Page 6 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume One

Not that Cameron cared.

Not really.

Cameron shivered, and Alric stopped the man mid-sentence, turning his full attention to Cameron. “Are you alright? Is it too cold in here?”

“Oh no! This is fine,” he quickly countered. He did not want to miss out on eating in a cave.

Alric nodded once. “I’ll have a Kuscheldecke brought for you.”

Before Cameron could even ask what that was, Alric was turning back and issuing quick orders to the man watching them. The man waved them on, snatching up two menus before leading them on a weaving path through the tables to a secluded booth near the back of the restaurant. The table afforded them a view of the entire place while partially shielding them from the view of the other diners.

This was starting to feel like a date.

But it wasn’t a date.

Couldn’t be a date.

Alric was just showing him around the city.

Cameron was leaving Sonthofen in a couple days. He’d never see Alric again.

He needed to get his head on straight.

“Um…restroom?” Cameron asked and then winced. “To clean up, after all the walking.”

Alric smiled at him and gave succinct directions to the bathrooms not too far from where they were seated. Cameron quickly darted away, a sigh of relief escaping him when he was finally inside the room.

After the sight of the old bar and stone walls, he’d not been sure what to expect for the bathroom, but he was relieved to find it completely modern with sensor-activated faucets, plush hand towels, and fine decorations.

Best of all, he was completely alone. Snagging his phone out of his pocket, he pulled up the messaging app. He didn’t have a single damn bar, which wasn’t surprising considering how far underground he was. However, the restaurant was providing free Wi-Fi.

Met hot guy in Sonthofen. Took me to dinner in an old dragon cave. Tell me not to be stupid. Really want to be stupid, Cameron quickly texted.

Cassie’s response was immediate and not at all helpful.

dragons didn’t live in caves

they built castles

Cameron rolled his eyes at his sister. Of course she focused on the dragon part of his story.

But she sent a second text a couple heartbeats later.

pic or it didn’t happen

Growling softly, Cameron pulled up his photo gallery and quickly flipped through it. He’d been snapping pictures on his phone all day. He was stunned he had any battery life left, but he thought he’d caught one that accidentally included Alric. Yep, there. The cathedral they’d stopped at. Cameron had grabbed a picture of it, but he’d also caught Alric smiling softly at him at the same time.

He hesitated. A part of him didn’t want to send it. Didn’t want to share Alric with anyone, not even his twin sister. And he shared everything with her.

That thought alone had him attaching the picture and sending it to her. He was being crazy. Setting the phone down on the counter, he quickly washed his hands and splashed some water on his face.

His phone started to ring. He looked down to find his sister was attempting to Facetime him instead of texting him back. Grabbing a hand towel, he quickly dried his hands so he could answer her call.

“Oh my GAWD, Cam!” she immediately shouted at him, her face filling his screen as if she were holding her phone incredibly close. “Are you shitting me? I’m ordering you to be stupid.” His sister had no filter. Everything just fell out of her mouth. Most of it at the exact wrong time. The bathroom door opened just as she loudly said, “You let that sexy man pin you to the nearest wall and you call him daddy or papa or whatever the fuck the Germans call their sugar daddies!”

Cameron’s cheeks blazed, and he punched the end call button over and over again until his sister’s screeching commands were at last silenced. He glanced up only long enough to confirm it wasn’t Alric who’d walked in on that. Luckily, it wasn’t.

Before tucking his phone away, he quickly shot off a text of shut up. I’ll report later, perv. He splashed more water on his face to help chase away the heat blazing in his cheeks before returning to the restaurant.