Page 87 of Beautiful Chaos
“What?”
He smacks me.
“Ouch! Why did you do that?”
I rub my shoulder. That shit hurt my feelings.
“Theymight not know you, butyou do,you dumbass.”
“Don’t call me a dumbass.”
“Then stop acting like a dumbass.” Hopper blows out a frustrated breath. “If you could kill all day long every day, you would. You would endurance train for that shit. You would slice through people like that old-school Fruit Ninja game. Remember that?”
I grin. “Yeah, that’s a good time.”
The geeks in Wimberley’s tech department created a version of that game for me so I can slice through digital heads when I need to take the edge off.
“Exactly. And yet, do you kill innocent people? All day every day? Do you slake your never-ending bloodlust with the unsuspecting public?”
“Of course not. Edison taught me how to understand and control my impulses.”
“Sure. Excellent. But there’s the other side of that equation you keep forgetting.”
“What do you mean?”
Hopper gives me a warm smile, which he’s been doing more and more of since he and Liam adopted Bailey.
“Edison may have shown you the ropes, but you had to take it to heart for the lesson to stick.”
I scratch my brow, considering his words. “True.”
“Which is why you’re a dumbass.”
I growl low in my chest.
“Only a dumbass would ignore all the evidence that has been laid at your feet.”
I cross my arms and huff out a breath. “I might need to kill something again.”
Hopper grins. “As it happens, I do have a bonus asshole we can hit on the way back to the condo.”
Sweet.
“God, we’re so fucked in the head.” I laugh.
“True. But that doesn’t mean we’re horrible people.” He throws out an open gesture before adding, “Necessarily.”
I sit with my feelings for a moment. Hopper is definitely not horrible. He’s great. And if I think he can be great, then maybe I’m not as horrible as I try to make myself out to be.
Cupcake nudges me as I make my way into the condo.
That second kill really did make me feel better.
I take another shower and come back to find a message from Oakley.
I hem and haw for a moment, then pull up our thread.
Oakley: Did you tell Hedy about what happened today?
