Page 52 of Take You Home

I’m glad we can finally make this a triple date. Obie’s always been the odd one out.

Obie fights back a wince. He’s a firm believer that not everyone needs a romantic partner to be happy, but he also knows that a lot ofpeople‍—especially humans‍—tend to use that as their metric for success and fulfillment.

Maybe everyone is so excited to meet Chester because they’re happy that Obie is happy.

Fake happy, at least. He and “Kyle” aren’t actually dating, after all. They’re just together because of a stupid binding spell that the idiot hunter cast without considering the consequences. But once they break it…

Well. Maybe glamouring Chester tonight was a bad idea. The alley will be devastated when Obie has to fake their breakup. His heart hurts more than expected at the thought.

Sighing, he walks back over to where Chester is chatting with Sasha and Maggie about Sasha’s grad program. Chester’s shoulders seem tense‍—probably from being so close to Maggie, even though Obie made sure to temporarily block Chester’s Sanctum enchantments again‍—but they relax the slightest bit when Obie strolls up.

“Hey,” he says, lifting his sadly empty food carton in greeting. “One mozzarella stick left. You sure you don’t want it?”

Obie shakes his head. “I’m good. Thanks anyway, puppy.”

“Well,Iamstarving,”Trevor announces, slapping a twenty-dollar bill into Chester’s hand. “Go buy us food, Boyfriend Kyle.”

“Um‍—‍” Chester’s eyes flicker over to the Nack Bar, clearly gauging the distance, before he nods. “Yeah. Yeah, sure. Be right back,” he says, and he shoves his last mozzarella stick into his mouth before strolling away.

Trevor barely waits until he’s out of earshot before saying approvingly, “I like him.”

“We all like him,” Sasha agrees, smiling at Obie. “He’s so sweet and funny, Obie! Where’d you find him? And where canIget one?”

“Maybe two, while you’re at it?” Trevor adds. “I’ll accept siblings, cousins‍?—‍”

Obie groans, massaging his temples. “No. No siblings or cousins. And I ‘found’ him, uh, at Lakeside. We bonded over our mutual love of Mina’s bibimbap during the lunch rush, and things just sort of progressed from there.”

Maggie is nodding slowly. Silently, Obie prays that she doesn’t talk to Cass or Ez about Obie’s alleged meet cute anytime soon. “Well, you seem to like him a lot. And he clearly likes you, so…”

The words pique Obie’s interest. “Really?”

Sasha frowns at him. “Did you doubt that? You’re dating him.”

Hastily, Obie backpedals. “Well, yeah, I know that helikesme, but, um. It’s just good to hear from someone else. How can‍—how can you tell?”

The three of them stare at him.

“Look, humans are hard to read sometimes, okay?” Obie says defensively, heat creeping up his neck. “And I haven’t dated in a hot millennium or so. Give a demon a break.”

Trevor snorts out a laugh. “Dude, he keeps peeking over at you like you’re his security blanket. It’s adorable. And he offered you his mozzarella sticks not once, buttwice.That’s love, right there.”

“On a more serious note,” Sasha continues, “he seems really happy whenever people ask about you, and he’s trying really hard to learn everyone’s names. It’s obvious that he couldn’t care less about bowling, but he cares about this place becauseyoucare about it. That’s the biggest tell, I think.”

A wisp of bitterness curls through Obie’s chest.

Right. So Chester is just a good actor. He’s keeping Obie in sight to make sure they don’t run afoul of the binding spell’s limits, and he’s being friendly and polite because that’s just his personality.

Obie hates himself for being a little disappointed.

Sasha excuses herself to walk up to the approach for her upcoming turn, Trevor following in her wake as they discuss how they’re goingto teach “Kyle” how to bowl next week. Once they’re sufficiently distracted, Maggie shifts closer to Obie, lowering her voice. “By the way,” she says quietly, “I think I’m close to finding a paper trail.”

Obie stiffens. “For the neophyte demons who keep ending up in the Sanctum’s prison?”

“Yes.” Maggie’s jaw twitches. “I’m trying to act slowly so my superiors don’t notice, but I might have hard evidence for your, ah, connections in the next week or so. Do any of you have a plan for after that?”

Obie bites back a grimace. “No,” he confesses softly. “But a lot of old paradigms have gotten shaken up in the past six months, so we can hopefully use that to our advantage.”

“Hopefully.” Maggie’s eyes slide back to the lane, watching as Sasha’s first throw predictably goes wide. “I really want this over with sooner rather than later. I‍—I don’t even want to think about how many demons I’ve personally brought to the Chain and promised that they were safe now, only for…” She trails off. “You know.”