It seemed to piss Ivan off as much as Cooper might expect. His cousin lost the tense air he’d been holding, a vein in his temple jumping as his jaw clenched—never a good sign. “Are you sureyou’renot scaring Cooper?” he asked Chaos in a voice as cold as ice.
But of course Chaos wasn’t intimidated. “It’s different when it’s me,” he said haughtily. “I’m afraid your tiny human brain wouldn’t understand.”
Jesus. A fight couldnotbreak out between the two of them. Chaos hadn’t seemed opposed to killing Ivan, and having a murdered mob boss in his apartment was the last thing Cooper needed.
Besides, Ivan might have been kind of terrifying, but it wasn’t like Cooper actually wanted to end his life. Ivan wasn’t nearly the monster Dimitri had been. He was just…scary. But that wasn’t an execution-worthy offense in Cooper’s opinion, no matter what Chaos might think.
“Um, you can send me the details,” Cooper managed to say, trying to keep an eye on both of them at the same time. Now it sounded likehewas the one dismissing Ivan from his presence. But he couldn’t figure out how else to break this tension.
Ivan didn’t respond, and it was Nix who asked, “You sure you two will be all right?”
Cooper felt the sharp, bitter sting of jealousy again. Did Nix want to stay here, with Chaos?
But Chaos only said, “Go away, Nix.” Bright and cheerful and just as dismissive as he’d been with Ivan.
When Nix’s gaze swung to him, Cooper only shrugged. He didn’t need protection from Chaos. Whatever happened would happen. Cooper had already decided to lean into the uncertainty his demon had brought into his life. It may have made his stomach flip, but Cooper was used to that. And he was learning that maybe it was a good thing every now and then, to be uncomfortable in that way. Cooper had spent too long shying away from discomfort, caging himself in.
It was a safer way to live, maybe, but it had also made his life lonely and small.
With another glare at Chaos from Ivan, Ivan and Nix finally left. Cooper ran after them to lock the doors behind them—just because he was giving in to the uncertainty didn’t mean he had to let go of safety altogether—and then pressed his forehead to the door, taking in deep, soothing breaths.
Chaos stood next to him, cocking his head like he was listening. A mischievous grin graced his lips. “Your Ivan’s annoyed. He thinks they can’t control me.” His grin widened, his golden eyes twinkling. “He’s right. They can’t.”
Cooper let out a breathless laugh. At least he wasn’t the only one out of his depth when it came to this demon.
Cooper satcross-legged on the couch, stewing in his own nervousness as he clenched his hands in his lap, trying to stop chewing on his fingers. Chaos was perched next to him, their knees just touching. His head was cocked again, like he was studying Cooper.
He’d been quiet a surprisingly long time, but now he spoke, “We won’t go if you’re so scared, puppy.”
To the meeting, Chaos meant. He was offering to skip it. For Cooper.
Cooper shoved his glasses up his nose as he tilted his head to glance at the demon. “But Nix said it would be…fun for you.”
Nix had actually said Chaos might get to kill someone, but Cooper wasn’t up for repeating that at the moment. The thought of his new friend murdering some mobster, even with Cooper’s awareness of who and what Chaos was, would still take some adjusting to.
Chaos suddenly grabbed Cooper’s hand, coaxing it out of its clenched fist to examine his bitten-down nails. “Staying withyouis fun for me,” he muttered.
Cooper sighed. “Bracchus.”
Chaos pouted at him, pinching Cooper’s knuckle. “What?”
“When you do find your human mate, you can’t go pushing aside your own needs for them like that all the time,” Cooper chastised. “It’s not healthy.”
Cooper knew a little bit about that, from his one disastrous relationship. He’d made himself small and unobtrusive and ignored his every inner instinct, and his boyfriend hadstillbeen a massive dickhead to him in the end. Cooper didn’t want anything like that for Chaos. The demon was too…sweet, for all that he was dangerous and maybe a little feral.
Chaos’s pout deepened. “You think I’m lying.”
“I think you need more excitement than holing up with me in my apartment,” Cooper told him, arching a brow.
“Wehavedone more than that,” Chaos argued, his tone petulant all of a sudden. “The hotel. Sex. Geese with knives.”
Cooper bit back a smile. Chaos was trying to be thoughtful, in his own way. He didn’t want to push Cooper into something he didn’t want. Something that scared him. But Cooper had been to dozens of meetings like this before, and he’d always survived. They might make him a bit nervous, but he could push through the discomfort. And he’d have Chaos there, watching his back. Cooper had never had that before.
“We’ll go,” he said firmly, curling his fingers around Chaos’s hand, and before Chaos could protest, he added, “Would you like to practice kissing with me some more?”
Chaos blinked back at him, mouth half-open. Cooper had actually caught him off guard for once. Cooper had never been the one to suggest they start their “practice” before—he always let Chaos take the lead when it came to that.
But right now, Cooper wanted it—needed it—and he didn’t want to wait for it to happen. He’d been forced to watch Chaos snuggle up to beautiful Nix, and now Chaos was being so unbearably sweet, offering to give up exciting bloodshed just to make Cooper more comfortable.
