Chapter Thirty
Oakley
Mission: Go on a date without being recognized or having Dad ruin it…
Picking up food for our date with a disguise on was freaking hilarious.
Roman had actually put on a fake mustache that looked absolutely ridiculous. His wig was a different color from his mustache, and the hat on his head didn’t help. I was pretty sure everyone within a ten-mile radius could still tell he was wearing a wig.
But at least the ball cap covered his face, just like mine did.
Neither of us had been in the news for a long time, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t be recognized in our own city.
I had on a lot of dark colors and no makeup, which was the opposite of what I normally wore.
And Roman was wearing a pink and blue flowered shirt with a print so bright it was almost blinding.
I had no idea where Jed had gotten it from, but I loved it because it was so ridiculous.
We’d tried to get him to wear the pink pants that matched, but he’d refused, so he was in regular blue jeans.
At least it wasn’t his normal black tactical pants, though.
Even looking like a massive dork, he was still hot.
And even though he’d tried to make me wait in the car like an ass, I was still excited to go out with him.
We waited together at the counter where the pickup area was, both of us scanning our surroundings and watching each other’s backs.
The bell over the door rang, so I let out a sigh like I was bored, turned around so my back was to the counter, leaned on it, and checked out the newcomer.
Roman remained where he was, keeping an eye on everything behind me.
A woman with two kids walked in, clearly not paying attention to anyone since she was too engrossed in keeping her kids with her.
“We’re good,” I murmured under my breath to Rome.
He gave me the slightest nod, keeping up his bodyguard scan-absolutely-everything thing.
After another minute of waiting, the man came back with our food, Roman paid, and we headed out together.
At the car, we both used our dragon magic to sense any tampering, but when we didn’t find anything, we got in. Roman was driving, so I held the food in my lap and took my ball cap off.
“Well, that was fun. Doesn’t look like we have a tail or anything.” I glanced back again and still didn’t see anyone following us.
“I don’t think we were recognized.”
“Me either. Even if we were, I doubt my dad would’ve been able to get someone out to us so quickly. We were there for less than ten minutes.”
“True, but I’m taking some extra turns, just to be sure. Plus, it’s not really your dad I’m worried about.”
“I figured.” I shot him a mock glare, but I wasn’t actually angry. It wasn’t like I wanted to be attacked by random people from my old life anytime soon. “I like your mustache.”
He snorted. “Want me to grow one for you? I will.”
I laughed. “No way. Please don’t.”
“But I thought you liked it?” He pouted in my direction, and I laughed again, giving him a small push.
“Stop. No pouting.”
He pouted harder but ended up laughing after only a second.
It wasn’t long before he pulled into a mostly deserted park and drove through the winding road until we ended up in an empty parking lot. There were trees around us and a small lake that was frozen over, although I wouldn’t risk walking on the ice, just in case.
Our territory was almost always covered in snow, so there was a good chance the ice was thick enough to hold our car, but that wasn’t a risk I would take.
I mean, I could swim, and I had wings, so I’d be okay, but I wouldn’t want even one toe going in that freezing water.
Being wet in this weather would be awful.
I shuddered at the thought. Not to mention, I wouldn’t want Roman to get hurt or to worry about me or anything like that.
Roman placed a blanket on the hood of his car and gestured for me to get up.
As soon as I was sitting, he grabbed two more blankets from his back seat, wrapped one around my shoulders, and settled the other over my legs.
Then he grabbed four more blankets, placed two around himself the same way he had me.
He wrapped one around both of our backs, and the other over both our legs, so we were doubled up and sitting extremely close.
Yes, it was definitely cold enough outside to warrant all the extra blankets. I knew we had even more in the car if we needed them. But luckily, we were both dragons, so we could keep our bodies warm by igniting the fire within us.
And we ran hot in general anyway, so I was good like this.
I unpacked the food, placing things on top of our legs, and we started eating our burgers and fries.
Not the most romantic meal, but it was from a nice place, not a fast-food joint, and sitting here with him was… really damn perfect.
He shoulder-bumped me. “I didn’t know you liked stargazing.”
I smiled, staring up at the stars as I finished chewing my bite.
We were too close to the city to see most of the stars, but there was still a good bit out there.
“Back when I was with Gepisha’s Iron, I used to look up at the sky and wish I could fly that high, maybe see what else was out there, maybe just… get away.”
He shoulder-bumped me again, then kept his body there, a solid presence reminding me I wasn’t in that place anymore, that I was free, that I never had to go back.
“Did you ever try it?”
“Try what?”
“Flying that high? Have you ever tried reaching the stars?”
“Oh.” I let out a self-deprecating laugh. “When I was really little, I remember flying as high as I could until it felt like there was no air left. I kind of panicked and tumbled down for a long time, but I caught myself before I hit the ground.”
“Thank the Mother of Scales.”
I sent him a soft smile. “What about you? Ever flown so high you ran out of air?”
“Oh yeah.” He laughed. “Gar and I made it a competition when we were kids. We dared each other to go higher and higher until one day, I went so high I passed out. Gar had to catch me and fly me down.” He shook his head.
“Woke up with him panicking above me, and when he realized I was okay, he started flipping out that our parents were going to murder us.”
“Did you get in trouble?” I was highly amused. I might’ve been mad at my dad, but I still liked hearing stories about him and Roman growing up together. And about my grandparents, who I’d never even met. They both passed away a long time ago.
“Ooooh yeah. We had to do extra chores for a month.”
I snorted and nudged. “Bet that didn’t stop you two from doing it again.”
“Psh. Of course it didn’t.”
I laughed and ate a french fry.
We continued chatting as we finished up the food, and when we were done, Roman collected the trash and put it in his car until we could find a trash can. It was dark, and technically, the park was closed, so it was nice and quiet here.
Not only did it feel romantic, it was also a good place to hear someone coming toward us. But hopefully we wouldn’t be interrupted.
He climbed back onto the hood, and when he got his blankets situated, I scooted in so I could cuddle into his side.
He let out a contented sigh, kissed my temple, and pulled me back so we were lying down on top of his windshield.
Thank goodness his car had been magically reinforced by Tan.
Otherwise, I had a feeling our combined body weight would’ve cracked the windshield, or at least left a dent in the hood.
But we didn’t have to worry about that.
Roman started pointing out constellations, and even though I already knew them all, I let him keep going, happy to listen to his sexy voice and keep our heads as close as possible so we were staring at the same stars.
“And that one is—”
Roman cut himself off when I kissed his cheek, his lips curving up on the ends.
“Hi,” I whispered.
“Hi,” he whispered back, meeting my eyes. “You doing okay? Not too cold?”
I gave him a squeeze. “Nope. I’m perfect.”
He kissed my forehead. “Yeah, you are.”
I snorted and smacked his chest. “Shut up.”
“What? You are… you’re perfect for me.”
I had no idea what to say to that, so I just hummed. “Tell me more stories about the stars.”
“Sure.”
As he spoke, his fingers played with my hair, running over it and through the longer pieces on top that I was letting grow in. I’d had a fully shaved head only a few weeks ago, but it was already growing pretty fast.
My eyes fell closed, my ear over his chest, hearing his rumbly voice, feeling safe and sort of… treasured in a way I’d never experienced before.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever been more comfortable or felt so safe in my life.