“What’s with the picture?”
“I didn’t want to leave it downstairs where it could get snatched.”
“You could have slept downstairs with it.”
“I don’t fit on the couch.”
“You don’t fit here, either.”
“True. But I fit better.”
Carl looked over th
e edge of the bed. “Eep?”
Cat rotated his head and looked slitty-eyed at Carl. Cat wasn’t big on sharing his bed with a monkey. Probably, he wasn’t crazy about sharing it with Diesel, either.
Carl inched his way around the bed to the point where he was farthest away from Cat, carefully climbed onto the bed, and sat hunched, trying to make himself small.
“Does Carl sleep with you when you’re home?” I asked Diesel.
Diesel stripped his T-shirt over his head and kicked his shoes off. “No. He has his own bedroom. You only have one bedroom, so he doesn’t know where to sleep.”
“Like you.”
“Honey, I know exactly where to sleep.”
His jeans hit the floor, and I told myself to look away, but I couldn’t force myself to do it. Diesel naked was a masterpiece of male perfection. I was tempted to turn the light back on, but I was afraid that would be too obvious. He dropped his boxers and slipped under the covers next to me.
“This thing that happens when two people with special abilities get together. You want to explain that to me again?” I said to him.
“One of them loses all their special abilities. No way of knowing ahead which one will be the loser.”
“And just exactly what is it that triggers this power outage? I mean, does there have to be penetration? Does there have to be an exchange of body fluids?”
“Exchange of body fluids is a given, beyond that it’s a gray area.”
“How about contraception? A condom would contain body fluids. What then?”
I could feel Diesel smile. “You want me bad.”
“I do not! That’s ridiculous. I’m just asking.”
He slid his arm around me and nuzzled my neck. He was warm, and he smelled great, and I liked the way he felt pressed against me.
“How about we just fool around a little,” he said.
“Is that allowed?”
“Probably.”
“Is that probably like the I probably can defuse the alarm system?”
“Yeah, it might be similar.”
I heard rustling in the dark room and realized Carl was creeping across the bed, trying to get closer to Diesel and me, trying to find a place to sleep. At the same time, there was movement at the foot of the bed. Cat was uncurling, slowly stalking Carl.
“Maybe you can find a place for Carl to sleep,” I said to Diesel. “I don’t think Cat likes having a monkey in his bed.”