Page 56 of Calling Chaos

His dad wiped a hand over his face before approaching the couch. He did look a little more alert. Maybe he hadn’t had as much to drink as Cooper had thought. “Should we watch something together,umnitsa? One of your mysteries?”

It was something they’d done together since Cooper was a preteen. They would watch a murder mystery, and Cooper would try to figure out the culprit before the big reveal. His dad would clap and cheer whenever he succeeded, like he’d won a game show instead of guessed at some subpar plot point.

Cooper leaned his head back against the couch with a sigh. “Sure, Pop. And I’ll order some food, yeah?”

“Sure,” his dad agreed, not sounding like he cared either way. He shot Cooper a wink. “Who needs groceries, huh?”

He sat down, ruffled Cooper’s hair, then slumped back and reached for the remote. “So good to me,umnitsa. I love you so much.”

The words sounded heavy. Like the love he had for Cooper was painful to him. Maybe it was. Maybe that was why it could never be enough.

There was nothing to say except “I love you too, Pop. So much.”

So what if his father couldn’t protect him or care for him the way other parents did for their children? They’d managed just fine so far. They’d keep managing, just the two of them.

What other choice was there?

Cooper was wokenup by the need to pee.

He grabbed his glasses and hurried to the bathroom before Chaos could see that his eyes were wet.

Fuck, it had been a long time since he’d dreamed about his dad. It was like a knife to the chest—his feelings about his father might have been complicated, but he still missed him. Every day. So damn much.

He took a quick shower while he was in there, washing off the sweat that coated him, leftover from the meeting and by sleeping with too many blankets.

When he came out into the bedroom, his glasses back on and a towel wrapped around his middle, Chaos was sitting cross-legged on the bed, kind of bouncing in place, looking almost maniacally happy.

Cooper couldn’t help smiling at him. “You look cheerful. Is it because you’re all full from the meeting?”

Chaos gave him a smug look, waving his finger in the air, his tail swishing wildly. “You’ll always need me to be your friend. That’s what you said.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Cooper’s cheeks warmed. He’d been loopy as hell when they’d been talking before, and he was a little embarrassed by the admission now. He wasn’t sure why—it wasn’t like Chaos had cared about Cooper’s lack of social life before now. He shifted on his feet, running his hand through his wet hair. “But I won’t stand in the way either,” he reassured Chaos. “When you find your bondmate, I mean. Just—just so you know.” Cooper cleared his throat. Why was this so hard to say? “And I should be thanking you too. For helping me realize.”

Chaos had paused his bouncing midway through Cooper’s little speech, and now he cocked his head, his tail in an arc behind him. “Realize what?”

“You’ve made me realize… Well, I guess that I don’t want to be alone. That I need to—to look beyond casual hookups. To find someone who’s both lover and friend. I—I like that, with you. I want to find that again.”

Now Chaos was not onlynotbouncing, but he was holding himself with that unnatural, predatory stillness that Cooper still found so eerie. “You wish to mate with other humans?” he asked, his voice deadly soft.

“I mean—” Cooper suddenly wished he was wearing real clothes. Why was he having this conversation in his fucking towel? “Isn’t that—aren’tyougoing to find another human? Someone to bond with?”

Cooper yelped as Chaos went from frozen on the bed to standing mere inches away from him in a flash.

“Youare my human,” Chaos hissed, literal flames dancing in his eyes. “I found you, fair and square. I’m being patient and gentle and tricky as a fox to keep you close, but if that’s not working, I can be much—” He looked around the room, as if trying to find an answer there, then settled his gaze back on Cooper. “Muchscarierabout it.”

“I—I don’t understand.” Had Cooper hit his head at the restaurant? What was happening right now? Why was Chaos so pissed off?

Chaos pressed a taloned finger to Cooper’s chest. It maybe should have frightened Cooper, now that he knew what those talons could do, but he was too confused by the turn this conversation had taken. He’d been so sure they were on the same page.

“Weare bonding,” Chaos declared, haughty as anything. “You and I. No other humans. Not for you, not for me.”

“We are?” Cooper asked. He didn’t add the obvious question: Since fuckingwhen?

Chaos nodded decisively, his talon digging into Cooper’s skin. “Yes. We are.”

Cooper tightened his towel, which had begun to slip. “Do I get a say?”

Chaos’s lips turned down into a pathetic pout. “No.”

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