Page 140 of Only Fools Rush

Ciel might be the world’s greatest hacker, but he was still human. We all were. Even if it took the rest of my life, one day, I’d convince him of that fact.

He leaned forward and kissed me again, letting his tongue run along the edge of my lip.

“I’m sorry I didn’t sleep in your room last night,” I said against his lips. “I made a promise, and I broke it.”

He smiled a real smile this time, and my heart soared at seeing it return to his face. “It’s fine. You can make it up to me, eventually.”

I knew exactly how I could repay my broken promise. “I have an idea.”

His hand traveled down my leg, and his eyebrow raised in question as I grinned.

“Notthat.” I laughed. “I mean, yes, great idea, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”

His eyes crinkled. “Well, spill, then.”

“I just decided that today we’re taking a rest day,” I said proudly, sitting up straight.

“A rest day? We have so much to do.”

I knew he was thinking about the information Fallon gave him on the hacker, and the meeting with Giulio, and the VCI board meeting, but all of that could wait for one day.

“Yep,” I said. “Ryuji and Obi are in China. Wynn is helping Fallon. Cas is sleeping. I think we need a day to recover from the non-stop rollercoaster that is our lives. Let’s just post up on the couch with as many snacks as possible. World domination can pick up again tomorrow.”

He considered for a moment. “I am behind on my binge-watching.”

“See? This is a great idea.”

“Breakfast, then shows, and all-day naps.” He sighed wistfully. “Just like the good ol’ days.”

“We can have our phones for emergencies, but no other screens besides the TV,” I said, disentangling myself from his lap. I’d half-expected him to disagree, but some of the tension in his shoulders seemed to bleed away.

“I can’t remember the last time I took a day off,” he muttered. He followed me to raid the pantry. He reached up to the highest shelf, the one I could barely see, and pulled down an entire bag of fun-sized candy bars.

My eyes went wide. “What the hell is that?”

“Obi’s secret stash. He can’t resist, but he refuses to buy them in the big sizes. We go through probably a bag a week.”

“I couldn’t even see those up there!” I said, tearing into the bag, and pulling out my favorite bar with a caramel-covered cookie on the inside.

“Don’t tell him I told you.”

“Our little secret,” I mumbled, mouth full. As I chewed, I pulled out more snacks—chips, popcorn, crackers, even those bland rice cake things Wynn liked to snack on.

“Here.” Ciel handed me some pocky sticks and gummy bears, also hidden on the top shelf.

“What the actual fuck?” I laughed. “Assassins with a sweet tooth.”

As he carried all the snack bags to the living room, I pulled out fruit, cheese, and some leftover cured meats from the fridge. Girl dinner for breakfast.

By the time I carried my plates to the living room, he had all the snacks arranged on the coffee table and was flipping through streaming apps.

“What do you want to watch?”

I shrugged. “You pick what you want to catch up on.”

“What if you haven’t seen it?”

“You know,” I said as I sat on the couch, tucking my legs underneath me, “I’m actually a pretty smart gal. I bet I can figure it out.”