Page 16 of Looking for Seth

He gave me a pained smile. "I'm glad you think that."

"So, maybe you could come to my oasis tomorrow?" I suggested. It was a bold move for a first date, especially because I wasn't going to count tonight, but it felt right.

He raised an eyebrow. "You have an oasis?"

I nodded. "It's in the god realm."

For a moment, I thought he was going to tell me that he wouldn't come for that reason alone, but to my relief, he nodded. "I'll come tomorrow."

Relief flooded through me. This wasn't exactly the date I'd envisaged for us, but at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been. "Thank you."

"An odd reaction to me agreeing to a date," he said.

"I know that it's necessary when we started with some identity confusion."

"True." He took a deep breath. "And I'm not going to be able to easily forget that."

"I know." I swirled my drink around my glass, trying not to think about how much it hurt to have ruined things between us before we'd really had a chance to explore the connection we undoubtedly had.

But perhaps if I respected his boundaries and didn't rush him into anything, we'd still be able to have a future.

I certainly hoped so.

Chapter 9

Menhit

Having Seth in my oasis was a stranger feeling than I expected it to be. Maybe this wasn't the best suggestion for a first date, but I also liked the idea that we could have the place to ourselves and not have to deal with anyone else.

The sky darkened above us, not that it meant anything. The weather didn't work the same way in the god realm as it did elsewhere. But the illusion of evening falling did add a different kind of atmosphere to our date.

Seth leaned in and picked up a piece of apple. As with everything else he did, there was an inbuilt grace that I couldn't take my eyes off, and behind it hovered the power and destructiveness of a storm. It was becoming increasingly clear to me that Seth had the ability to sweep me off my feet, though whether it would be because he wanted to destroy me, or because he chose to do something about the connection we shared, I wasn't entirely clear.

"I have to ask, why an oasis?" He gestured around him as if he didn't think I'd know what he was talking about.

"I missed part of my old life," I admitted. "I like a lot of things about the modern world, including being able to spend my time the way I want to. I travelled from place to place for a while trying to find somewhere that felt properly like home, but nowhere did. I eventually returned to Nubia and came across a beautiful oasis, and it all clicked inside me."

"Then why not live in that one?" He seemed genuinely curious, which I supposed made sense when he lived on Earth. Or I assumed he did, considering his reputation for staying away from the other gods. It would be hard for him to do that if he was living in the god realm.

"Because living in a real oasis is highly impractical. Sand gets everywhere, and then there's the lack of amenities. I didn't want to give up the things that made life comfortable. Besides, it's difficult to find customers if I were in the middle of nowhere."

"Ah, your knife-making."

I nodded. "I enjoy it too much to give up, but someone might start to suspect something if they came across an oasis with a strangely youthful woman who had a stack of ornate knives."

He let out a low chuckle. "You could make yourself look older."

"True, but I like this form." I waved my hand down myself, not thinking about what that would draw his attention to until it was too late.

He raked his gaze over me, heating my blood in a way that no one else had in a very long time. "I can see why." His voice came out raspy, as if he was more affected by me than he wanted to admit.

I cleared my throat, unsure what the best way to respond was. I wanted to encourage his attention, particularly if he found me as attractive as his body language suggested he did, but I also didn't want to pressure him, especially when he was trying to decide whether or not I was trustworthy.

The oasis itself wasn't helping the thoughts in my head either. There was too much around that was making it feel like something special was happening. Between the birdsong from the tops of the trees to the gentle splash of the water against the shore, the oasis had a romantic air that couldn't be ignored, even if I was trying to. But this was just a first date, and one that I was lucky to have.

I distracted myself with a couple of grapes, popping them off the bunch and into my mouth.

Seth watched my every move, his gaze attentive and impossible to ignore. It brought to mind all of the sweet things he said while we were talking on the Jinx dating app.