Chapter 43
forty-three
. . .
The next morning, as I’m poking at my cereal, a text from Meggie comes in.
Shit. I was supposed to meet up with her after my meeting but, with running into Kit, I told her I was too tired.
She asked to see me before or after work the next day, but instead of telling her I was very busy doing many other things with Kit, I asked if we could see each other the next day. And now, well, it’s the next day.
I groan, causing Kit to peek up at me from where his head is buried in the laptop.
Hazel is curled up in his lap, sound asleep.
They must have forged a connection when he possessed her, because she loves him so much more than she loves me.
He’s hunting for jobs, now that all his official documents are in the clear.
I told him it was perfectly reasonable to give himself a little break after everything, that I could take care of us for a while, but he insists on looking.
No harm, I guess. I just don’t want him to exhaust himself.
No matter how much sleep he’s gotten since arriving, the dark circles under his eyes look permanent.
“What?” he asks.
“Meggie wants to get dinner tonight after I get off work.”
“And that’s bad…?”
I puff out my cheeks before releasing a breath. “Not exactly. She’s going to be able to tell that I’m happy, especially since I’ve been moping for a month.”
Kit closes the laptop and rotates his full body to me, careful to not disturb the cat. “And that’s bad…?”
“I don’t know how to explain you.”
“How about, ‘Hey, sis. Look at this hot guy I met. I love him, so don’t say anything mean to his face. He’s fragile.’” He gives me a goofy grin.
I roll my eyes. “Fine. You’re right. I’m making this more of a thing than it needs to be. I’ll tell her the truth—or as close to it as I can get.” I kick him lightly with my foot. “Do you want to come with? So I can introduce you officially?”
He wiggles his eyebrows. “Ooo. Meeting the big sis. This feels like a bigger step than meeting your mom.”
I kick him a little harder. “You’re not wrong. If my mom doesn’t like you, that’s her problem. If Meggie doesn’t like you, that’s your problem. So, you need to behave. Promise you will say nothing about Hell, demons, or any references to being inside of me, no matter the context.”
He holds up his right hand. “Scouts honor.”
Kit and I are late to dinner. We were ready on time, we just found ourselves getting distracted. Twice.
I put on the lavender skirt Kit bought me, pairing it with the cardigan since there’s a light chill in the air. Once we arrive, Kit separates from me to go use the restroom. I find Meggie in the middle of the restaurant.
“Hi,” I say, taking my seat. “Sorry. Lost track of time.”
She sips her white wine with an eyebrow raised. “Right. And where is this person making you lose track of time?”
“Bathroom,” I say. I glance around to make sure Kit is not coming to the table and lean forward to hiss, “Be nice to him.”
She feigns insult. “When am I not nice?”
“You were horrible to Jack when you first met him.”
“Jack was a dick.”
“Okay, that’s true. What about Simon? He was fine, he just wasn’t for me.”
“I was nice to Simon!”
“You told him he was cheap.”
Meggie huffs. “I told him that he needed to offer to pay for you every now and then. Be a gentleman, goddamn it.”
Before I can respond to that, her eyes move behind me to watch as Kit comes to the table.
“Sorry,” he says, sitting next to me and pressing a kiss to my temple. “I will never get used to peeing again. It is so unnecessary and weirdly time-consuming. You don’t realize how time-consuming it is until you don’t have to do it for hundreds of years.”
I grab his knee and squeeze a little harder than I need to. I say to my sister, “He’s joking. Megs, this is Kit. Kit, Meggie.”
Kit reaches a hand across the table. “Hi,” he says. “Nice to meet you. I was definitely joking. I regularly use the bathroom and have for every moment I’ve been alive.”
My nails dig harder into his knee. I’m going to kill him. “Wow, this is a great time to change the subject.” I look to my sister. “Kit is the friend I told you about who helped me with the video I submitted.”
Her eyes light up. “Oh! She said you moved to Missouri. I’m glad you ended up sticking around.”
He smiles, brow furrowing at the Missouri comment. “Me, too.” Then he says, more to me than her, “I’m not going anywhere.”
I un-dig my nails from his knee, offering a gentle stroke of his thigh instead. “I know.”
Meggie slaps a hand over her heart. “Aw, he knows how to cater to your abandonment issues!”
I whip my head around to her. “Can we not talk about my ‘abandonment issues’ over dinner?” I curve my fingers with the term abandonment issues.
Meggie says into her wine, “I’d retire those air quotes, Lace.”
Kit presses another smiling kiss to my temple as I snip, “I am well aware I have things to work through. I understand that I push people away and they don’t just decide to leave me, and I know the significant people who have left me didn’t do so by choice, okay?
Happy? I will find a goddamn therapist.”
Kit says, “I need one, too, so we can embark on that journey together, sweetness.”
When the waiter comes by and Kit’s attention is on them, Meggie locks eyes with me and mouths, He’s cute!
I can’t help the grin that takes over my face. Once we’re done ordering, Kit asks, “So, did you tell her about the meeting?”
God, I completely forgot. How bad is that? I haven’t heard anything from them yet, but they said a month, and it’s been two days, so I’m trying not to be too restless about it. I give Meggie the rundown, and her eyes light up.
“That’s amazing. Wow, eventful couple of days, huh?”
She doesn’t know the half of it.
“Less talk about me,” I proclaim. “How’s work going?”
“Good!” she says. “We’re getting closer to the launch date for our app, which means everything is hectic, but I love a little chaos.”
The rest of the night is great. Meggie seems to like Kit, thank god, and Kit does not make any more references to him relearning how to be a human.
After dinner, we drive back to my apartment. Kit’s hand is on my thigh as we drive. I never want him to stop touching me. It’s a need at this point, to prove that our bodies are our own and we can use them to show what we feel for one another.
I realize how much I needed that dinner with my sister. Introducing him to Meggie, someone with no connection to the supernatural world, makes him feel real. Solidly real. He’s here with me in the flesh. In his own flesh. And I’ve finally gotten it into my head that he’s planning to stay.