Page 56 of Falling for the Felid
Well, there are four of them. That’s a kind of full, right?
“Finally!” Dáithí declares. “We were about to order without you.”
“Sorry we’re late. I, uh, I had to finish. Something! I had to finish something before we left.” Oh wow, that’s embarrassing. When was the last time I got this twisted up talking about sex? Never, that’s when.
Oh, wait… when I was trying to avoid explaining my hormonal surges to Ari.
I guess it’s just talking to elves that makes me prudish.
“You’re not late,” the king says, his smile warm. “Welcome. I’m glad you came.”
The squeak that escapes me is entirely due to my nerves dissipating and my insides melting. Now I understand why Ari’s so dedicated to the king. Who says shit like that and genuinely, visibly means it?
A king, that’s who.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Should I have called him “sir” instead? It didn’t seem formal enough, but we are in his den at the moment, so maybe informal is the way to go.
“Please, call me Raðulfr.”
I laugh. “That’s kind of you, sir, but it’s not going to happen anytime soon.”
“Told you,” Jared says, leaning over to kiss the suddenly disgruntled king. “Don’t worry, we’ll work on him.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re all buddies here,” Dáithí cuts in. “Food? What are we getting?”
After a quick negotiation, we manage to order, and the conversation abruptly refocuses… on me and Ari.
“Sooooo,” Jared begins with a teasing smile, “Eoin said we didn’t need to send you an invite text because you were with Ari.”
I take a slug of the soda I asked for, wish there was some kind of alcohol in it, and nod. “Yep.”
“Just hanging out?”
“Rearranging my DVD collection.”
Dáithí pulls a face. “Who even has DVDs anymore? They were old-fashioned before we even got here.”
“That just means we had to dust it too,” I say seriously.
“Did I know you have a sense of humor?” Eoin asks me. “How did I miss that?”
I shrug. “You were too busy making Ari apologize to me to notice.”
Ari groans and slings an arm around me, pulling me closer to him. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”
“Nope.” I grin at him. “It’s my ticket to winning every argument we ever have.”
“Are you two together?” the king asks with a tone of dawning realization. “That’s wonderful! Unexpected, though.” He turns to Jared. “We weren’t expecting this, were we?”
“Not expecting. I was hoping, though. They make sense as a couple.”
I wince. Dammit, I didn’t want to get into this. “We’re friends. Don’t start slapping labels on us.”
There’s an awkward little pause, and then Jared says, “Okay, this will be a label-free zone. But, why?”
“Ari and I both have other commitments in our lives that we’re not willing to take focus from.” I’m proud of myself for coming up with that on the fly. “Hockey is a jealous mistress.”
Thankfully, that distracts them—for now at least—and talk turns to the upcoming game against the Glaives.
