And, fuck me, does it ever work.
“Would you take me?” she asks, her eyes wide and hopeful.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I don’t want to tell her no. I’m not sure I could even if I wanted to, but...
“Shouldn’t you be resting?”
She sinks into her chair. I watch her eyes as they gloss over, and I know I fucked up.
“You can go if you want, Wren. I just didn’t want you to feel like you have to. You don’t owe me anything, and I wasn’t sure you would want anyone to see you like this.” I nod at her face as if she isn’t aware of the state of it, groaning at my own stupidity, before smacking my palm to my head.
The sound of her sweet giggle has me dropping it, unsure if I’d actually heard right or not.
“Sorry, it’s not funny.” She’s still giggling as she presses a hand to her mouth as if unable to stop. The sight of her like this steals the air from my lungs.
She’s so beautiful, has been since the second she walked into our dorm, even if I was too stubborn to see it before.
“This is nothing, but if you don’t want to be seen with me, I get that. I just wanted to come and watch you swim. You’re …” She pauses for a moment, her tongue darting out to lick her lips, and I couldn’t look away if my life depended on it. “Captivating in the water.”
I watch as her cheeks take on a pink flush, and my cock twitches, growing harder by the moment.
She likes watching me swim.
My chest swells as I’m filled with pride for the sport that I’d grown to hate years ago.
Fuck, she’s dangerous.
“Alright, kids, enough flirting. He needs to go pack, which means you can tell him anything you might need from the room, and he can grab it while he’s there,” Julian says, coming out of the bathroom across the hall and making us both jump.
Damn fairy is so quiet; he’s always loved sneaking around.
I scowl at him for his comment, but all he does is smile his usual shit-eating grin. I roll my eyes and watch as he movesbehind her, draping himself over the back of her chair and pressing a kiss to her already very red cheeks.
“No need to be embarrassed, Pookie. Nolan is a good-looking guy. You’d be crazy not to flirt with him.”
And now I feel the warmth onmycheeks. I might not be into guys like Julian is, but that was a hell of a compliment from him.
“Oh my god, Blue,” she tries to shoo him away, but he only laughs and holds her tighter as she buries her face in her hands, adorably.
The smile on Julian’s face is exactly what it should be: a guy who’s got everything he wants in life.
“Could you just grab my bag?” She peeks at me through her fingers, and I don’t know how anyone could say no to her. How could anyone want to hurt her?
Nope, don’t think about that right now. Her aunt will get hers eventually; we’ll make sure of it.
“Yeah, of course.” I grab an apple from the basket in the center of the table and head out, feeling a pep in my step as I head to the dorm and realize I’m actually excited for this competition. Though I wish she were in better health for it.
Next time.
The day flies by after that, and we all end up piling into mine and Dimitri’s cars, and fuck if I don’t almost shift and end up with a tail right here when she picks my car. I know it has more to do with avoiding Dimitri than her wanting me, but that doesn’t matter.
The urge to peacock my scales is real. Honestly, her being mortal is the hardest part of all of this. Well, other than my aching cock that seems to be constantly hard around her now.
She naps in the car, and when she isn’t sleeping, she’s playing with the radio. It all feels so normal and easy, and if it weren’t for the reminders on her face from her aunt, I might be able to believe that’s all this was. Just some friends hanging out, but it’s more than that now. Whether she likes it or not, we won’t let anyone get to her again, aunt or otherwise.
We’ve always been a makeshift family, and now, so long as she’ll have us, Wren is a part of that, a part of us.
We stand outside the locker room. I hesitate to go in, and she hesitates to leave as the others find seats. There’s so much I want to say.
