Page 35 of Twilight of Embers
Shaking myself out of the memory, I grabbed a sweater and wrapped it around myself, then my jacket. I shoved my notebooks and the textbooks I needed into my backpack and headed out the door.
I hurried down the steps and into the crisp fall air. But I came up short as a hulking figure stood from his perch at one of the tables outside my dorm.
Cáel really had the Viking look going for himself today. His white-blond hair caught the early morning sunlight, and his leather jacket gave him an extra air of badass he really didn’t need. The tattoos curling up his neck and across the sides of his head did that for him.
He extended a cup to me. “Knox said you like hot chocolate.”
My mouth curved as I took the cup. “I do. Thank you.”
“I got you one of those chocolate croissants, too.” His brow furrowed. “Do you like those? I could get you something else if you don’t. I—”
“I love them. Anything chocolate, really.” My heart squeezed at the massive man’s struggle. He was trying so hard.
A smile spread across Cáel’s face. It was a little rough around the edges, as if he didn’t make the motion often. “I like chocolate, too.”
I fell into step next to him. “Then I guess we have that in common.”
He nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Are you heading to class?” I asked.
Cáel shook his head. “Library.”
“Nice. Are you a junior like Knox and Easton?” I realized I hardly knew anything about the giant walking next to me.
“Senior.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. Conversation clearly didn’t come naturally to him. “What are you majoring in?”
Cáel’s light blue gaze flicked to me. “Engineering.”
“Oh. Wow. That has to be intense.”
He shrugged. “I like it. Black-and-white answers.”
No shades of gray. I so got that. And for someone like Cáel, having a yes or no answer was probably comforting. “That can make things a lot easier.”
Cáel bobbed his head in agreement but didn’t say anything. Every so often, he would peek over at me as we walked. The third time, he scowled. “You need a warmer coat.”
I glanced down at myself. The jacket I’d had for the past three years had been warm enough for Seattle, but I had to admit it wasn’t quite doing the job in this higher elevation. “I’m going to get one after I get my first paycheck.” There had to be a thrift shop around here somewhere that I could find a good deal.
Cáel’s scowl only deepened. “You should get one now. You don’t want to get sick.”
I chuckled at his grumpiness. “You’re giving Mr. Grumpy Cat a run for his money.”
His spine snapped straight. “Huh?”
“Easton. He’s always scowling and hissing. So, I call him Mr. Grumpy Cat in my head.”
Cáel’s lips twitched. “He know that?”
“Not unless Knox told him.”
“I really want to be around when he finds out.”
I choked on a laugh. “If he doesn’t want insulting nicknames, he shouldn’t be a jerk.”
“Fair,” Cáel muttered.
