Unleashing Chaos

Chapter Thirty-Six

On my last morning in the human realm, I'm awakened by a gentle brush of fingertips over my forehead, pushing my hair out of my eyes. I open them to see Jace sitting on the edge of the bed, one arm over me, palm flat on the mattress, the other tangled in my curls.

"Good morning," I rasp, reaching up to run my knuckles over his stubbled jaw.

"Good morning, little hurricane," he says, leaning down to brush his lips against mine. His breath is fresh and minty, and I am have never been so glad for my lack of morning breath in my life.

"You're up early," I say, glancing at the clock to see 6:30 a.m. flashing on the screen. "Even for you."

"It's your last day, Desi. I didn't think you'd want to waste a minute."

I sit up quickly, nearly hitting my head on the headboard. "I don't. What did you have in mind?"

He reaches over to the bedside table and plucks a strawberry from the platter he must've brought from the kitchen. "First, breakfast in bed," he says with a grin, holding it to my mouth.

I part my lips and let him pop it in as he pulls the top off and tosses it into the trash. "Mmm, that's delicious." I lazily point toward the platter and wiggle my fingers until a piece of the red fruit lands in my palm. "Your turn," I murmur, sliding the fruit through his lips.

He takes a bite and nods. "It's a good strawberry, but I think having you feed it to me made it better."

Scooting into the bed beside me, Jace places the plate on his lap. He cuts into the eggs benedict and hands me the fork. "You and Meredith were up late. How many bottles of wine did the two of you kill?"

I laugh and take a bite before giving him one. "Two and a half. I'm gonna miss her. She's been a really good friend to me through all of this."

He hands me a slice of bacon and takes a bite out of the second strip. "And how much did you tell her about our trip?"

I chomp on the bacon and avoid his steely gaze. "I—uh—well, I didn't—I mean, you—"

"I'd never tell you that you shouldn't talk about what has gone on between you and me with someone else. I'm just wondering if she will be imagining me naked the next time she drops by a pan of brownies."

I nearly choke on the bacon and have to take a giant swig of orange juice to wash it down. "I—Well, I don't know how to break this to you, handsome, but she's been imagining you naked since you moved in," I say, my eyes roaming down his shirtless, grey-sweatpants-clad frame.

He takes a swig of orange juice and hands me the cup. "Well, I hope you told her it's all she ever fantasized about. I'd hate to think I've lost my oldest admirer."

It will take a miracle to make Meredith think Jace is anything short of godly. The angel spent a good portion of the night asking me questions about him and going on about what a shame it was that he wasn't ready to commit to a relationship. I had to hold myself in my chair at one point when she mentioned a long list of friends she thought would match well with him. At end of the night, I hugged her and told her I'd miss her, keeping my lingering feelings for Jace to myself.

"I told her you weren't all that just to make sure she knew it was paws off until a respectable amount of time passes," I deadpan. "Hardest lie I've ever told."

His jaw drops. "Meredith is going to make a move on me? Jeremy will be pounding down my door."

I grin and say, "Meredith is an angel. She would never do such a thing." I wiggle my eyebrows to see if he catches my drift.

At first, he just keeps eating, but then looks up at me with wide eyes. "Wait, what? Like, an angel angel?"

"Yep. I found out a couple weeks ago! Suspected for a while."