"Sometimes, when feelings get big and complicated, it comes to that. Like maybe you'd choose me over something mission-critical. Does that makes sense?" Probably not, not to Cole, with his roundabout but pretty simple way of looking at the world. It was hard for him to try and explain it when he couldn't make the words fit together. He kind of wanted to go back to sleep, maybe keep Cole there with him as a source of comfort. Another one of those mortal things.

His hand flattened on Cole's cheek, thumb stroking over his temple. "In all honesty, I'd rather you dismiss all this as the paranoia of a man that's never been in a relationship before."