatty and smiling, asking dozens of questions about the badges Sin created that my mom will be sharing with the trauma center she works with.
“So, is there something else you’d like to tell me, son of mine?” My mom’s tone is light as she bares her sharp teeth in a smile that used to have me shitting myself when I was younger.
“Uh.”
“Like, for instance, the way you’re sitting in bed with your mate and haven’t said a word about it.”
I freeze. “What did you just say?”
“Mate?” Sin and I glance at each other, eyes wide and I really appreciate there’s no barrier between us. It means she can see the confusion and shock in my eyes, just the same as I can read them in hers.
“You have nice eyes,” she whispers out of nowhere, causing my guts to twist with some emotion I don’t recognize and my cheeks go hot. She smirks at my reaction and I elbow her side.
I swear, she just loves fucking with me.
“That’s what I’m calling about,” I tell my mom. “This is the first time Sin’s seen me without my glasses and, well, she didn’t freeze on me.”
“Because she’s your mate.” My mom nods like it’s an obvious conclusion we both should have come to already.
“Uh.” It feels like my brain is buffering. I can barely come up with a coherent thought, let alone communicate one.
“You’re telling me you met your mate and you’ve had her around for weeks and you didn’t realize it?”
“Well, I—”
What can I say? I’ve been avoiding Sinjin like the plague, hiding out in my room and trying to ensure we’re never alone together?
Because she jumbles me up inside and scares me.
Because I’m a pissy little man-child who holds a grudge like no one’s business.
And did I mention she scares the shit out of me?
I can’t say any of that though, because it’s all a bunch of hot air.
I have no excuse.
“There are very few people out there who can see a Gorgon’s eyes,” my mom explains to Sin. “So unless Sinjin is your daughter...”
