“So we… you know. And afterwards, we talked. About how neither of us wants to see other people.”
Jenna’s pottery wheel fully stopped spinning. “Wait. Are you guystogethertogether?”
“We both wanted to be exclusive, so—”
“Holy shit!” Jenna seized his wrists with her clay-slicked hands. “You have a boyfriend?”
“Why are you so loud?”
“I knew it, Iknewhe wouldn’t be able to keep it casual.” Jenna was practically vibrating on her stool. “I can’t wait to rub that in Aureli’s face. He was totally convinced Keld was going to end up being a dickhead.”
Grayson groaned, pulling his hands free of Jenna’s slippery grip.
“Aren’t you supposed to be mingling at these things?” he asked. “I’m flattered but you’re not my type.”
Jenna gave him a withering look.
“Have you even looked around?” Grayson dropped his voice to a conspiratorial murmur. “That Alpha has been eyeing you since you walked in.”
“Seriously? Where?”
“Don’t be so obvious.”
At the other side of the room, the Alpha in question glanced over at them once again. Her scales were a fascinating shade of glacial blue, accented by snowy fins. Her hair was white too, pulled in a hasty pony tail that formed a halo of curls around her head.
Jenna’s jaw dropped. “How the hell did I not notice her until just now?”
“You were too busy failing to mind your own business?” Grayson suggested.
“Hilarious,” Jenna said, still staring openly at the Mer. “Is she a polar Mer? I’ve never seen one. I think Rorith told me the heat is hard on them.”
“Not to be that guy, but I think the staring is reaching the “creepy” stage.”
Jenna turned on him, mouth open to retaliate.
Splat.
Grayson ducked his head to conceal his laughter as Jenna’s mug spun off course again and struck her in the gut.
“For fuck’s sake!” She scraped clay from her borrowed apron. “I swear, I used to be able to do this.”
“Need some help?” The voice was clear and soothing, like a bell’s peal.
Both Grayson and Jenna spun around to see the glacial Mer, her crystalline eyes on Jenna. After a few seconds, Grayson kicked her in the ankle.
“Oh! Do you know how to keep this damn thing on the wheel?” Jenna put on her most dazzling smile. “Mine keeps escaping.”
The Mer chuckled and crouched down between their stations.
Grayson shot to his feet. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Neither appeared to hear him. In his haste to leave Jenna with her new friend, Grayson nearly tripped over the Mer’s tail. It was a shape he’d never seen before—it quirked upward at the end before flowing into a long, stiff upper fin. Below it, a much smaller, triangular fin lay pressed against the ground. As hecarefully stepped over it, he noticed a small edge of softer fin, more like the ones he was used to.
Grayson slipped out the studio door, into the cooler corridor. His back pressed to the cool concrete and he sighed, wondering whether Jenna would notice if he bolted. He knew she was just happy for him, but it was all so new. Talking about it somehow felt like jinxing it.
The bathroom was just to his left and looked disturbingly like the facilities at his former high school. Grayson scrubbed the clay from his hands and cringed at the dry, chalky feeling left behind. He reached into his pocket and checked his phone’s lock screen—a few memes in the group chat and some spam emails, but nothing from Keld. Grayson frowned, opening their conversation.
Grayson Miller:Jenna tricked me into going to a pottery class for some singles’ event. What are you up to tonight?
He’d sent it an hour ago, but Keld hadn’t replied. Was he irritated about Grayson going to a singles’ event? Surely he knew Grayson was just there for Jenna. Or did he?
