Page 3 of How to Hack a Hellhound
“Yeah, but after I save someone’s life, I just don’t feel the same level of attraction. Maybe it’s a work thing,” Seb answered.
Ok, so maybe Seb wasn’t human either.
Toby seemed to be staring off into space, thinking. “Maybe you’re an angel and you don’t know it,” he mused. “After all, Dex is a hellhound, and he said there are angels and demons in Paradise Falls. Ohhh, maybe you hit your head and got amnesia and you’re an angel with memory loss!”
Josh looked over at me, saying, “Don’t mind Toby. He goes off on plotting tangents all the time. He doesn’t actually think that.”
I just snorted, because Josh was either a really good liar, or he was totally clueless. (I was betting on clueless.)
But hey, at least I knew what Dex was now. Not that I knew what it meant to be a hellhound.
“I don’t think angels can get amnesia? I mean, they’reangels, so they can’t get hurt, right?” Seb asked.
“Unless they’re fallen angels or something,” Josh added, because despite not believing Toby, he clearly humored his friend.
They all looked at me like I had something to contribute.
“Do you remember your childhood?” I asked, because somehow I was pulled into the insanity of the conversation.
“Ohhh, good point! I bet a fallen angel would have vague, manufactured childhood memories,” Toby said thoughtfully, and then he was up, grabbing a pen and notebook and jotting stuff down.
“Great. We’ve officially lost him to plotting,” Josh muttered.
“You guys have met my parents,” Seb threw out. “Right?” he added, kind of unsurely.
Josh sighed, obviously used to dealing with the craziness. “Yes, Seb, we have met your parents. You are not a fallen angel. Your childhood is real. You are one hundred percent human.”
I snorted over in my corner of solitude. Josh also thought that Dex was human, so I didn’t think he counted as an expert.
“Yeah, but you have to admit, a lot of people do die around me,” Seb added.
“You’re an EMT,” Josh answered.
“Besides, they don’t all die,” Toby added, still jotting stuff down. “But yeah, fallen angel doesn’t fit. Harbinger of Death or something, maybe.”
“You just made that up,” Seb said.
This time Josh snorted. “Of course he did. He’s a writer. Just don’t be surprised when you end up in his next book.”
At that, Josh’s phone buzzed. As he took it out, his whole body tensed up. Seb was watching him, but Toby was still stuck in his head, jotting notes.
Josh looked at it, and it was like he deflated a tiny bit. “It’s getting pretty late, and we’ve probably kept Q out for long enough,” he said, forcing a smile.
“How’re things going with Rick? Is that him?” Seb asked.
“Yeah, he’s just wondering when I’ll be home. Things have been ok. We had a long talk, and we’re going to try and work it out,” Josh answered. “We love each other,” he added.
Yeah, I was pretty good at spotting bullshit, and I called it on that one. Whether Josh didn’t really love his boyfriend, or he didn’t believe his boyfriend loved him, I wasn’t sure. But he was totally lying about something.
We wrapped it up, and somehow I was taking an Uber home with Josh and Seb, which I wasn’t too sure about, but I texted Aiden with all the information. Seb would get dropped off first, then me, then Josh, so I also wouldn’t be alone with the Uber driver.
Not that I had trust issues or anything.
By the time we got to my place across from the coffee shop, I could sense the tension in Josh, and I felt kind of bad for the guy.
“Hey,” I said as I got out. “You’re a good person. A nice guy. You deserve to be loved for who you are.”
It was sappy as fuck, and I’m not sure what possessed me to say it, but Josh’s face sort of crumpled in on itself a little bit before he managed to smooth it back out.
