Which leaves me and the Hunter standing alone. But the awkwardness is almost immediately broken by firetrucks with flashing red lights pulling into the block. Rafa places his hand on my shoulder and guides me firmly onto the sidewalk. It’s a familiar enough gesture that it’s actually comforting.
“You’re not, um… scared of me now?” I ask, once we’re away from everyone. I’m still holding up my pants with one hand. (I did manage to shove the feather into the other remaining pocket, though—next to my key chain which, along with my phone, miraculously seems to have survived.)
Rafa rests his shotgun against the side of a telephone pole and shakes his head with an amiable smile. “I told you, I know what you are. What I didn’t fully understand was how much power you had. And it sounds like you didn’t know that, either…”
That I had enough power to transform into a giant rampaging fire monster?
“I really didn’t,” I say.
He faces me, places both hands on my shoulder, and gazes deeply. “Look, Alvin, I get you’re pretty shaken up right now. But I also know you never meant for what you did to get so out of control. And, once you came back to yourself, the only thing you cared about was fixing thedamage you had caused.” His hands squeeze in with affection. “Whatever else you are,you are good. And that means I will never be scared of you. Okay?”
Tears well up in my eyes, and I legit sniffle. (Jeez! Maybe the elf was right! Iamdramatic!)
(But does it feel amazing every time he says something like that to me? Yeah, I guess it does.)
“Okay, Rafa,” I say, blush rising. “Thank you.”
He smiles back. “Thankyou—for saving my life. And… for finally giving me something to look forward to.” He leans in, and kisses my lips. Warm and soft. And I practically melt into him. I stretch up on my tip toes and press my mouth into his, which is only the 101sttotally crazy thing I’ve done today. But I’ve got so much spent adrenaline running through me, it’s like I’m drunk. Maybe it’s my monster still wielding some influence, but at this point, I don’t mind losing myself again in something physical and not thinking for a few moments. It doesn’t feel like there’s any risk of me feeding—I’m not hurt at all anymore. And thanks to the elf, we’are essentially invisible currently, right?
The kiss deepens, his tongue brushing against mine, and it’s like I’m in some scene in a movie, where I’m not me, where I’m someone else, someone with normal problems and a normal life. He is just so strong and cool, and I’m sure the moment is hella cinematic?—
—until my knees buckle, and he has to catch me so I don’t land on my ass.
“Whoa!” he sputters with a laugh.
“Sorry!” I squeak back, swaying in his arms, truly embarrassed. My legs feel like jelly.
He continues to chuckle as he lifts me back to my feet and steadies me. I clutch again at my pants, which have slipped. I’m not, like, sporting a full erection or anything, but I can’t help feeling I’m hanging out a bit plumper—especially for this night air—and I pray to God that the elf’s glamour hid my bare privates from him.
The Hunter’s eyes linger down there a second longer than they need to, and his grin broadens when he returns to my face.
“No worries. When exactly was the last time you slept?”
“Sleep? What is this thing you call sleep?” I ask, trying to keep things light—and hoping to change the focus off my cringey flashing.
He snorts at my lame joke. Then nods, sobering. “All right. Let’s get you back to your apartment and into bed.”
My eyes must widen at the implication of that, because he quickly adds: “Just so you can get some shut-eye! I, uh, should go back to my clan and show them the pictures I took. I have more than a few serious questions for them. And I don’t care if I have to kick down their door, I willshamethem into helping those kids, if I have to.”
“Because the kids are all still in danger…” I finish, realizing. And with that, the romantic comedy moment crashes down completely. Now that “Stryker coming to the rescue” turned out to be the elf being an asshole, Rafa’s clan really is the only option left at this point.
Unless, that is, I can turn into another fire monster on command and actually control it this time—that might even the odds…
But I have a feeling that’s at least going to require a much longer conversation with Collin. One that would best be done in the privacy of my home—for as long as I can stay awake, anyway.
“Okay, let’s call separate rideshares,” I say. “If you really think you can get your clan involved, that’d be aces. The sooner, the better. You have my number. Don’t worry about waking me up. Just text me the moment you have news, all right?”
“I will,” Rafa says.
He then pulls me into another deep, delicious kiss before we part to summon our Ubers. His hand winds up on my butt this time, which is weird but also exciting somehow. The embrace literally makes my toes curl and leaves me wanting more—which of course only makes my sudden and bizarrely complicated love life that much more baffling.
But even if this is wrong time, wrong place, wrong guy, he is a hell of a kisser. So, I find I’m not mad about it. Not even a little bit.
“So, what exactly am I?” I ask.
Collin and I are back in my apartment in my lumpy secondhand bed, after I grabbed yet another long hot shower. I’ve got the covers pulled up under my arms, and although I usually sleep naked, I’m in the one pair of PJs my mother got me. I’ve never worn them before, because she only bought them thinking they’d somehow get me laid, and there’s only so much I’m willing to do toaccommodate her helicopter pimping. It’s essentially Victoria’s Secret for dudes—sexy red silk that supposedly flatters my man curves and props up my crotch. But the top also has a chest pocket large enough to hold the watch. It will at least let me talk to Collin until I pass out, so I just roll with the sensation of my own jammies feeling me up.
Collin is lying next to me, above the sheets, and in his own set of pajamas that he spirited into existence. But these ones are bog-standard checked green flannel. Despite me being freaked out, I have to admit he looks adorable in them—like he’s all dressed up for a Christmas morning present-opening. Even his cheeks are rosy.
