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“Which woman did you wait in line to meet?” I asked him.
He chuckled. “Viv was the third woman brought from Earth, and the first to come to the unseelie land after five entire years in seelie territory. Naomi and Mina had already been claimed by Aev and Konn. Every single unseelie waited in line to meet her—myself included.”
“Which others?” My curiosity grew. I didn’t know why, but I felt sort of… protective over Remmo. I didn’t like the idea of him waiting in line and then being rejected by the unseelie chicks over and over again.
“Only a few.”
“You’re being purposefully vague,” I pointed out.
“Do you wish to tell me every one of the times you propositioned Teris?”
Well…
Dammit, he had a point.
“Fine. I’ll give you one, and you give me one?”
He dipped his head in a nod.
“The very first time Teris and I kissed was in the Stronghold.” I stared out at the lake, remembering the moment too vividly. “I was making jokes about hooking up with Priel, before that. He had an easy grin and his tattoos were cool, so I hoped maybe I could mate with him. He wanted North, though, and they’re hot together, so I’m glad they worked out. Teris wasn’t all that interested in me when we drew names. I know that the guys rigged the drawing, so they could pick who they would be with, but I think the other guys really wanted the other girls, and Teris just didn’t care. Nev thought he was really into Dots, then, and all the other couples are now together, so it fits.”
I sighed. “Anyway, I kissed him. And I didn’t bother with a soft kiss; I just went for it. He kissed me back, for a bit. When he pulled away, I asked if he wanted to mate with me. His exact words were, ‘not right now’.”
Remmo’s body was tense.
Really, really tense.
I wasn’t sure why. Maybe he just felt really uncomfortable for me.
I felt uncomfortable for me too.
“In hindsight, I should’ve realized that was the first of many rejections. But it had been a really long time since I kissed a guy, so I just felt hopeful.”
A moment of silence passed between us.
I waited for Remmo to share something.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, the man said through gritted teeth, “Jia was after Viv. I spent months waiting my turn to meet her. Not in line, but on a list. When the day finally came, she refused to walk through the door. I caught her scent enough to know she wasn’t for me, but the hit to my pride was heavy.”
Damn.
“You know, I think I’m going to try getting back in the lake,” I said.
Mostly because he was still really tense, and I didn’t want to keep talking about Teris.
“Do you want to try too?” I checked.
“I don’t need healing,” he said stiffly.
“Oh, I know. But you’re basically a heater, so I thought maybe we could go in together and see if you can keep me warm.”
He jerked his head in a nod. “I’ll swim.”
“Cool.” I left my clothes in the ring of grass, standing up and holding my hand out for the fae.
