Page 122 of Somnium

She stepped in front of him and pressed her palm firmly to his chest. “I don’t need the bear. I have my key chain and I love it, so let’s just go.”

Elias shook his head as he stepped around her. “I just wanna talk to him.”

Cadi groaned. “Please don’t scare him, he’s just a kid.”

“I just wanna talk to him,” he repeated over his shoulder without breaking his stride.

A dull throb grew behind her eyes at the sight of his retreating back. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sank onto a nearby bench. She had not envisioned their evening ending with Elias getting arrested for trying to fight a teenager, and she prayed her savings would be enough to cover the bail.

Each tense moment that passed added another layer to her growing anxiety about what Elias would do when left to his own devices, especially if he still couldn’t knock down those damn bottles. She scanned the crowd, searching every face for any sign that a scuffle had broken out when at last she spotted Elias walking back toward her with a triumphant grin lighting his face.

A surprised laugh burst from her when he handed her a small teddy bear. She took it from him with a tenderness that bordered on reverence, brushing her fingers over the small gingham bow tied around its neck.

“You won me a bear?” she asked softly, though she still didn’t fully believe it.

He laughed and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Sort of.”

Cadi arched a brow, wordlessly demanding an explanation.

“I tried to buy the big one,” he explained, “but crater-face back there wouldn’t let it go. He did, however, part with this little guy for the very fair price of forty bucks. Pretty sure he pocketed the entire thing.”

Cadi snorted, then clutched the bear to her chest and buried her face in its soft, synthetic fur.

“You’re dumb,” she said with a smirk, “but thank you for Leland.”

Elias’s brows shot up. “You’re naming it Leland?”

Cadi straightened in feigned offense. “Yes. You got a problem with the name Leland?”

He smirked and lifted both hands in surrender. “Not at all. Leland is perfect.”

Tucking Leland securely under her arm, she took Elias’s outstretched hand and they walked in a comfortable silence until the bright lights of the festival gave way to steady rows of streetlights.

Her stomach sank when they rounded the corner and she saw her car in the distance. She flexed her fingers, letting the weight of his hand against hers tether her to the moment. She wasn’t ready to say goodnight. Not yet.

He opened the door of her sedan, and his hand slipped from hers as he moved to guide her in, but she paused and turned to face him.

“Do you want to have dinner tomorrow?” she blurted.

Elias nodded, folding his arms against the metal frame of her door. “What are you thinking? I’ll make a reservation.”

She shook her head and chuckled at the way his face scrunched in confusion. “I was actually thinking my place. I’ll cook, you pick the movie?”

Eagerness lit his face, breaking through his carefully anchored restraint. “That sounds perfect.”

“Great, six thirty?”

“Can we do seven? I have something I have to take care of right before.”

Cadi nodded. “Seven works.”

“Excellent. I’ll see you, and Leland, then.”

She rested a hand against his arm and squeezed gently before she lowered herself behind the wheel and let him push the door closed. Leaning over to the passenger seat, she tenderly placed Leland onto the worn upholstery and briefly considered buckling his seat belt, but decided that was a step too far.

As she pulled away from the curb, she glanced in her mirror to where Elias still stood on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. Watching her. A flurry of excitement and nerves danced in her belly, perfectly syncing with the flutter that pulled gently behind her ribs. She blew out a breath as she wound her way through the blurring buildings and lights of the city, but her smile refused to fade.

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