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"Uh." I hadn't been expecting that at all. "Anything with bright colors and lots of marshmallows, actually."
"I'll send you to the store after lunch and you can get whatever you'd like for yourself while you're there. Now, finish up with the rolls. The lobster is nearly done, and then we can have lunch once I mix it with a few other things."
He turned back around, and I stood there looking at him, not really sure what had just happened. "Were you just testing me?"
"Yes. I don't want someone who will bend at my every word. You'll have much more fun here as long as you keep that backbone intact, and I'll enjoy your company more too."
I guessed that made sense. It was nice, though, that he wanted me to argue with him. I hadn't been expecting that at all. I'd sort of expected him to bark orders at me and make me scrub his floors or something.
We ate outside on two low wooden chairs that were sitting on the small rocks. The surf was about ten feet away from us, which was fine by me. I'd never been a great swimmer, and the ocean was pretty intimidating. It was so big, so dark, and so very deep.
I decided at that lunch that I liked lobster. At least I liked it the way Bolivar made it for me. It was sweet and creamy, and I enjoyed the crunchy bread with it. I finished my sandwich quickly and wanted another, but he'd only made enough for eachof us to have one, which was okay. Really it was. Only I was still hungry.
"I'm going to be out here for a while, if you want to go in and do something," he said, handing me his plate as if I was supposed to go clean up after him. Actually, I was. Part of me being here with him was that I was supposed to be taking care of him.
I got up and started to walk away, but I stopped, turning back to him before I got too far. "What will you be doing?" I was curious enough about him and his life that I wanted to ask, even though I didn't really have any business knowing his secrets, which I'm sure he had plenty of.
"Sunbathing. I'll be naked, and I like my privacy."
He wasn't looking at me—instead he was focused on the water, which was a good thing, since then he couldn’t see me blushing.
“Okay,” I mumbled, and then I hurried away from him.
As I was inside cleaning up and putting things away, I couldn’t help but turn back and sneak a few peeks at him. I expected to see a naked man. What I hadn’t expected to see was a patch of dark blue scales running down his shoulder and winding over his back. They ended at his hip and seemed to curve around his side. I didn’t keep looking past that, though. Honest. I wanted to. He had the kind of body I liked—slim with plenty of muscle. But his scales reminded me of what he was. He was a dragon, not a human man, and thinking that he looked good naked probably wouldn't change much of anything.
By the end of my first month with him, I'd done little more for Bolivar than clean up after him. I didn't really mind. It wasn't like he was a slob or anything. I had an ex, Jack, who never cleaned up after himself at all. My family had pretty much left me alone. I guess to them I was out of sight out of mind or something. I'd get a text here or there, but nothing really morethan that. We'd always been pretty close, so the distance hurt, but not as much as I expected it to.
For the most part I was just bored. Not bored out of my mind bored, but my days were monotonous. I got up when I wanted to and I either ate with Bolivar or there'd be a pile of dishes for me to clean up and I'd eat my cereal. I had six different cereal boxes to choose from. I was never lacking in food, especially when it came to sweets, and as long as I didn't eat his chocolate truffles, we were fine.
I checked in with Bolivar throughout the day, but he never really needed me for anything. I don't know what my great-grandfather had done for him, but I don't think it had been all that much. It couldn't have been, really. I kept my space clear, I cleaned up after myself, and I generally just watched TV, or movies, or went for a walk along the beach. There wasn't much else to it.
So, since I didn't have anything else to distract me, I started texting Jack again. We'd been broken up for a year by my choice and I hadn't really expected him to return my texts. I mean, there wasn't much else to say when you’d told your ex he was boring because he wanted to wait to have sex until marriage, but I just needed someone to talk to. I was going mad all alone, so when Jack texted back, two days after I texted him sayingHey. What's going on?I was glad to be talking to him again, even if I did still think that he was a bit boring.
He texted all the time which was nice. Bolivar and I would be eating dinner and my phone would beep, or I'd be brushing my teeth for bed and there would be Jack, saying he missed me. It was sweet, and yeah, I was starting to miss him again too.
"Who keeps beeping at you?" Bolivar finally asked me, nearly a month after Jack and I had started texting again.
We were in the living room, watching a movie. I had popcorn, he had his chocolate truffles. It was our usual Saturdaynight routine. "My ex, Jack. We're talking again."
"Were you serious with him?"
I shrugged. If we were going to be making conversation and asking personal questions, I figured it was only fair if I got some from him too. "Are you gay, or what? You dated Imrel right?"
"Imrel is a dragon," Bolivar sharply corrected me. "I highly doubt that it's the same thing as dating a human man. But yes, to answer your question, I do prefer to spend my time with men."
He was so prim and proper about it. "I do, too. Except, Jack wasn't interested in spending time with me or anyone else, really. He wanted to wait until marriage. It was a dick move on my part, but that's why I broke up with him."
"Because you value sexual satisfaction more than you value his feelings. I see."
I rolled my eyes and chose not to rise to Bolivar's bait. He could think what he wanted of me. I knew I had screwed up. The past month of texting Jack again had reminded me of all the fun times we'd had, all those little moments that I had overlooked when I'd been dating him and when I had decided to break up with him. "I'd given him an ultimatum."
"Those never end well."
I snorted. "Oh, I know that, now. But back then? A year ago I was horny and mad at him because I didn't get it. I thought he was just being stupid."
"And it turns out you were being the moron. I see."
I resisted the urge to flip him off. "Do you want to see a picture of him?"
