19. Who can a unicorn date?
19
WHO CAN A UNICORN DATE?
Archer
“Archer! Archer, I need that file.”
My boss rarely approached my desk. He always sent a text even if I was just outside his door, or he bellowed at me from his office. But now he was leaning over me. He was in my face.
I was at fault because I hadn’t been paying attention. My mind was on Micah and our nights together. Not just the nights, the evenings and a few snatched minutes in the morning before I headed to work. Along with a weekend together where we didn’t get out of bed on Sunday except to shower and accept a food delivery.
But my boss barking at me had me snapping to attention and I handed him the file which I should have put on his desk before he arrived at work. “Sorry. I was thinking of what I have to do today.” It was such a stupid thing to say.
He sniffed. “More like what someone is going to do to you.” Ouch! Was I that obvious? He gave me a knowing look and retreated to his office.
Time to mainline coffee. I headed to the break room and nodded to two colleagues, Amanda and Jake, both shifters, standing near the microwave. I’d never joined in what people termed ‘water cooler conversation’ but couldn’t help overhearing them discussing a friend’s love life while waiting for their food to heat up.
“He’s dating a unicorn.”
I tensed, goosebumps breaking out over my skin, thinking they were gossiping about me. But I’d never shared details about Micah and me with anyone at the office.
For once I was grateful our boss was too cheap to buy a new coffee machine. The current one was so slow it gave me the opportunity to overhear their conversation.
“That’ll go nowhere fast,” Amanda noted as she removed her food from the microwave and Jake put his in. “Zack isn’t a unicorn so nothing will come of it except heartbreak.”
“Not true,” Jake said. “I’ve heard of unicorns mating with non-unicorns.”
The goosebumps that covered my body became more peaked as ice-cold blood surged through my veins.
“No,” his friend scoffed. “That’s a rumor or a myth. Put out by scumbags to entice someone into their bed and pretend they can have a long-term relationship.”
“Listen,” Jake told her as he got his food. “One of the kids I went to school with had a unicorn neighbor who was mated to a guy who wasn’t one. He told me.”
“Oh yeah? So, if he said it, it must be true? You’re gullible. I’d need to see that to believe it.” The pair brushed past me, their attention now on the food rather than more gossip.
If my boss thought I was distracted earlier, he wouldn’t be pleased while I sat at my desk all afternoon pondering whether Micah had lied to me about not being able to mate. Was he a scumbag, one who used the legend of not mating to keep me at arm’s length? Or was it, as Amanda suggested, a made up story?
I spilled the coffee as I exited the break room and bumped my head as I attempted to clean it up. But the universe was on my side for once, and my boss was called to a meeting outside the office and wouldn’t return for the rest of the day. He could still text though. And he did, but with him not being present, I had my computer open searching for unicorn mating habits.
But I was more confused when I finished than beforehand. The sites and blogs were full of guesswork and rumor and based on the comments, they were run by non-unicorns. Seemed that everything unicorn was behind a paywall.
“Typical unicorns wanting to be different,” I fumed as I gathered my things and headed home. But riding a bike through traffic when your mind was elsewhere wasn’t the smartest idea and I almost collided with a car. Gave myself a nasty scare so I concentrated on getting home safely and not thinking about unicorns, especially one unicorn in particular.
Micah wasn’t home when I arrived which gave me time to plan how I was going to broach the subject. By the time he knocked on my door, I was showered, had eaten a snack, and was calm and collected.
But the moment I saw his smiling face and him leaning on the doorway reminding me of a model advertising clothing, I stomped on my good intentions and blurted out, “You lied.”
That wiped the grin off his face.
I stormed into the living room, while a voice in the back of my head—not my wolf—told me I was being immature. Micah was at my heels as I flounced onto the sofa and crossed my legs.
“About what?” He slumped onto the couch next to me.
“Unicorns not being able to mate with anyone other than a unicorn.”
“No. I didn’t,” he insisted.
“A guy in the office said someone he knew… or met… or heard of…” By this time, it struck me how ridiculous I sounded and Micah would have every right to be annoyed with me. I was having a temper tantrum about something I knew nothing about. But my frustration at not being the right person for Micah bubbled over. “They can mate.”
He rubbed his brow.
“And why is everything about unicorns so secretive? I couldn’t find anything of substance in my research.” That was my “So there” moment. Poking out my tongue would have wrapped up and put a bow on my tantrum, but I resisted.
“You’re not going to like what I have to say.”
His words sent me down a dark tunnel while staring at potential loss. “Probably not.” I folded my arms to protect myself from the bad news.
“It’s true.”
“I knew it.” I wagged my finger at him and my eyes filled with angry tears.
“Stop it,” he hissed.
That flash of annoyance stilled the tears and I fiddled with the hem of my shirt while avoiding his gaze.
“Are you going to let me finish?” he asked. I nodded. “Some unicorns have defied the laws of the universe and had relationships with other shifters.” He took my hand. “But the bond is imperfect, they are not mates in the truest sense, and there are no children. Much as we have discussed many times.”
I let out a deep breath. And another. “You made out that it had never happened.”
He screwed up his face. “If I did—and I don’t remember doing it—it was to protect you from crushing disappointment.”
“Not gonna happen,” I said under my breath. I regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth based on Micah’s expression. “I need a hug.”
With his arms around me and my head on his shoulder, we sat without saying anything as the room grew darker and the street lights outside Sunshine Manor turned on. The only time when the situation didn’t bother me was when we shifted. My human problems were left behind with my clothes and I was free.
“Let’s go to Daire’s parents’ place and shift?” It was a weekday so his folks wouldn’t be there.
“I like the way you think.”
Neil
My first coaching session was done and some of the kids were milling about drinking juice and eating snacks. Many of the parents had waited to introduce themselves while others had yelled from the car to their children to hurry up as there was homework to finish.
The chatting was more exhausting and anxiety-ridden than the coaching. The latter brought me joy but my people skills were lacking. When one more parent remained I greeted him with a big smile, glad I could soon escape.
“Hi. I’m Martin. Toby’s dad.” He jerked his head toward a boy munching on a cookie, crumbs covering his chest. My nose had become accustomed to sniffing out shifters since I met Daire, and I was pretty sure Martin had a beast inside him.
When we shook hands, he held mine a little longer than was normal. Whatever normal was. I wasn’t the best judge. The guy studied my face and my anxiety increased.
“Have we met?” he asked as he tilted his head and his eyes narrowed.
No! No! It can’t be happening. I bent my head as the darkness closed in. Soon everything would be black with only a pinpoint of light in the middle. I took a sip of water, using the time to repeat, “Everything’s going to be okay,” in my head. My first day and someone recognized me from my work. I had to get out of here.
“Don’t think so.” I checked my watch using a strategy my therapist had taught me. “I’m s-sorry but I have be s-some p-place,” I stuttered. And with a quick wave, I picked up my bag and took off. Not having a car meant I had to call for a ride share but it arrived within a minute and once I was inside with the door closed, and we sped away, my pulse slowed.
Would that be my first and last coaching session?
Ryder
My fingers hit the keyboard as I typed, but from the corner of my eye I took note of Ivor packing boxes. This was the guy I used to think of as a kid, even though he was in his early 20s and a college student. I’d hired him as a favor, but turned out he was what I needed.
I was distracted by a smudge on the screen and I used a wet screen wipe to remove it. It gave me another chance to flick my eyes in Ivor’s direction. My stag knew what I was thinking. Of course he did and he was tired of me not doing it .
Unlike Archer and Micah who’d had an instant attraction, it wasn’t like that for me with Ivor.
Kellan!
Yeah, yeah , I told my beast.
Kellan. It was always about Kellan. I’d never been able to admit he was wrong for me. I didn’t make mistakes. Not in my head, I didn’t, though my stag wasn’t backward in pointing them out.
The sex had always been good with Kellan. That distracted me from the shit he pulled. That and a few beers had me forgetting what he’d done. And I just didn’t want to believe it. Now I was being distracted by Ivor’s adorable freckles.
I wandered to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. “Want one?” I offered.
“Sure.” My fingers grazed his as I passed him the water. We shared a glance which seemed like a positive sign.
Do it , my stag urged.
My stag didn’t have to suffer the embarrassment of being rejected.
I was Ivor’s boss. We lived in the same building. All the warning signs were there but I ignored them. “Ivor.” I cleared my throat. “I was thinking… maybe you’d like to have dinner with me tonight.”
The seconds passed, maybe turning to minutes before he answered and I focused on the cute spots of pink on his cheeks. “Is this about work?”
Shi t. I had to say it. “Not exactly. More like a…”
“Date?” he squeaked.
He said the word. “Yeah.”
“But you’re my boss.” His fingers gripped the water bottle so tightly I thought he was going to crush it.
“Mmmm.”
“And I work for you.”
I didn’t answer but I wished I’d gone to the gym instead of asking Ivor out.
His fingers twisted and untwisted the bottle lid. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said in a small voice.