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I parted my lips and almost offered to show him some places in the city, then snapped my mouth shut when I realised what I was about to do. What the fuck? I didn’t want to spend my free time with Crossbody. We weren’t friends. Or more.

No way.

The ghoul waitress approached and turned over the cups on the table to fill them with coffee, which Crossbody looked a little surprised about. My mouth twitched again.

“Ready to order?” she asked with attempted cheerfulness, but she sounded as tired as we both felt. I shot her a tiny grin.

“I think so.” I looked at Crossbody, and he gave me an uncertain smile before hurriedly scanning the menu again.

“I’ll have French toast with strawberries, please,” he told her politely.

“And I’ll have the egg scramble with biscuits and gravy,” I added. “Thanks.”

She nodded and walked off, leaving us in silence. Weirdly, it wasn’t as awkward as it should’ve been. We were both too tired, too relaxed and sated from a night of intense fucking to really harbour any tension right now.

And Crossbody looked like it. My mouth twitched as I took in his wild hair, the faint flush still in his cheeks, the slightly too small sweater. He was almost ludicrously stunning in his fae form, but he was beautiful in his human form too, his skin peachy and his eyes still hooded, but now a soft golden brown.

He noticed me watching him and flushed, reaching for his coffee cup and pulling it closer. I did the same, grabbing the sugar and pouring some in, then gulping half the cup down while he delicately sipped his and looked around again.

“So, uh… what do you want to do about these stupid sessions with Corey?” I asked awkwardly, spinning my cup on the table.

Crossbody licked his lips and neatly set his down. “I think it would be easier if we just get through it without arguing with him.”

I huffed in amusement as his mouth tilted into a tiny smile. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

After a pause, I heard him inhale sharply to speak.

“How will we… be after this? At work?” He looked at me uncertainly, letting me decide, which felt like a fucking terrifying decision to make, for some reason. Then some of the light dimmed in his eyes as he asked, “The same as before?”

I licked my lips nervously. “I don’t… know.”

We lapsed into silence. I restlessly spun my cup faster and faster, until coffee splashed over the side and onto my hand and the table. Wordlessly, Crossbody reached for the napkins and passed me several.

“Thanks.” Keeping my gaze focused on the table as I mopped up the spill, I cleared my throat. “I mean, we could just try… not bitching at each other all the time.”

“Yes.” Crossbody paused for a moment, then almost timidly added, “Or ignoring each other.”

My heart thudded hard. Pushing the wet napkins away, I looked up and found him already watching me. Something twisted in my chest. He looked almost fragile in this moment, tired and quiet and out of his depth.

Wearing my sweater.

With a faint mark on his neck from my mouth.

“Okay,” I croaked in a small voice. “We can try.”

The waitress arrived with our food, and Crossbody looked a little stunned again that it had come out so quickly. He thanked her as she refilled our coffees, then picked up his knife and fork while I was already shovelling eggs into my mouth.

“What’s food like in Otherworld?” I asked curiously around my mouthful.

“Oh.” Crossbody hunched a little, like the question made him uncomfortable. “Very nice. Fresh, lots of vegetables and game, but… obviously, I didn’t eat the same as most fae who live there. My mother is very… particular about her meals. And what’s allowed in the palace.”

“Right.” I washed down my mouthful with coffee. “So she was pretty strict when you were growing up?”

He pursed his lips. “Not so much strict as… overbearing. Very overbearing.”

“Like a pageant mom?” I asked with a tiny smile. When his brows twitched, I clarified, “Like super invested in her children to the point of being overcontrolling.”

“Oh.” His shoulders stiffened, and he kept his gaze on his plate as he speared a strawberry with his fork. “No. Not like that. Overcontrolling, yes. But not invested in us as people.”