Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Ican hear birds chirping. My tongue feels like a piece of cardboard, stiff and dry in my mouth, with a Gods awful taste.
There’s a slant of sunlight that feels like it’s burning my eyes into cinders behind my eyelids and a huge weight on my chest. Trying to work some spit up in my mouth, and risking flames shooting out of my eye sockets, I lift one hand to shield them from the light, as I oh-so-gently lift my head and look down.
It appears at some point in the night, Calida decided to curl up on my chest and sleep. At least I’m not slowly suffocating.
I flop my head back and immediately whimper.
I guess the hangover is well deserved. I keep my hand up over my eyes as I try to piece together the end of last night.
I remember talking to Flint about my story and him (sadly) confirming that he does not know of any giant cats.
I grin, thinking about Calida in her pizza coma and…
OH.
MY.
GODS.
Flint… I… we… holy fucking fuck balls, we kissed.
We kissed. And had I not had a metric fuck-ton of wine, that probably would have been my first thought upon waking up.
Then again, to be fair, it likely never would have happened if I hadn’t been tipsy as shit.
Oh Gods. Maybe he also needed to be tipsy.
If I could roll over without risking making a dragon angry and possibly setting me on fire, I’d hide my face in my pillow. Sleeping dragon…
I almost pop something in my neck twisting my head to try to see where Flint is.
It’s not a big place so it’s not exactly hard to spot him.
He’s asleep on my couch and he looks absolutely delicious and.
.. ridiculous. To my disappointment, he’s still wearing his shirt, but his bare feet are hanging over the end of my sofa.
His neck is bent at a truly awful angle in an attempt to accommodate the space between the couch’s cushion and its arm.
He has his own arms folded across his belly, and I have a sneaking suspicion it is mostly due to the fact that there is literally no other space for them.
The sun is streaming onto his face, but his chest continues to rise and fall with deep, even breathing.
Even in sleep, he looks every inch the warrior.
I think it’d be creepy if I laid here, staring at him, for any longer than a few minutes.
I can’t believe this gorgeous man is sleeping on my couch. That he kissed me last night and called me bubbly. Asked questions about me and actually fucking listened to the answer. He showed genuine interest in me and my life, even the things that I find boring myself.
I wince as I realize that the bar really is in Hell for straight men these days. At least… I assume he’s straight. We didn’t get far enough into our conversation to discuss sexual exploits. Even thinking about sex and this man makes my cheeks heat.
As if he can feel the weight of my eyes on him, Flint opens his own. He appears to be completely alert.
How is that possible? Is the man superhuman? Just fully asleep to fully awake in a finger snap, no time or caffeine required? Can he teach me his ways? Oh. Duh. He’s not human. Clearly, I still need my coffee.
Flint quickly focuses on me and he smiles. “Good morning.”
I swallow dryly. “Good morning. Are you ok? You looked really uncomfortable sleeping there.”
His smile seems to deepen. “I’m a warrior. I can sleep anywhere.”
Calida moves on my chest and I glance down, meeting her silver eyes.
‘He can sleep standing up. It’s really weird.’
“Right. Of course.”
She yawns and snuggles her head back in between my breasts. “Calida, do you mind moving to the mattress, please? I really need to get up.”
She makes a little growly sound in her chest.
‘But I want to snuggle! I’ve waited forever to snuggle!’
Forever? “I like snuggling with you too, but I really have to pee.”
‘Oh.’ she says. She tucks her little wings in and rolls off my chest, onto the bed beside me.
I shuffle to the kitchen to start the coffee, then run to the bathroom and close myself inside. After getting my business done, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
Oh, fuck me.
My hair looks like one of Calida’s snacks was tunneling through it all night. My winged eyeliner is smeared under my eyes. My face is puffy, likely from the alcohol, and I’m pale as hell.
I look like Hell. Oh my Gods, Flint just saw me looking like this. Great. Fantastic. Love that for me.
I scrub my hands over my face, further fucking up what’s left of my makeup, and turn the water on in the tiny sink, hunting for my hairbrush.
I struggle to brush out my rainbow hued curls, which proves to be a somewhat painful endeavor.
Once I’ve managed to tame this mane into some semblance of order, I pin it back, work on removing my makeup, and brushing my teeth.
I debate whether putting on more makeup is worth it, but the throbbing in my head makes me decide against it.
As a matter of fact, even having my hair pinned back is making it worse.
I let it down, fluff it up a tiny bit, and grab the ibuprofen on the way out.
While I’m getting my coffee, Flint heads into the bathroom himself.
Ahhhh. Amazing, life giving coffee. I can have faith in the world again.
After the first couple of sips, I grab a cold bottle of water from the fridge.
Might as well start hydrating and beating the hangover now.
I realize that Calida is no longer in my bed.
I also realize, belatedly, that I really should change my clothes and likely shower, but the idea of showering with Flint here is a little weird, especially after last night.
Kiss or not, the man is practically a stranger.
“Where’s Calida?” I ask, as Flint comes back out.
“Oh, after you decided to relieve yourself, she decided that sounded like a grand idea. I opened the window for her. I hope that’s alright.”
“Of course. That’s fine. Should… will… well, will she find her own breakfast then?”
He laughs and ugh, he’s got one of those laughs I could listen to on repeat forever. “Yes, I’m sure she will.”
He sniffs the air, almost like a wolf. “What is that?”
“Oh, it’s coffee. Do you want some? There’s always plenty — I have a slight addiction.”
“I think I’d like to try some.”
I skirt around him for another mug and pour him a cup. I’m not sure he knows, so I do warn him that it’s hot. He takes a sip before I can bother to offer him any sugar — even though I never use any. It just adds an extra step between me and fulfillment.
“This is fantastic.” He puts his nose over the mug and deeply breathes in the scent.
I can’t help but grin. “Yeah. It’s pretty terrific.”
We sit and sip in a companionable silence, with only the slightest bit of awkwardness due to the ending of last night.
I get lost in thought, remembering last night and try to hide the flush I can feel in my face by draining the rest of my coffee.
“Do you have any plans while you're here? For today, I mean?”
Flint looks at the coffee left in his mug, then pins me down with that blue eyed stare of his, making me shiver. “I planned to go out. I imagine I will need to find Calida. A place to stay. A job, I suppose.”
While this all makes perfect sense, I’m not sure what sort of job he’s going to find here.
Based on what I’ve written of him, at least, he is a warrior through and through and all of his “job experience” is going to be pretty worthless in a small Midwestern college town.
I can’t imagine the college is going to be overly excited to hire a man with a sword.
Wait — does he even have a sword? I haven’t seen anything but his bag but I can’t imagine that a sword would fit inside it.
"Do you know where you wanted to start?”
“No.” he says, cheerfully. “But I’m sure I can figure it out. I was smart before I got ‘buff,’ after all.” He smiles, but I feel like he’s waiting for something.
Oh. He’s teasing me. Right.
As he finishes his own coffee, he asks “And you?”
“I’m actually off today. Usually, I try to reset my apartment, clean things up, run some errands and work on my story.”
“Ah,” he nods. “I will get out of your way then.”
I chew my lip as I watch him while he gathers his few belongings and stops to put his boots on. “Where will you go?”
He is busy tying his boot and isn’t appearing to notice my sudden anxiety.
What is going to happen? If he leaves this morning, will I ever see him again?
I still don’t think he’s insane, although it’s possible.
What if he really is from Goira? There are so many holes he could help me fill in in this story. Plus... that kiss.
While it may have been a one time, alcohol fueled fluke, I’d really like to figure that part out for sure. Maybe. Definitely.
What I do know is that I’ll never do either of those things if he walks out that door and I never see him again.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure Calida and I can figure it out. Really, she should be staying with you, but I have to admit, I’m going to miss her.”
“Here!?” I blurt out, unable to stop myself.
He sits up and tilts his head, studying my face.
“I mean, you could stay here, until you figure it out? If you don’t mind crashing with me and sleeping on the couch. Just... until you find a place to stay… and a job.”
Oh shit — I did not just do that. Shitshitshit. Yes. Yes, I did. Impulsivity for the win. Mentally, I facepalm myself so hard I leave a bruise.
Flint is still studying my face. “Are you sure?” His voice is quiet, thoughtful.
Too late to back out now, Casie, you absolute ass.
Oh, who am I kidding? I desperately want to be the bold, outgoing woman who takes risks. Daring. Fun.
“Sure, I’m sure. What kind of person would I be if I let you and Calida potentially sleep on the street?
I mean… you aren’t going to murder me, right?
” He looks appalled, so I quickly continue, “Of course not. So it seems like a nice solution. Maybe in exchange you can help me fill in some of the holes in the story I’m writing? ”
He smiles. “If you’re sure, we’d love to stay. I will still get out of your way for now though, and go track down Calida.”
He makes his way to the door and smiles at me over his shoulder as he closes it behind him.
I heave out a huge breath that I was completely aware I had been holding. Walking to the door, I lock it behind him. Resting my head against the solid surface of my door, I run through a recap of the upheaval that my life has undergone in the past twenty-four hours:
I am now living with a man, for the very first time.
Not just any man, but the hottest man I have personally ever seen, who also appears to be brave, kind, smart, and funny, and who may or may not be a Fae warrior from a realm I thought I had invented in my own head.
He is bringing a tiny blue dragon who loves pizza and rats with him and we’re all going to live in my tiny, not super fantastic, apartment.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Each word is emphasized by a light bang of my skull against the door, hangover be damned. How do I get myself into these situations?
I sigh and then snort. I’m saying that like random hot men just show up out of nowhere to get drunk and kiss me brainless in my apartment on the regular. I might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
Well, we’ll figure it out as we go along. In the meantime, I should get ready. I didn’t want to shower with Flint here, but I guess that’s something I’ll have to get used to. If they’re moving in today, I need to hit the store and buy actual groceries.
As I’m rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, it occurs to me that I should have asked Flint what to buy. I don’t know what to feed a dragon.