Chapter 16 #3
“HUNTER!” she shrieked, spinning on her heel and bolting down the hallway. “HUNTER, YOU OWE ME TWENTY DOLLARS! I TOLD YOU THEY WOULD SLEEP TOGETHER!”
Her voice echoed through the penthouse, followed by the sound of muffled, excited shouting.
Cipher slid a plate in front of me. The eggs were perfectly scrambled, the toast golden brown. He looked entirely too pleased with himself.
“Your breakfast, Annie.”
I stared at the food, my appetite evaporating. “They had a bet about us?”
“Apparently so.” He leaned against the counter, watching me. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“This isn’t—“ I started, then stopped, my brain scrambling for the right words. “We’re not—“
What exactly weren’t we? Dating? Obviously not. Just sleeping together? That didn’t quite cover the emotional hurricane that had swept through his bedroom. Friends with benefits? The word “friends” didn’t belong anywhere near what Cipher and I had.
My left eyebrow was probably having a seizure by now.
Cipher watched me flounder with that infuriating half-smile and took a sip of his coffee.
“It’s just breakfast, Annie,” he said quietly.
He was giving me an out. A way to save face without having to define whatever this was between us.
Relief washed through me, followed immediately by a stab of something that felt uncomfortably like disappointment. Which was ridiculous. Of course I wanted an out. I needed an out.
“Right,” I said, picking up my fork. “Just breakfast.”
I took a bite of the eggs. They were perfect, because of course they were. Even his cooking had to be irritatingly competent.
“Thank you,” I added, not entirely sure if I was thanking him for the food or the escape hatch he’d just provided.
His eyes held mine for a beat too long. “Anytime, Sparks.”
Cipher’s car glided through morning traffic, the tinted windows keeping the outside world at bay. He sat beside me, one hand on the wheel, the other resting casually on his thigh. The silence between us wasn’t uncomfortable, exactly, but it felt weighted.
I watched the city blur past, trying to organize my thoughts into something resembling coherence. Last night had changed things between us or maybe it had just exposed what was already there, lurking beneath the surface of my carefully cultivated hatred.
“The Nemesis match is in two days,” I finally said, my voice sounding too loud.
Cipher’s eyes remained fixed on the road. “It is.”
“Are you ready?”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “I’ve been planning for it my whole life, Annie. I’m ready.”
So, what are we now? The question burned in my throat, desperate to escape. I’d spent the night with him, my body, my soul completely exposed for him to see. Surely I could handle a simple conversation.
“What are we doing here?” I blurted out, immediately cringing at how it sounded. “I mean what is this? Between us?”
Cipher’s eyes flicked to me briefly before returning to the road. “Define ‘this.’”
“Don’t be difficult,” I muttered. “You know what I’m asking. After everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been through, what would you call us now?”
He was quiet for a moment, his fingers tapping a thoughtful rhythm against the steering wheel.
“I’m not sure what I’d call it,” he said finally. “But I know what I’m offering you. The freedom to let go whenever you need me, no matter what. The same thing I offered you last night.”
The car slowed as we approached a red light and Cipher turned to look at me fully.
“I’ll offer you more as soon as you want it,” he added.
My heart stuttered in my chest. “And if I never want more?”
The light turned green, but Cipher didn’t immediately accelerate.
“Then I’ll keep giving you exactly what you ask for,” he said simply. “For as long as you keep asking.”
The car moved forward again and I turned to look out the window, watching the Tower grow larger on the horizon. It was a physical manifestation of all my responsibilities, all the reasons why whatever was happening between Cipher and me was doomed before it could even be defined.
“And if I stop asking?”
Cipher took my hand, his fingers curling around mine, warm and solid.
“You won’t,” he said, the certainty in his voice both infuriating and oddly comforting.
Cipher pulled up to the plaza outside the Tower. Through the windows, I could see Keepers and Heroes going about their morning business, oblivious to the League member in their midst.
My fingers fidgeted with the seatbelt clasp, reluctant to break the strange bubble we’d created. Once I stepped out of this car, reality would come crashing back.
“Cipher, are you really okay with this? With just what you’re offering? Just me asking when I need you, nothing more?”
He studied me. The morning light caught the angles of his face, highlighting the sharp line of his jaw, the fullness of his lips that had been all over my body just an hour ago.
“Annie, I’ve spent my entire life calculating odds, predicting outcomes and manipulating the variables to get exactly what I want.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I know exactly what I’m offering, and I know exactly what it will cost me.”
“And you’re still offering it?”
“Yes.” No hesitation, no uncertainty.
“Why?”
“Because every time you come to me, every time you let yourself fall apart in my arms, you’re one step closer to admitting what we both already know.”
“Which is?”
He leaned across the console, his lips brushing against mine in a kiss that was barely there. “That you’re mine, Annie Bishop. Whether you hate me or not.”
His thumb traced my lower lip, silencing any protest I might have made. “Now go, before I decide to kidnap you again.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt with shaking hands and reached for the door handle.
“Annie.” His voice stopped me. “Message me when you need me.”
I nodded once, not trusting myself to speak, and stepped out into the morning light.