The Mer heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Aiu. You will take better care of yourself. Do you understand?”
Grayson’s lips curled. “Or what?”
Keld bunched the front of Grayson’s shirt in his fist and dragged him closer. “I’ll be forced to punish you.”
“Oh, well we can’t have that. Why don’t you tell me in detail about this punishment? That way I’ll definitely take better care of myself.”
A chime from Grayson’s phone interrupted the threads of tension that hung between the two of them. To Grayson’s disappointment, Keld released him and smirked. “Better get that.”
Grayson grumbled under his breath as he unlocked his phone screen.
Jenna Uehara:Heyyyyy so I’m not gonna make it to that crochet event tonight. I may have just woken up in Eiru’s bed after falling asleep around 5am. Did you know those aquaconductive mattresses have a warm setting? I’m a well-fucked prune.
Grayson choked on the coffee Keld handed him. The Mer paused. “Everything okay?”
“Yep, yeah all good.” He fought to straighten out his face. “Jenna cancelled our plans for tonight. Want to go camping?”
Keld’s facial fins flared and sank in a motion Grayson was starting to recognize as excitement. “I’ll go make the reservations right now!”
Grayson’s heart clenched as he watched Keld dash back down the hallway, tail fin standing on end. That witty, confident Dom persona Keld so often presented was the one Grayson fell for, but seeing him like this…
I think I love him.
Chapter 27
Grayson
Grayson leaned out over the ferry’s railing to see a flash of gold streak out in front of the vessel. He’d tried to convince Keld to just ride the ferry with him, but was vehemently shut down. The Alpha appeared insulted at the very suggestion.
“Even ourinfantsdon’t need flotation devices.”
Grayson sighed, watching the blur of gold move in and out of sight. A few other Mer swam alongside him, their human partners evidently in the same boat as Grayson. There was a man in his forties who seemed entirely unbothered by his partner’s refusal to get on the ferry, and was buried in a book of crossword puzzles. Next to him was a sullen teen with ash-violet fins and his father’s dark hair.
Grayson tried not to stare, but older hybrids were still a rare sight, especially for someone working as a midwife. He’d seen more hybrid babies than most humans would see in their lifetimes, but the older ones were still a point of fascination.
“Dad, seriously, why can’t I swim withReio?” the teen complained. “This is embarrassing.”
“Yourreiohas been trying to get you to go with him on training swims for months,” the man said, scribbling somethingin his puzzle. “But you always said no, and now you get to sit up here with me.”
“I’m plenty fast!” the boy whined. “I can keep up! I don’t need any training.”
“Speed isn’t the problem, it’s your endurance, Zokio. You would have been exhausted fifteen minutes ago and we’re not even halfway there.”
The teen huffed and slouched down on the bench.
The sky blazed blue overhead, broken up with puffy clouds and early winter sunshine. Florida’s heat had given way to cooler breezes and lukewarm days, though the former was enough to get Grayson to don a jacket.
The denim shielded his fair skin from the sun and wind as the ferry trundled closer to the purple dot on the horizon. Keld had insisted he didn’t need to bring any camping gear, and that it would all be taken care of, which only made Grayson nervous. His canvas backpack filled with clothes and toiletries felt woefully insufficient for the kind of camping he’d grown up with.
Silvery sand like fragmented diamonds glittered in the sunlight as the ferry neared the dock ahead. Enormous trees with vast, plum-colored leaves bounced merrily in the breeze, and tufts of pale, lavender beach grass speckled the boundary of sand and soil. Grayson’s chest ached for a land he’d never known, in a galaxy he’d never see.
A handful of Mer waited on the doc, Keld among them. He grinned as Grayson disembarked, still staring, wide-eyed at his surroundings.
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
“That’s an understatement.”
Keld motioned to the shore. “Come on, it’s just a few minutes from the beach.”
