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“We don’t think,” said Laird, laughing.
“Sure, we do,” said Leo, now rolling his eyes.
Dahlia smiled at them. She liked them. And, for some reason, she didn’t feel like drinking anymore tonight. She shoved her glass across the bar. If the bartender ever showed back up again, she was going to cash out.
xviii.
NILES OPENED THEdoor and was stunned to see Hiljd there. “Um? How do you even know where I live?”
“Nice to see you, too,” said Hiljd, glaring at him. She lifted a bottle of wine. “Can I come in?”
“Are you serious?”
“Did you hear that he’sengaged?”
Niles rubbed his forehead. “He’s my best friend. Why am I supposed to drink and commiserate with you? Don’t you have girlfriends for that?”
“I guess you want me to go.” Hiljd rolled her eyes. “Typical, seriously.”
“No, it’s fine,” said Niles, slithering backwards, gesturing for her to enter.
“If you don’t want me here—”
“I never said that,” he said. “Please, come in.”
“We’re friends too,” she said, stepping inside his apartment. “I mean, I’ve known you for years, Niles.”
“Yeah, but we met through Valdi,” he said. “And you’re his ex-wife, and it’s awkward.”
She snorted, looking around the place. “There’s nowhere to sit in here.”
“There’s not,” he agreed. “Let’s go out on the deck.” He pushed the door open again. Then, he paused. “Wait, let me find some wine glasses.”
“Let’s just pass the bottle back and forth.” She stalked back outside.
Once there, she threw herself down in one of his Adirondack chairs and gazed up at the starry sky overhead. She hunched into her jacket.
“You cold?” he said, ducking back inside and coming out with a blanket.
She took it gratefully.
He sat down in a chair that matched hers. “Hey, I’m sorry about Valdi.”
She handed him the bottle of wine. “It’s not supposed to be like this, Niles.”
“Yeah?” he said, taking a swig. “I mean, life is shit, right?”
“Not all orcs trigger a mating bond with someone, you know? But if you do, it means something. At least, I always thought it did. My grandparents, for instance, they had a mating bond. They were… I mean, they were the sweetest old couple you’ve ever seen. Devoted to each other. When I was a little girl, I’d fantasize about it, about a fated mate, about the bond, about all of it. And then ithappened.” She let out a breath like a sob.
He handed her back the wine. “And it was nothing like your fantasies.”
“Not even close,” she said. “You know, Valdi and I, we’re opposites in so many ways. He’s so… laid back. And I’mnot.”
“I mean, I get this about you guys.”
“So, seriously, the truth is, on a day-to-day basis, not having him in my house or in my life or having to deal with him and his students’ papers all over the living room or his grumpy voice complaining about my rom-coms or… I mean, it’s arelief.”
“Okay,” Niles said. He was very confused right now.
