“Good, we’re here for you. And yes, we talked to Dasan. The three of us will give you space. That’s what friends do. We support you unconditionally, and we had fun last night,” Colburn said. “Dasan is a great addition to our little friend group. None of us were complaining about being in here with our snacks.”
“I’m relieved everyone is getting along,” Gramlithyn replied.
“Especially you and Pyx,” Colburn answered with a grin.
“Yeah, that’s definitely my favorite part,” Gramlithyn conceded. Since the day he’d stopped avoiding Pyxlevir and started approaching their relationship the way he should’ve from the beginning, everything had changed for the better. They were quickly rebuilding a friendship, but this one lacked the buried awkwardness of years past when Gramlithyn had had to hide his true feelings for Pyxlevir.
It encouraged Gramlithyn to continue to be honest with his mate and accept that he’d made mistakes without drowning in sorrow. There were still things they had to work out, andnothing had changed much in the other avenues of Gramlithyn’s life, barring the new job he was learning, but he had to take things at a reasonable pace so he wouldn’t get overwhelmed. And his indisputable priority was Pyxlevir.
Chapter 26
After spending Friday night with Gramlithyn talking and working on his kissing technique, Pyxlevir had expected the rest of his weekend to be more of the same. Which was why he’d been shocked when Gramlithyn had asked him to pack an overnight bag. That’d been an hour ago, and now they were in Gramlithyn’s car heading out of the city.
“I’m worried,” Pyxlevir remarked, lowering the volume of the radio so he could speak comfortably with his other half.
“Afraid I’m going to take you out into the middle of nowhere and murder you?”
“Like, where does your mind go?” Pyxlevir asked. “Your sense of humor is completely fucked. No, murder didn’t cross my mind, but now I’m thinking that homicide might be an option if you piss me off.”
“I have no intention of pissing you off.”
“Tell me why you had me pack sneakers and told me not to wear silk,” Pyxlevir demanded. “If you’ve decided to trick me into going camping, you can think again. I’ll find a hotel or call Dra’Kaedan to teleport me home.”
The fiend driving the car chuckled. “No, silly, I wouldn’t take you camping. The only place you’ve ever slept in a tent is in the backyard of a freaking mansion. And as long as we’re beinghonest, I’ve spent more than my fair share of nights either in a tent or some shitty motel. The comfort of our apartment is spoiling me.”
Mollified, Pyxlevir wiggled his shoulders to relax. “Okay, where are we going, and why did I need to pack?”
“We’re heading to Mount Charleston. I rented a cabin for the night,” Gramlithyn said. “It’s a cozy one, but there are two beds, so your virtue is safe. I thought we could go for an easy hike up to the shifting area, and you can hang out with me and my zebra.”
Pyxlevir was so excited he slapped Gramlithyn’s thigh. “Can I ride your zebra? Or is he not ready for that yet?”
“We’d both love that, and I was hoping you’d ask.”
“If I didn’t?”
“Then I would’ve suggested it.”
“One more question.”
“What’s that, Pyx?”
Sliding his palm upward, Pyxlevir rested it inches from Gramlithyn’s crotch. “What if I don’t want to keep my virtue safe from you?”
“If you touch my dick while I’m driving, you’re probably going to kill us both,” Gramlithyn responded. “As for respecting your chastity, you need to think about the future and the traditions of our people.”
“You know exactly how this works. Fate gives us one earring when elven souls are bound, and a second one gets added if the couple are good little elves who don’t have sex. But the reality is, it takes intercourse to miss out on that second hoop. So, as long as you don’t slide your zebra-elf carrot into me, it’s no one’s business how much grinding or sucking we do together.”
“Why does your complete lack of respecting elven propriety turn me on so much?”
Pyxlevir cackled. “Because you were born first, so Fate made this little Valzadari elf your perfect specimen. Why couldn’t you like tall dudes? Being this short has some real disadvantages. No one turned on the dishwasher on Thursday night. To get a glass for my juice yesterday morning, I had to climb up on the counter to get to one of the higher shelves. All the other cups were dirty.”
“Might’ve been easier to wash one from the dishwasher.”
“Thought of that after I hit the button, and I was standing on the countertop. The coffee hadn’t hit my bloodstream yet, so my brain activity was minimal at best.”
“I’m not going to apologize for your height. There isn’t anything I’d change about you.”
Pyxlevir flexed his fingers to give Gramlithyn’s thigh a gentle squeeze. “You may find this hard to believe, given how hard you are on yourself sometimes, but I wouldn’t change you either.”
