Page 34 of Gates of Tartarus

I shoot him back a little devil-face emoji, and feel Jonah’s energy bump me seconds before the man himself does the same.

“What’s got you smiling so big this morning?” he asks happily. “Not that I mind.”

“Planning a movie night…” I say absentmindedly.

“Don’t you and your roomie do those all the time?” he asks.

“Yeah, but when we do them as a group, like with Lachy or Gemma’s boyfriend, we do a whole thing. Lachy makes dinner, and I make a mini-dessert table. We do like a mulled cider, and homemade popcorn… the whole shebang. We haven’t really done one in a while.”

Jonah nods, clearly listening, but a little sadness skirts across him. I don’t know if I’d notice it except for the fact that it’s really unusual for Jonah.

“Sounds fun,” he replies, almost wistfully. He forces a smile. “You ready for the day?”

Tilting my head, I take him in. He just stands, unprotesting, letting me work through my thoughts, and I nudge his shoulder lightly. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I reply. “Want to grab a coffee real quick with me?”

His forced smile turns real with the offer, and I shoot Lach a quick text as we walk.Is it okay if I bring a friend from work?

It’s your house,he replies immediately. There’s a pause, and then,Is it a date?

Not a date,I type back quickly.Just someone who’s lonely, I think. And it’s your house. You know we never do movie night at ours.

Either way, the more the merrier,he replies.Any friend of Kai’s.

You’re awesome. Love you!I shoot off quickly, before coming to a screeching halt, staring at my phone. Ialwayssign off texts to Gemma with “Love you”, and she does the same, but I’ve never done it to Lachy before. It just happened. Like once when Gemma had been talking to her sister, finished the conversation with “love you”, and hung up, then ordered pizza and told the pizza guy “love you” at the end of that conversation by accident. Jonah’s stopped with me, clearly worried that something has happened, but I’m staring at thereadreceipt on my phone. The dots are blinking and disappearing, blinking and disappearing, and I can’t decide how sick to feel when a reply finally pops up.

Love you too, Suge,it says, with a little smiley face, and I Cheshire-Cat grin at Jonah, who, even though he’s confused, echoes with his own sunshine grin, and he asks, “good news?”

“Just... just in a good mood, I guess,” I reply, emotions bouncing around like ping-pong balls inside. “You, uh, you want to join us for movie night Saturday?” I ask. “It’s me, Lach, Gemms, her boyfriend Hook... I can’t promise the movies will be good, and usually at least one of us falls asleep. You can crash on the couch if you miss the midnight ferry.”

Jonah’s face stays placid, but the answering burst of emotion from him knocks me breathless, even with my walls up and shields firmly in place. It’s so much pure happiness it feels like I’ve mainlined caffeine. It’s almost overwhelming, in a good way, but it leaves me shaking with excess energy. “Sure,” he says calmly. “Sounds fun. Can I bring anything?”

I can’t speak through his joy pushing out at me, and I shake my head, still grinning, face squinched up. We grab our coffees in companionable silence and walk to the meeting room, Jonah sneaking quick looks at me every so often, new waves of happiness washing over me.

Maddox and Walker are already in what has become our team’s semi-permanent space. We’ve ditched the huge table for a smaller one and have added three desks with computers on the open wall across from the white screen. There’s a proper little snack table that Maddox put in when he saw how often Jonah and I would escape to eat, and Deo got me a pair of fancy, noise-canceling headphones to use when I was feeling overwhelmed. It’s like a strange college dorm-room but with five people instead of two.

“What isthat?” I ask immediately when I walk in, interrupting Walker’s and Madds’ quiet chatter. “Hellllllooooo, lover!” I croon to the shiny silver machine on the snack table, practically dancing over to it and running my hands along the top surface. “Oh my gods, I may marry this thing.”

“You’re an addict,” Maddox says faux grumpily. “Cole was going to lure you away from us just by having coffee if we didn’t do something.”

I barely hear him, humming happily, looking over the array of syrups and noticing a mini-fridge under the table. “It’s a De’Longhi!” I chirp happily. “Oh seven holy hells! Ghirardelli syrup! Oh Lord!”

Maddox smirks at Walker, who rolls his eyes and says, “It was Smith’s brainchild.”

“There’s a milk steamer andeverything!”

Maddox grins his feral, Viking grin and shakes his head. “You’re welcome,” he says magnanimously. “I wouldn’t have gotten it, but you’re so vulnerable to bribery that we had to do something to lock you down. Who knows what Tennireef will promise you tomorrow at dinner? We’re one Starbucks gift card away from you changing teams.”

“Keep it up, Smith. You’re about to catch these hands.”

He smirks at me. “I’m your boss, Reed. You can’t do anything.”

“These hands are rated E for Everyone,” I snark back.

Jonah and Walker are grinning at the exchange when Deo walks in. He looks at me, the machine, and the guys, before sighing and rolling his eyes in good humor. “You’re enabling her addiction,” he says, shaking his head. “Her blood type is going to change toC8H10N4O2if she drinks anymore.”

Everyone pauses but Deo and me, who start laughing. Walker looks at Deo, almost befuddled, and asks, “How do you know what I assume is the molecular structure for caffeineoff the top of your head?”

Deo shrugs modestly, but I throw an arm around him and give him a quick squeeze, surprising both of us. “He’s the Triviamaster,” I reply. “You should see him at Pub Quizzes. He’s tops.”

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