“You didn’t say no,” Elana points out. “Simply that we won’t be doing the cleaning.”
“You’re both missing the point,” Laura says, shaking her head at the two. “I think it’s safe to trust him.”
The words settle over me. I press my fingers to my lips, remembering. I think about how he’d looked at me after the kiss. Like I’d given him something precious. He’d looked at me like I was precious.
“I think I do,” I say quietly. “I think—I think I trust him.”
“Then what are you worried about?” Zoe asks.
“That I’m wrong,” I admit. “That I’m missing something. That he’s not telling me something. I just have this feeling that keeps telling me that I’m missing something, you know?”
“You’re overthinking it,” Zoe says. “Which, no offense, is kind of your thing.”
“None taken.” I laugh weakly. Every time I interact with an alien, I’m thinking about all the ways they could be trying to deceive me. I know that I’m overthinking everything, all the time. It’s kind of my thing now: not to trust aliens.
The thought hadn’t occurred to me quite like that before. Am I being too prejudiced? Am I just making this stuff up? Am I just making excuses to not commit to someone who looks at me with such fierce desire, with dark, heated eyes and…
“Just go to the haunted house tonight,” Laura says. “See how it feels. You don’t have to figure everything out right now.”
“And if he does anything sketchy,” Elana says, her voice taking on that protective tone again, “you tell us immediately. Sutek has an entire armory.”
“Why does everything come back to violence with you?” Charlotte asks.
“Because it works,” Elana says simply, shrugging her shoulders.
I laugh, properly this time. The knot in my stomach has loosened.
“Okay,” I say. “Okay. I’m going. To the haunted house. Tonight. As a date.”
“Hell yes you are.” Zoe slaps the table, a triumphant grin across her face.
“And you’re going to have a good time,” Laura adds.
“And if you need to bail, you bail,” Charlotte says practically. “No shame in that.”
“But you won’t need to,” Elana says with confidence. “Trust your gut.”
“Tell us everything after,” Zoe demands.
“Every detail,” Laura agrees.
“Especially the kissing parts,” Elana adds with a wink.
“I’m leaving now,” I announce, standing up and finally—finally—taking a sip of my now-lukewarm not-coffee. It’sterrible. I drink it anyway. “Before you all get any more insufferable.”
“Too late!” Zoe calls after me as I head for the door.
“We love you!” Laura adds.
“Don’t forget—an assassin who will work for free!” Elana shouts.
I wave them off, laughing as I slip out of the kitchen.
I’ve seen how happy the girls who found mates are, and I want that for myself. I don’t want to be afraid someone’s lying to me or keeping secrets. I want someone honest. I want someone like Khatak: awkward and completely honest.
After all, it’s not like he’s keeping anything from me.
Chapter
