Girl power.
Wow. Guess I accepted that quicker than I would have thought possible.
I shift my weight, causing Calida to spread her wingsfor balance. To my amazement, she lifts herself up into the air, circling the room twice, before coming back to land on the table.
‘Apparently you two have a lot to talk about. I’m gonna find a snack.’With that, she lifts herself into the air again and soars into the back of the shop, in the direction of the kitchen.
“Should I be worried? She’s not going to like… eat all the pastries or anything, right? Annemarie worked all night on those.” Not that it really matters. There are no customers anyway and I still have the closed sign on the wide open door.
Flint glances in the direction Calida took off in. “I don’t think she has any interest in cookies right now. She probably went searching for some sort of meat.”
Meat? Where is she going to find meat in a bookstore? You know what, that’s a later problem. Later Casie can deal with it.
“So… wait. You’re telling me that you, Goira, fuckingAisling… it’s all real? The Fae exist?”
He looks perplexed. Why am I forever confusing this man?
“Yes,” he says, slowly. Oh my Gods, he thinks I’m an idiot. “We do, in fact, exist.” He reaches out and cups my cheek. I amtotallynot swooning at the feeling of his big, calloused palm against my cheek. Absolutely not. “I’m proof. Hot blooded, flesh and bone proof.” He pauses. “Although, I’m not sure who Aisling is.”
Hot blooded, muscled, fucking tattooed, hot as sin proof. Yep. Got it.
“But I made it all up,” I continue to protest. “I was trying – and largely failing – to write this stupid story.About you, and Aisling, and The Three, and Goira. I. Made. It. All. Up.”
He laughs at me. This motherfucker.
“You may think you made it all up, but I’m sitting here, aren’t I? You can feel my skin against yours. You have seen Calida and felt her on your body, heard her in your mind. Clearly, we are real.”
He has a point. He’s still touching me, and his skin is warm against mine. His eyes bore into me. I did feel Calida on my chest, on my lap, under my fingertips. I refuse to linger on whatelseI’ve felt.
Holy. Fuck. Balls.
He appears to be… I don’t know… waiting for something?
Casting around in my mind for something to say, I somehow end up uttering “and you think I’m pretty?”
Fucking Christ, Casie. Get it together. That is hardly the fucking point and should not be what you’re focusing on!
He blushes again. Even his ears turn red. It’s adorable.
“I think you’re the most exquisite creature I’ve ever encountered. I love the rainbow hair. It’s so vibrant.”
Now I’m getting flustered.
Okay, time to change the subject.
“You called me ‘female’ earlier. What did you mean?”
Again, he looks perplexed. This poor man. If he’s from a patriarchal society (more so than mine), he’s doomed before he really gets started, isn’t he?
“Female. Not male,” he states. Upon seeing whatever micro expression crosses my face, he hastily adds, “...better than male.”
“So… a woman?” I offer.
He shakes his head. “No. Woman is a word used todescribe females of thehumanspecies. Fae… women are not women. They are … simply Females. Didn’t wejusthave this conversation?”
We did, but I’d hoped that banging my head would jostle the information into something resembling logic or, at the very least, shock him into changing his tune. “But I’m a human, so….”
He just stares.
