CHAPTER 194: CHAPTER 194: ROMANTICALLY, OF COURSE.

For a long second, the only sound in the car was the low idle of the engine and Connor’s heartbeat thudding against his ribs. He turned his head slowly, eyes narrowing. "Choose you... how?" His voice was cautious, like someone poking at a trap with a stick. "What exactly do you mean by ’be with you?"

Uno tilted his head, as if the question were absurd, blue eyes glinting under the dash light. "Romantically, of course."

Connor blinked. Once. Twice. He opened his mouth, shut it again, then dragged a hand down his face. "You’re joking," he muttered, but there was no humor in his voice, only disbelief. "You’re sitting here, the supreme god, the Creator of everything, and you’re telling me you want to... date me?"

Uno’s smile turned slow and wicked. "I didn’t say date. Mortals have such... small words."

Connor stared at him, flabbergasted by the sheer audacity of this man, no, this god, lounging in his passenger seat like a cat in a sunbeam. "You’re unbelievable," he muttered. "You’re literally unbelievable."

He exhaled sharply, scrubbing his palms against the wheel. "I’m an alpha," he said finally, blunt and exasperated. "And I don’t have any intention of being a bottom."

Uno blinked at him, then broke into a grin so bright it was almost boyish. "Oh, Connor. You say that like you’ve tried."

Connor snapped his head around, scandalized. "I don’t need to try—!"

Uno held up a finger, a smirk curling like smoke. "Everyone needs to try at least once."

Connor made a strangled noise somewhere between a groan and a laugh, turning back to the windshield like it could save him. "Gods above. I’m being propositioned by the literal Creator in my car. I’m going to drive us into a lake."

Uno laughed softly, leaning back in the seat as if this was all perfectly normal. "If you do," he murmured, "I’ll still be here when the water rises."

Connor dropped his forehead to the steering wheel and muttered, "I hate my life," but his ears were burning. "Now I know what Elias felt with Victor velcroed to him."

Uno’s laugh turned into an actual bark of amusement, sharp and delighted. "Velcroed?" he repeated, eyes glinting. "That’s how you see it? I like that. I may keep it."

Connor groaned into the steering wheel. "Of course you will."

"Relax, Connor," Uno said, drawing out his name like a purr. "I’m not asking for forever, or worship, or even obedience. I’m only asking for a chance. That’s what mortals do, isn’t it? Give each other chances?"

Connor turned his head just enough to glare at him, eyes narrowed. "Mortals also don’t usually have to wonder if their date is going to unmake the universe mid-kiss."

Uno pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. "I’m capable of restraint."

Connor snorted. "Yeah, and I’m capable of ballet."

Uno’s grin only widened, leaning a little closer across the console. "You’d look wonderful in tights."

"Stop," Connor said flatly, holding up a hand. "Just... stop talking for two seconds."

Uno tilted his head, smile still curling at the corners of his mouth, but for the first time his voice dipped softer, less teasing. "You think I don’t know how frightening I am," he said. "But you’re still here. You haven’t run."

Connor sat back, the engine idling low, staring at the road ahead. "Maybe I’m just too tired to run," he muttered.

Uno’s fingers tapped against the armrest in a lazy rhythm. "Or maybe," he said, eyes bright again, "you’re curious what it would be like if the Velcro stuck to you."

Connor made a sound halfway between a laugh and a groan. "I’m never living this down."

"No," Uno agreed cheerfully. "You’re not."

Connor started the engine and tried his best to think about something else, then he remembered the thing that had made Uno curious to be there in the first place.

"Aren’t you busy dealing with the soulless unborn child of Anna?" he asked, voice sharp in the dim hush of the car.

"No." Uno said, plucking a stick of gum from the holder on the console, peeling the wrapper with infuriating calm.

Connor’s grip tightened on the wheel. "Then you lied?"

Uno popped the gum into his mouth, chewing slowly, his grin lazy. "No, I’m just waiting for it to be born. Two months."

Connor turned his head sharply, eyes narrowing. "Two months, and you’re just... what? Hanging out in my car until then?"

Uno blew a small bubble with the gum, the snap loud in the silence before he shrugged. "Why not? Your company is far more amusing than watching a womb do its work. Besides..." He leaned back, stretching long legs against the floorboard as though he owned the space. "You ask better questions. The others just pray."

Connor swore under his breath, jaw tightening. "So you’re telling me you’re the most powerful being in existence, you’re waiting for a soulless child to be born, and in the meantime you’re... what, flirting with me and chewing gum?"

Uno’s eyes sparkled, his grin widening until it looked almost boyish. "Exactly. Mortality is delicious in its simplicity." He tilted his head, studying Connor like he was the only puzzle worth solving. "And you make it very entertaining."

Connor groaned, thumping his head once against the headrest. "Can’t you be with your old friend Victor until then?"

"No," Uno said without hesitation, popping his gum again. "He’s in his honeymoon phase. I’m not suicidal."

Connor blinked, the corner of his mouth twitching despite himself. "Can he kill you?"

"No," Uno said cheerfully. "But he can put me to sleep. And right now," his grin curved slow and feline, "I’m much more interested in you."

Connor tightened his hands on the wheel, staring at the empty street as if it might produce an exit ramp from this entire conversation. "Great. The Creator of everything is bored, and I’m the entertainment."

Uno leaned closer, propping his chin on his palm, his elbow resting on the console like they’d been on a hundred road trips. "Not just entertainment," he said softly. "Curiosity. Desire. Potential."

Connor barked a laugh, short and disbelieving. "Potential for what? To die first? You want to see what happens when an alpha has a nervous breakdown in a compact sedan?"

Uno’s grin deepened, eyes flicking to Connor’s lips for one brief, impossible second. "Potential to surprise me," he murmured.

Connor exhaled, trying to slow his pulse. "I don’t know what’s scarier, your honesty or your pickup lines."

Uno laughed, low and delighted. "Then you’re already halfway mine."

Connor groaned into his hands. "I’m going to regret every second of this ride."

"You won’t," Uno said, leaning back with a satisfied little hum. "You just haven’t figured that out yet."