Chapter 4 Present
FOUR
PRESENT
ARNICK
I could invite Theo over to my place, and decorate it with fairy lights, order his favorite food, and do all the things he liked. Over dinner, I could tell him the truth and hope to Afterworld he accepted me.
Or what if I got him a gift? Maybe a keychain or bracelet with a tiny flower bouquet to remind him of our first meeting, and a small figurine of my demon form? And when he asked me about it, I would go, "That's me. I want to give you all of me on your birthday."
I groaned, burying my face in my hands. Thank fuck Theo wasn't around to see me like this. He was working today, though he'd told me he was going to take the day off on his birthday. He was paying Jade double to work that day, and she was delighted about the extra money.
Neither of my ideas so far felt right. One felt like too much, the other too little. I needed something that suited us. Something that would soften Theo up enough that he wouldn't jump straight to feeling betrayed.
I knew he hadn't had the best luck with relationships, and I didn't want him to think I was anything like his exes.
What if we went out to a restaurant, and I used a little glamour on something? Gave him a taste of my magic so he'd be open to the rest of my revelation? That... that could work.
Though doing it in a public place would be risky. If anyone else saw it, I'd be in big trouble.
Theo's place. That would be the perfect location. I felt more at home in his apartment anyway. I could ask to spend the day with him, and decorate the place while he was in the shower or something.
Since dessert was our love language, I could bake—or magick up, since I still hadn't quite gotten the hang of it, despite Theo's many lessons—a cake, and maybe when Theo cut it, a message could pop up giving him a hint about me. And then I'd tell him everything.
That... that could work. It had to, because losing Theo was not an option.
The ringing of my phone pulled me out of my thoughts, and I smiled when I saw Theo's name.
"Hey," I greeted, glancing up at the clock. It was his lunch time. While we usually ate together, I'd told him I had a deadline today so I could sit here and plan the big reveal. I'd thought it would take me all day to come up with a plan.
"Hey, I know you're working, but I just wanted to check in. How's the manuscript coming along?"
A few more days, and I wouldn't have to lie to him anymore. If that was because he knew the truth or because he knew the truth and left me, remained to be seen.
"It's going well," I forced out, wishing I could tell him the truth now. "I think I'll be done sooner than I'd thought, so I'm glad you called."
"Yeah? Me too. I made your favorite chocolate lava cake today," he said, and I groaned.
"That's not fair. I want to come over now."
Theo snickered. "Don't worry. I kept a piece aside for you. I'll bring it over later."
I grinned. He knew me so well. "You're the best boyfriend in the world," I said, wishing I could use the word I so desperately wanted to: mate.
Boyfriend just didn't encompass the way Theo made me feel.
How I felt a tug in my heart whenever we were apart, how just having him close made my heart beat faster and my shoulders loosen.
"You're not so bad yourself," he said, a smile in his voice, and I sighed, hoping that fondness would never leave his voice when talking to me. "Okay, I need to finish my lunch. Jade keeps waggling her brows at me."
I laughed, then wished him a good day. He wished me luck with the rest of the 'manuscript' before ending the call, and I dropped the phone on the couch with a sigh.
Glancing around the small apartment I'd called mine for the last few months, I wondered why exactly I felt more at home at Theo's place.
Maybe it was the fact that all the furniture here had been copied straight out of a catalog, and all the paintings on the walls were nothing more than bland landscapes I'd seen in yet another magazine. This place wasn't me, not like my room in the demon realm.
Theo's place, on the other hand, was warm like him.
His couch was big enough to cuddle in, and covered with brightly colored throw pillows.
All his furniture was warm, dark wood, and his walls were colored sunset orange and covered in pictures of him, Jade, his parents—who'd died in a car accident when he was twenty—and some of his baked goods that had gotten him awards in various contests.
Theo's home always smelled like fresh bread and chocolate, and when he baked, I could practically taste the cupcakes from anywhere in the house.
Shaking my head, I decided to spend the rest of my afternoon walking around town. It'd been a few days since I'd patrolled, and I wanted to get it out of the way before the big day.
While I would sense any dark soul that ventured too close, they knew that too, and they might stick to the very edges to avoid detection.
Patrolling every once in a while let me check if any dark souls had passed through at any point in the last few days.
The residue they left behind was like the grease that had covered my hand that time I'd cleaned out Theo's oven after ruining a cake.
I could still feel traces of it on my hands even after washing with soap twice.
In the end, I'd used magic to get rid of it.
THEO
"I think Arnick is hiding something from me," I said as I wiped the counter, and Jade eyed me as she leaned her hip against it.
"Hiding something like he got you a gift for your birthday? Or hiding something like he's cheating on you?"
I didn't meet her gaze, keeping my focus on wiping at a ring of coffee someone had left on the white linoleum. Why had I picked white? I should've gone with something a little less likely to get dirty, like a brown-patterned one. "The second."
Jade snorted, pulling my gaze to her. This wasn't funny. I was truly worried, and she was supposed to empathize, damn it.
"What?"
"Have you seen the way that man looks at you? If he cheats on you, there will be no hope for anyone in this world."
"You're exaggerating."
"Like hell I am. That man looks at you like you hung the moon, Theo. He loves you. There is no way in hell he would cheat on you."
"But—"
"Listen to me," she said, grabbing my arm and turning me to face her. "Forget your past experiences. Forget your exes. Just focus on Arnick. Think about him and tell me—do you honestly think he's the kind of man who would cheat on someone?"
I thought about Arnick, about how earnest he'd been since day one.
How adorably awkward he'd been on our first date, how sweet he'd been every day since.
How he woke up when I did in the middle of the night and got me a glass of water without me needing to ask.
How he ate every single one of my baked goods like it was his first time, how he held me so close every time we kissed, and how reluctant he was to end each one.
"No," I murmured, and the realization made something untwist in my chest as my shoulders loosened in relief. No, Arnick wasn't a cheater. If he didn't want to see me anymore, he would tell me. But he would never cheat on me.
"What if he wants to break up with me? And he's trying to find a way to do it before my birthday?"
Jade stared at me, then covered her face with her palm as she groaned. "Dude, why?"
"I can't help it! But there is something off—I know it. I just don't know what he's hiding from me."
"Why don't you just ask him?" she suggested, and I blanched.
"Ask him? I can't ask him!"
"Why not? He's pretty open, isn't he? I'm sure he won't be offended by the question, not if he knows how much it's worrying you."
I gazed at Jade, meeting her warm blue eyes.
She'd been my friend since the day she walked into Cozy Cuppa looking for a job, and I valued her opinions a lot.
She'd helped me turn this place into the kind of cozy hangout I'd envisioned, where people were welcome to spend a few hours working on their laptops, or get together with friends, or just have a few moments of quiet on their own.
I adored Jade, but there was no way I could listen to her this time.
Asking Arnick point-blank what he was hiding from me wouldn't go well.
He'd either be offended I thought he was keeping secrets from me, or he'd tell me and it would be something I can't move past, or it would be something personal that didn't affect me in any way, and I'd be the jerk who made him tell me before he was ready.
There was no acceptable scenario, and I wasn't risking it, especially not two days before my birthday. This was the best relationship I'd ever been in, and I didn't want to ruin it.
If Arnick was planning to break up with me, he would have to do it himself. I wasn't going to do anything to make it easier for him.
"Yeah, I can tell you aren't going to listen to me," Jade said, showing just how well she knew me. "Just—keep an open mind, okay? Who knows, maybe he'll tell you whatever it is himself."
The chances of that happening were slim, but I nodded for Jade's sake just as a group of college students came in, distracting us from the conversations.
Their complicated orders were enough to keep me from worrying about Arnick, and I focused on making their Grande Cold Brew with Two Pumps Vanilla, One Pump Hazelnut, Splash of Oat Milk, and Light Ice, Iced Americano with Four Shots, Light Water, Extra Ice, and a Splash of Heavy Cream, and a bunch of other complicated orders that I barely just remembered.
The younger crowd always ordered the most complicated drinks, but they also tipped well, so it evened out.
Once the gang had their drinks, they retreated to a corner booth and started pulling out notebooks and laptops, telling me they'd be there for a while. I hoped they'd order a bunch of refills because making those drinks left little time for my brain to run down the worry lane.
"I think we need to brighten up this place a little."
"Maybe some fairy lights?" I mused, and her eyes lit up.
"That could work!"
"I was thinking of making some bite-sized cakes for my birthday. You could hand them out with every order. What do you think?"
"You really want to take up the extra work instead of focusing on your big day?"
I shrugged. I figured focusing on the mini-cakes would keep me from worrying about Arnick too much.
"I think it's a good idea, but don't push yourself, okay?"
"I'll start making them tonight, since I won't be working on the actual day."
"How you ever thought I'd let you work on your birthday is beyond me," she said, and I rolled my eyes at her as one of the college kids came up to place refill orders.
Taking their order, I went to work, thinking about how I'd make the mini-cakes and not about Arnick's secrets, whatever they might be.