CHAPTER 17
Krusk
Ishoved my hand through my hair as I paced in front of my door, worried that my Emma wouldn’t show up. I ignored Ribbon where he was sitting behind me, panting heavily while switching between slobbering on the floor and slapping his tongue against his eyeballs to keep them wet.
We’d scheduled a private walk together so she could ‘teach me some tips and tricks’ about owning a new dog. I eyed Ribbon before rolling my eyes. I hated lying to her, but I didn’t know any other way to approach her.
The chime for the doorbell sounded and I froze where I was, staring at it in shock and terror.
If it is Emma, then—
But if it isn’t Emma, then—
I stood with complete indecision at the door, until Ribbon hopped toward it, his huge tongue slapping out and gripping the door to turn the handle. I stared in horror at it as it swung open.
Emma blinked down at Ribbon from where he’d opened the door. His long tongue retracted into his mouth before he panted at her, wearing what could only be described as a smile on his face.
Her eyes were wide and confused before they moved to me, where I stood inside the door, just standing there and staring at her like an idiot.
“Y-your dog just opened the door with its tongue,” she said in a slow, baffled voice.
“Yes,” I agreed, nodding as though it was completely normal. “What a good boy,” I added, leaning down to pat the top of its fluffy head. It released a noise that sounded like quark, and bit my hand, swallowing the entire thing inside its mouth and swinging off the edge of my wrist.
Horror crossed Emma’s expression from where I hadn’t stopped staring at her and I lifted my hand—that Ribbon was still dangling off of.
“Excuse me for a moment. While I get him settled on his leash,” I told her with as much aplomb as I could muster while having a fucking mountain toad hanging off my fist.
I walked away, wiggling my arm wildly to get him off as I took him in the direction of my bedroom.
“Get off my fucking hand,” I hissed at him in a low voice.
Emma called, “Are you okay? Do you need me to call animal control?” in a high voice.
“I’m fine,” I called back, struggling to pull the latched toad off while he happily sucked at my hand with his tongue wrapped around it. “This is just something he’s started doing,” I forced a laugh, grabbing him under my arm and tugging harder.
By the time I got him off—with a huge plopping noise that I was certain Emma heard from where she was still near the door. Ribbon panted happily up at me and I scowled down at him, giving him my best, firmest expression.
“Do not do that,” I said, and he leaned backward in my arms until I was forced to release him. He flipped as he fell, landing on his hind legs before sitting on the floor as if he was as innocent as could be and had no idea what I was talking about.
“Don’t fuck this up for me,” I warned him, whispering the words so Emma couldn’t hear. “I’m doing that enough on my own.”
He blinked up at me as if he understood completely. I shared a moment of silence with him before he lunged for my hand again and I cursed, dodging him.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Emma asked again, pressing her hand to my wrist—the one that Ribbon had almost swallowed again three times before we’d left the apartment.
I looked down at the spawn from hell, feeling benevolent and grateful toward his eccentricities. He blinked up at me as he meandered down the path, one scuttle after the next. Not the huge hopping I was used to from other mountain toads, but definitely not a walk.
You’re welcome, he seemed to say, before snapping his tongue out and snatching a fly from the air in front of us.
I nodded at Emma, praying she hadn’t noticed. “I’m fine. It’s one of his new quirks,” I explained, and it was not a lie, because while it might not be new to him, it was definitely new to me.
“He seems to have a lot of quirks,” she said, looking down at where Ribbon had just stopped in front of a fire hydrant to sniff at it before jumping—in one huge leap—to sit on top of it and stare up at us, still panting heavily.
“He does,” I agreed, trying to tug on the toad’s harness to get him to come down from where he was. There was no change in his expression, and I stopped with a sigh since he didn’t seem like he was going anywhere anytime soon.
Emma looked from Ribbon to me before she said, in a slow voice. “That’s not a dog, is it?”
I considered lying to her again. I considered just continuing the lie I’d told her. For all I would know in this new plane, it could be a dog. But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Ducking my head, I shook it with a slow, resigned exhale. “No. I’m sorry. I was going to adopt one, but then I found out my brother brought this mountain toad from our old plane and—”
I cut myself off as I heard a snort leaving her. When I raised my head, all I could do was stare at her in awe. She was laughing. A full-fledged grin was on her face as she doubled over at the waist, guffawing her mirth.
An answering chuckle left me and before I knew it, we were both laughing together, sharing in our glee at the silliness of what I was trying to explain to her.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated, swiping at the tear that had leaked from my eye. “I really am.”
“No need,” she giggled, swiping her own tears away.
These were the only kind that I wanted to ever see from her. Tears of joy and laughter. Never sadness. But it was an emotion that I could detect an undertone of in her luscious scent every time I was in her proximity.
It drove me insane. It sent a driving need through me to fix whatever was happening in her life that was hurting her. Bringing her pain in any way.
“I kind of figured after I saw his tongue to be honest,” she explained, swiping another tear as she sobered. Her smile was still on her face. “I just didn’t know exactly what he was.”
She shrugged, tilting her head at me in that way that sent her hair cascading over her shoulder and then her scent in my direction.
Fuck me, I want to touch her so bad.
I pushed my hands through my hair, trying to get a hold of myself. “I just wanted to spend more time with you,” I explained, and I watched her smile disappear from her face.
Shit. You fucked it up.