My Vigilante Valentine

Chapter 18

18

enhanced cognition

“Show-off,” I teased against his neck.

He chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest and straight into my heart.

The morning air was crisp against my cheeks as he set me on my feet, but I immediately missed his warmth.

I looked around, spinning in a slow circle to take it all in. The city was sprawled out around us in every direction, bathed in just enough of the pre-dawn light that everything looked softer somehow.

Including Jax.

He ran a hand through his hair as he stepped back, and I realized with a start that he looked... nervous?

Right, because before he’d shown off his super speed, he’d told me we needed to talk, and I’d been minorly freaking out.

A surge of annoyance coursed through me as Jax began to pace.

Okay …

It was all well and good for him to insist that he wasn’t The Blade, to evade my questions, and to flat-out lie about it. I got it, and he was forgiven.

But this? Bringing me up here to take back what he said last night in a pretty setting, like it would help to soften the blow?

Not cool, bro. Not cool at all.

And yes, I knew this was the beginning of an overthinker’s doom cycle, but I couldn’t seem to pull it back.

I crossed my arms, watching him shift from foot to foot like he wasn’t sure where to start. “Aren’t you a little too cool and capable to look this freaked out right now?”

He blinked at me, his expression flat. “If I look freaked out, it’s your fault.”

“Great. So, does that mean this the part where you tell me last night was a mistake, even though you already told me it wasn’t?” I asked, my stomach twisting. “Because I’ve been here before. Where the guy realizes he was just caught up in the moment, and now he has to let me down easy? It feels a little basic, and you should’ve just admitted it last night, but whatever. Just get it over with.”

Jax’s flat expression had hardened more with every word of that spiraling rant, and when I finished, he merely crossed his arms. “Are you done?”

I looked to the side, then nodded once. “Yep.”

Then he stepped forward, lifting his hand to the side of my face, angling it up so I couldn’t look away. “That’s not what’s happening, and I stand by what I said last night.”

“Oh.”

Lines appeared between his brows. “Luna… Did you really think that’s why I brought you up here?”

I tried to nod even though he still had a firm hold on the side of my face, but I’m pretty sure he got it.

“Okay, well, that’s not the case.” His hand fell to his side.

Straightening my shoulders, I let out a breath. “Okay, well, I’m glad that’s not the case. Because I liked it. Last night. The kissing part, not the fight with the serial killer part, and definitely not the watching you give yourself stitches part.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “I liked it too. The kissing part.”

I waited a beat.

Then two.

“But...?” I prompted, losing my patience.

It really was a pretty setting, and I was all for it if he just wanted to show me the view. But I knew that wasn’t what was happening, and didn’t he realize he had me holding on for dear life over here?

Jax finally sighed, closing the distance between us again. “But… I didn’t get him.”

This time, it was me who had to pause before I spoke. And when I finally recovered, all I could manage was a bewildered, “What?”

“He got away. He drew blood, and then he got away.”

“Uh, no , he didn’t.”

Jax made a strangled sound, confusion all over his face as he looked around. It was like he was trying to figure out if he’d been dropped in an alternate reality, and, in this one, The Valentine Villain was behind bars where he belonged.

I threw him a bone, placing a hand on his forearm. “Jax, he didn’t get away . We did. You got us away from him .”

His next breath was shaky, and I zipped my lips, letting him chew on that.

If he thought I’d let him torture himself about losing The Villain after heroically blurring us out of there before things turned deadly, he was out of his mind.

“Something was up with me,” he said quietly. “I couldn’t move like I normally do, and I’m?—”

“ Human ,” I cut in. “You are, right?”

A nod.

“I don’t know what happened with your powers last night,” I said, wrinkling my nose at him when he made a face at that word. “But I do know that you can’t blame yourself for the way things went down. You saved us. End of story. And trust me, I am the queen of doom spirals. Did you even hear me when we first came out here? I get what you’re feeling, but I can’t let you do it.”

He licked his lips and looked away. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” I replied. Then I poked him in his good side. “Really, don’t mention it ever again, or I’ll just repeat all of that over and over again until you blur away just so you don’t have to hear it anymore.”

This time, I got a short laugh out of him, and I beamed in response.

But his brow furrowed once again as he reached for my hand. “I just need you to understand… What happened last night? That’s not unusual for me.”

“We better not be talking about the kissing part again.”

He leveled me with a look. “No, Menace. Now we’re onto the other stuff. The blood. The stitches.”

“Don’t remind me,” I grumbled.

“I need to remind you. Luna, I get hurt. I make enemies. And the thought of something happening to you because of me...”

“Hey.” I reached up, standing on my toes so I could cup his face in my hands. “I handled all of that pretty well, you know. And now that I watched you stitch yourself up, I have a new skill.”

He leaned into my touch, closing his eyes as I continued to cradle his face.

“Now, is this settled?” I asked. “Or do I need to make you mad by calling you broody first?”

He met my gaze again, and when he settled his large hands on my waist, I let go of his face so I could curl my hands into his chest.

He tugged me close, squeezing me almost playfully even as he said, “No, it’s not settled. Because you’re fearless.”

“He says like it’s a bad thing…”

“It can be. It’s one of the things I love about you, but it also spooks me.”

My overactive brain latched onto the word love . Did he just almost say...?

No. Loving something about me wasn’t the same thing.

Focus, Luna.

“Jax, are you trying to talk yourself out of this? Of us? Because if you are, I should warn you—I’m very persistent when I want something.”

“Yeah, that I’ve noticed,” he said dryly. But his eyes darkened, and his voice took on that husky quality that I loved. “And trust me, it’s a beautiful sight.”

I gulped. Now , we were talking about the kissing again.

And then, as if I had any doubts left about how he felt or if he wanted me as much as I wanted him, the next kiss he delivered erased them all.

My body turned absolutely weightless as his lips moved over mine, and it wasn’t long before I wondered if being on the roof was giving me altitude sickness or if it was his superior kissing skills that had me so dizzy.

He pulled back slightly, resting his forehead against mine. “I’m not trying to talk myself out of anything,” he said against my lips. “I just... I needed you to know what you’re getting into. With me.”

“As in… the danger? Everything that comes with you being The Blade?”

He leaned back all the way. “No. With me. What you said last night about me being more than The Blade? About me being a whole person, acting like you wanted to get to know me?”

I nodded. I remembered. Though it felt like a lifetime ago after everything we went through after the dinner. I also remembered dropping that topic like a hot potato once he’d turned so white he almost matched the linens that covered our table.

“Well, I don’t do… this ,” he said with a sigh, letting me go so he could run a hand through his hair. “So, I guess I just wanted you to know where my head was at right from the start. In case I mess this up.”

I pursued him easily, wrapping my arms around his waist and stepping in to erase any and all distance between us. “You won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

I slid my hands around to his chest as his arms encircled me again, and I smiled. “Actually, I do. You know why? Because you’re telling me this. You’re being next-level honest with me right now about what’s going on in that head of yours, Jax. And if you keep doing that, we’ll be fine.”

He studied me for a long moment, like he was trying to memorize every detail of my face. Then, slowly, he leaned down until his forehead rested against mine.

Again .

It was my new favorite thing—in case anyone cared.

“How are you real?” he murmured.

I stand corrected.

But since he seemed to be barely holding on, I needed another one of those rare smiles. Leaning up, I brushed my lips against his, then whispered, “Um, have you seen your abs? How are you real?”

I didn’t just get a smile that time. The man rewarded me with a laugh—a real, full-on laugh—and the sound had me soaring.

Then his mouth was on mine once again, and everything else faded away.

And this kiss hit different. It was softer, slower. No less intense, but this time, it was because of its sweetness.

His hands slid over my back, pulling me closer as one came up to rest on the back of my neck. And between the size of his hand and that tender yet solid grip?

Help me. I’ve swooned, and I can’t get up.

Yeah, I could’ve stayed like that forever, wrapped in his arms with the city waking up around us.

But of course, that was when my phone decided to ring.

Jax pulled back with a groan. “Your cousin has the worst timing.”

I blinked. “How did you know it was?—”

He tapped his temple with a smirk. “Enhanced cognition.”

What? Like mind reading?

I scowled.

That was not true. Was it?

Pulling out my phone, I gasped when I saw he was right.

He snickered, shaking his head. “I was kidding. Just a lucky guess.”

“Now, who’s a menace?” I muttered, answering the phone. “This better be good, Chris.”

“It is.” His voice crackled with excitement as I put the call on speaker so Jax could hear. “I found something, thanks to a huge rabbit hole. And thanks to that dumpster phone. And it’s something big .”

I straightened. “What kind of something big?”

“The kind that’s going to help us catch him.” The sound of rapid typing clacked in the background. “Can you come over? Both of you?”

I glanced at Jax, who nodded.

“Yeah,” I said to Chris, “we’ll be there soon.”

“Great. Oh, and Luna?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell your fake lover boy to use the door. I heard he has a thing for rooftops and fire escapes.”

I laughed as Jax rolled his eyes. “We’ll use the door.”

After hanging up, I turned back to Jax. “Wait, does Chris have enhanced cognition? How did he know we were up here?”

I scanned the rooftops around us until Jax let out a brief laugh. “That’s not exactly a secret, Luna. Do you even watch the news?”

He had me there. There were plenty of grainy videos of a mysterious rooftop vigilante saved to my YouTube profile, after all.

“I must be getting paranoid.” I shrugged with exaggerated ease. “On that note, ready to go catch a killer?”

His expression turned serious, but there was a warmth in his eyes that I was finally starting to accept could become a long-term thing. “With you? Always.”

And as he scooped me up again to carry me back downstairs, I couldn’t help but think that maybe this was what it felt like when everything finally fell into place.

Even if “everything” included a broody vigilante boyfriend, a serial killer on the loose, and a best friend/cousin who had the worst timing in the world.

But hey, there were also cookies.