I forced a smile. I knew how strong he was—and how much stronger I was than him—but it was how hard he fought for me that made me feel the safest. He loved me and he did his best to protect me. If Will wouldn’t tell me what had happened with Cadan, then he wasn’t ready to tell me. It had taken me a while to figure that out about him.

In any case, I had a long night ahead of me. Who knew what the reapers had in store for me—and I wasn’t just talking about the demonic. We were supposed to meet with Marcus and Ava.

“I have something for you,” Will said suddenly, his face brightening. “Wait here.”

He disappeared through the large kitchen for a moment and returned with my present: a chocolate-dipped waffle bowl with a scoop of my favorite ice cream in it. I squealed as I took the ice cream from him, dancing a little with glee. I set the bowl down and threw my arms around his neck. His scent filled my head, and it felt like home to be so close to him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, his hands touching my bare skin as my hoodie and tank top rode up, and warmth fluttered through me.

“I can’t believe you went to Cold Stone for me!” One would have thought I’d get sick of their ice cream, but nope. It was impossible to get sick of Cookie Doughn’t You Want Some.

“I like when you’re happy,” he said, smiling at me as I dug through the drawers for a spoon. “You had it kind of rough last night, so I hope this will cheer you up.”

“Totally does!” I flashed him a grin and sat down on a stool at the breakfast bar.

He leaned over the counter in front of me, resting his weight on his forearms. “Is it good?”

“Hell yes,” I mumbled through a mouthful. “What a stupid question.”

“Someone once told me that there was no such thing as a stupid question.”

“That definitely qualifies as a stupid question.”

“What if somebody doesn’t like cookie dough? Then they wouldn’t think that ice cream was very delicious.”

“Nobody doesn’t like cookie dough,” I said with a soft laugh. “Especially not my angelic reaper Guardian and his sweet tooth.”

His gaze fell for an instant, and the way he tried to hide his smile made it obvious that I’d embarrassed him a little. “I’m sure there’s someone.”

“You’ll never find a human being alive who doesn’t like cookie dough.”

“So now you’re adding restrictions to this bet?”

“Who said it was a bet?”

“I felt it was implied.”

“Well, all right then.”

“So it has to be a human?” he asked, visibly struggling not to smile. “And alive?”

“We could always add in that dead humans can be included. Your call. Good luck getting them to answer you, though.”

“Let’s stick to living humans.”

“Fine,” I said, staring him down. “It’s a bet.”

His smile grew wide and gorgeous. To say the very least, Will was beautiful. Handsome was too mortal a word. And he was completely unaware of it. And I really wanted him to kiss me right now.

But he wouldn’t. I took a breath and tossed out the thought. I didn’t want to be sad right now. Instead I decided to flirt with him and make his self-imposed distance from me even harder for him to stand. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t human. He was still a guy.

I took another bite, very careful of the way my lips moved around the spoon.

“Want a taste?” I said, arching my mouth into a suggestive smile. I tried hard not to think about how much I sucked at flirting and being sexy. He probably saw right through me.

But as he watched me with a careful gaze, I wondered if I’d succeeded. My nerves lit on fire. He studied every inch of my face, his eyes flickering all over, and my smile faded. “Yeah,” he said at last. “I do.”

My stomach tied in knots and did a series of backflips. My hand turned to jelly as I scooped a spoonful for him and gave him the bite.

He seemed to contemplate the taste for a moment. “Well, I like cookie dough, but it’s still not as good as a melted root beer float.”

I laughed a little louder than I should have. My next spoonful wasn’t as smooth as I watched his eyes flash brightly, but the distraction didn’t totally mess me up. That was, until he laughed and I knew the jig was up.

“What?” I asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Something was apparently hilarious.

He reached for my face and I froze solid, unsure of what he was going to do. He thumbed the tip of my nose and said, “You got ice cream on your face.”

My cheeks flushed with heat, and I felt like a five-year-old who needed a sippy cup.

“You eat like a reaper,” he said with a grin.

I narrowed my eyes. “Thanks, jerk.”

His smile softened, and he brought his thumb to his mouth and licked up what he’d cleaned off my nose. He watched me, and my heart revved like an engine as he reached across the counter again. He tucked my hair behind my ear and drew his fingers around the edge of the ear and traced the line of my jaw.

He started to say something, but then the door to the garage opened and he jerked his hand back. Nathaniel and Lauren appeared, and she was laughing at something he’d just said. I was surprised to see that Nathaniel had attempted to tame his usually untidy, curly copper-brown hair. They looked so happy together, so obviously not just friends, and for a moment I was very jealous of them. I’d never seen them kiss, but I’d bet they did when no one was looking.