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“Oh, thank you. I’ll be down in a minute.”
He grunted and turned away while I went to the dresser to collect my clothes. There wasn’t much in my arms when I was done.
From the kitchen, Tor watched me descend the stairs.
“Be right there,” I said, hurrying into Adam’s room. I stopped short at the sight of the bedless space and backtracked.
“Did you put the bed upstairs?” I asked.
He gave me a decidedly uncomfortable look and tugged at his ear, something he tended to do when he was upset.
“Brog and Turik came for Adam’s things as well as the bed last night. I didn’t know you wanted to keep it.”
“N-no. I didn’t.” Of course, they’d come for Adam’s things and needed the bed. Tor had told me there weren’t a lot of spares. “That’s completely fine, Tor. Don’t even worry about it. I’ll put my stuff in the other room upstairs.”
“Please sleep in my bed. The sheets are clean.” The tips of his ears darkened, and I knew he was thinking of this morning when he averted his gaze.
My mouth opened and closed twice as I almost said several stupid things. Reminding him that we were just friends would not only be hurtful but pointless as Angel had said. Asking him if he minded sharing was laughable, and insisting I could sleep on the floor was plain self-destructive after the workout I had today.
“Okay,” I said finally. “I promise to try staying on my side of the bed.”
He lifted his gaze to mine and nodded slowly, which made it hard to tell what he might be thinking. Probably hoping that I wouldn’t and that he’d wake up with me on him again.
I gave him a reassuring smile, set my things on the steps, and joined him at the island where he had two bowls waiting.
“What’s this?” I asked, sitting.
“Emily showed me how to make the noodle box meals. It has meat in it.”
I took a bite and made an appreciative noise. It was far better than the dried foods I’d been fixing and more flavorful than the canned goods we’d had so far.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“I do. It’s been a long time since I had anything like this.”
“What are your favorite foods?” he asked.
“I’m not even sure anymore. I miss salads the most, but I don’t think they were my favorite. Maybe burgers? There were some good bars around campus that had the best grilled burgers.” Those thoughts stirred some Adam memories, so I quickly changed the subject. “What about you? What foods do you miss most from your old life?”
“Aodibun. It is a water creature with a hard shell that had to be cracked open. I ate it right from the shell.” He sighed slightly. “It was a good taste. Hard to find. I would swim for hours in some pools.”
“Is your home pretty?” I asked.
“In many ways, yes. This is prettier, though.”
He told me stories about the caves and his adventures in them while we ate. The animation in his expression and the way he described things pulled me in so thoroughly that I didn’t notice the passing time. I loved listening to him, the sound of his voice, and the wry smile he flashed when he admitted past mistakes.
He talked me into playing games with him after dinner, and I heard his laugh for the first time when he crushed me at Go-Fish and I stuck my tongue out at him. The sound curled around me, wrapping me dangerously in his spell. I knew it was too soon and there were too many reasons why even these simple moments weren’t fair to either of us. But I didn’t have the heart to walk away. I liked spending time with Tor too much.
“We should bet on the next game,” he said, shuffling the cards.
“Oh, like what?”
“If you win, I will find you a fresh salad.”
I snorted. “You must be pretty confident I won’t win. There’s no way you’ll find a salad.”
He smirked at me. “I know where to find one.”
“Okay. I’m interested. And what do you want if you win?”
“I want to be the one to stay with you when you go to Tenacity.”
It was like he’d read my mind moments ago. I knew I should say no but decided to let fate make the choice for us.
One hand later, I said goodbye to my hope for a salad and shook my head at Tor.
“It’s not going to be very fun for you in Tenacity.”
“I am not concerned with fun. I’m concerned with you. I will keep you safe while you taunt the other humans. They will not hurt you like they hurt Adam. I promise.”
