His innocent wife is a dangerous hacker.-Chapter 645 Rules

Leo was quiet for a minute. The survivors escaped, found shelter in an abandoned warehouse, and built weapons out of scrap metal. Another beast attacked. The main character swung from a pipe, landed on its back, and stabbed it with something that looked like a broken piece of rebar.

Leo shook his head. "The blade would break. Rebar isn’t sharp enough to penetrate that kind of hide. The structural integrity alone—"

"It’s a special blade."

"It’s a pipe."

"It’s a movie, Leo." Bella looked up at him, her eyes crinkled with amusement. "Are you always like this during action movies?"

"I’m always like this during everything."

"I know." She kissed his jaw. "It’s cute."

He went red again. She watched the blush spread across his face with visible satisfaction.

Jay was on the edge of his seat, chips forgotten, his eyes fixed on the screen. A massive creature had just burst through a wall, all teeth and claws, and the survivors were running through a collapsing building while shooting behind them.

"Bro, this is amazing," Jay breathed.

"The science is flawed," Leo said, but there was no heat in his voice.

"The science is the best part. Look at that thing. It’s got, like, four rows of teeth. Four rows, Leo. That’s terrifying."

"The teeth would be structurally unsound. The jaw wouldn’t support the weight."

"I don’t care. I want one as a pet."

"You want a mutant beast as a pet."

"I want to ride it into battle."

"That’s—" Leo paused, something flickering across his face. "Actually, that’s not the worst idea."

Jay’s face lit up. "See! You get it!"

"The beasts wouldn’t survive in that environment anyway," Leo continued, shaking his head. "The food chain is completely unbalanced. There’s no way an ecosystem could support predators of that size without a proportionate prey population. And the breeding cycle they mentioned earlier doesn’t account for genetic diversity. In three generations, they’d—"

"Leo." Bella lifted her head, looking at him properly. Her hand came up to his face, her palm warm against his cheek. "Are you having fun?"

He looked at her. The soft light from the TV flickered across her features, catching in her hair, her eyes, the curve of her lips. The blanket was pulled up around them both, cocooning them in warmth. She was tucked against him like she belonged there, like she’d always been there.

"Yes," he said.

She smiled. Then she kissed his jaw again, soft and quick, and settled back against his shoulder.

He didn’t even try to stop her. Didn’t want to.

Across the room, Scarlett and Hazel were on the couch together, both wrapped in separate blankets, both pretending they weren’t enjoying the movie as much as they were.

"That actor is terrible," Scarlett said, pointing at the screen with her water bottle. "Look at his face. He’s supposed to be scared. That’s not scared. That’s ’I forgot to turn off the stove.’"

"He’s very pretty," Hazel said.

"That doesn’t make him a good actor."

"It makes him watchable. I’m not here for the acting. I’m here for the face."

Scarlett laughed, loud enough that Dom glanced over. "What else do you watch? When you’re not here, pretending you’re too cool for bad movies."

Hazel was quiet for a moment. She pulled her blanket tighter, tucking her chin into it. "Old crime shows. The ones where everything gets solved in forty-five minutes. The detective always has a tragic backstory and a drinking problem. The murder is always the second person they interview."

"Those are the best."

"The worst. But I watch them anyway. I like knowing how it ends. I like knowing someone figures it out."

Scarlett nodded slowly. "I get that. The world is messy. It’s nice to watch something where it isn’t."

Hazel looked at her. Really looked. "Yeah."

Scarlett grinned. "We’re watching one next time. I’m picking."

"Fine."

They exchanged phones, typing in numbers, sending test messages to add each other. Hazel’s phone buzzed with a message from Scarlett that just said "Pineapple pizza > you." Hazel snorted, typing back something that made Scarlett laugh. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Across the room, Dom was watching them. He caught Hazel’s eye and gave her a thumbs up, his grin wide and genuine. She rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling, her cheeks slightly pink.

Dom turned back to the movie, grabbing another slice of pizza. "This is the best part. Watch. He’s going to sacrifice himself for the team."

"He’s not," Jace said from the pillow fort.

"He is. I’ve seen this movie four times."

"You’ve seen this movie four times?"

"It’s a comfort film."

The hero on screen turned to face the creature, telling his friends to run. Dom pointed at the TV. "See? See? I told you."

Jace shook his head, but he was smiling.

The movie ended. The credits rolled up the screen, dramatic music swelling in the background. No one moved.

Dom was sprawled across his section of the couch, one arm thrown over his eyes. Scarlett was curled into the corner, her blanket wrapped around her like a burrito. Hazel was still upright, just, her eyes half-closed, her head nodding slightly. Jace had emerged from his pillow fort at some point and was sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the coffee table. Jay was lying flat on his back, staring at the ceiling, making quiet commentary about the plot holes.

Leo was still in the same position, Bella asleep on his shoulder, her hand still tucked in his. Her breathing was soft, even, her face peaceful. Her hair had fallen across her cheek, and he wanted to brush it away but didn’t want to wake her.

"That was terrible," Jace said, breaking the comfortable silence.

"It was perfect," Jay said.

"It made no sense."

"It made perfect sense if you didn’t think about it."

"I thought about it."

"That’s your mistake."

Dom sat up, stretching his arms above his head, yawning. The clock on the wall showed it was well past three in the morning. The pizza boxes were empty, the chip bowls were scattered, and the living room looked like a small tornado had hit it.

"Okay," he announced, clapping his hands together. "Tour time. Everyone gets a room. I have rules. Important rules."

Scarlett raised an eyebrow from her cocoon of blankets. "Rules?"