Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Sierra floated through the next day on a sort of cloud nine.
She didn’t usually get this excited about a date with a guy, but she was really starting to feel some chemistry with Aodhan.
Plus, they had already surpassed the awkward part where she had to explain her skin disease, so she felt she could really talk to him, something she couldn’t say about the other guys she had dated from time to time while living in Ireland, or even the United States, so far.
She had woken up early that morning to go to the store and buy all the ingredients she would need to make tacos with him later that night.
It was still a little weird to her that he wasn’t, well, human, but Sierra was sure she would get used to it.
She couldn’t explain it, but now that he had been honest with her, the attraction between them had seemed to increase.
She now felt drawn to him, in the same way he said he had initially been drawn to her, but she had been keeping the reins on her emotions, knowing it was too soon to jump to any conclusions yet.
Walking into work, Sierra ran straight into Tyler, who was hanging up his coat just as she was clocking in.
“Sierra! Hey!” He waved enthusiastically.
She gave him a small wave back, heading directly for a cart of books.
She didn’t want things to get awkward with Tyler, but the fact she had agreed to a date with Aodhan after telling Tyler she didn’t date at work was making her feel a little guilty.
Knowing Tyler, the best way not to tell him about the date with Aodhan was to avoid him altogether.
Her avoidance tactics didn’t work, however, and within a few seconds, Tyler was walking alongside her as she made her way to the first section for reshelving.
Sierra began shelving as Tyler started talking about whatever it was he had done the night before. Sierra tried to smile and nod at the right parts, but found herself zoning out.
She couldn’t stop thinking about everything she had learned over the past few days.
Aodhan wasn’t human, and he came from a place that humans couldn’t access.
That thought made her pause for a moment, wondering how things would progress if their relationship worked out.
Would she go back with him to The Hills?
Or would he stay here with her? And what would her parents think?
Sierra quickly pushed the thoughts away; this was just date number two, she shouldn’t be thinking like this yet.
She had been so deep in her thoughts, she missed a part of the conversation during which she was supposed to respond, leading Tyler to resort to waving his hand in front of her face.
“Hello, earth to Sierra! Where did you go?”
“Sorry,” she muttered, quickly finding the spot for the book in her hands. “I’ve been busy lately, and it’s causing me to lose sleep and zone out a lot.”
“Busy, hm? With what?” Tyler looked over at her, his eyebrows raised.
“Just studies and…stuff.” Sierra grabbed another book, slipping it into its place.
“Stuff? What kind of stuff?” Tyler wasn’t going to give up that easily, apparently.
Sierra said the only thing she knew would shut him up. “It’s personal, Tyler. I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”
Tyler looked a bit taken aback, and Sierra couldn’t blame him, as she didn’t usually talk to him that way. “Okay, point taken.” Without saying another word, Tyler went and grabbed the second cart, heading to a different section of the library.
Sierra felt a little bad that she was blowing him off, but she just didn’t have anything in common with Tyler beyond the job, and she couldn’t exactly tell him about her current predicament.
She continued shelving books, trying to focus on the task at hand and not let her thoughts slip to Aodhan, but they continued to end up there anyway, no matter how much she tried to rein them in.
At least it helped the time go by quickly, and before she knew it, her shift was almost over.
She began grabbing the books off the tables that needed to be reshelved, fighting to keep her eyes on her books and not on Aodhan, who was a few tables away, folding his tall frame over a table to do the same thing. Tyler was nowhere in sight.
Both Aodhan and Sierra were quiet as they clocked out, grabbed their things, and left the library. It wasn’t until they had crossed the street and were officially off campus that Sierra even turned to look at him.
“So, how was your day?” Sierra cringed at how cliché that sounded, but she wasn’t sure how else to start a conversation based on where they had left the last one.
Aodhan looked surprised at her basic question, glancing over at her before turning back to look in the direction they were walking. “It was good. Except I didn’t get to walk you to the library before your shift.”
“I can walk to campus myself, you know.” Sierra hedged while fighting a grin. She found it cute that Aodhan wanted to walk her places.
“I know, but I like walking with you.” His arm brushed hers, and Sierra thought for a moment that he might use the opportunity to grab her hand, but he didn’t.
Sierra could feel herself blushing from his words. “Thanks. I guess I do like it when you walk with me.”
The tension sizzled between them, and Sierra wasn’t sure how to bridge it, especially while they were limited in what they could say in public, so their walk continued in silence until they rounded the corner and entered her apartment.
As soon as her jacket was off, Sierra headed to the kitchen. “I hope you like tacos because that’s what I am making for us.”
“Tacos.” He repeated, his voice pensive. “I’ve never heard of them.”
Sierra smiled. “I figured, but not to worry, everyone likes tacos.” She began collecting the ingredients from her small fridge, watching out the corner of her eye as Aodhan evaluated the décor, or lack of décor, in her apartment.
She did have one picture of her family, which was pathetically taped to the wall without a frame, and a small ship in a bottle, which was the only decoration on her coffee table.
“See anything you like?” she flirted over her shoulder as she turned on the stove. It had been a long time since she had seriously flirted with a guy.
“I do.”
Sierra nearly jumped out of her skin at the feel of Aodhan’s breath on her ear. She put her hand on her chest to slow her heart. “Don’t do that.” She looked over her shoulder to find Aodhan grinning right by her ear, their lips inches apart. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.”
Aodhan didn’t reply. Instead, he took a step back but stayed standing behind her and watching as she poured a can of black beans into the pan for sautéing.
He was close enough that she could feel his body heat, and a moment later, his hand ran up and down her back in a calming manner.
“Relax,” he whispered huskily in her ear. “I don’t bite.”
Shivers ran down her spine. She took a deep breath, trying to focus on the hot stove and the beans she was stirring. At least she had picked an easy dinner that she could cook with her eyes closed if necessary.
Aodhan apparently noticed that he was distracting her, and stepped back to sit in one of the chairs at her tiny table.
She couldn’t help but notice that his large body made her table look even smaller than it was.
He was probably used to some massive banquet hall and gourmet cooking back in The Hills.
She wished now that she had chosen to make something nicer, but knew it was too late to change anything.
Sierra grabbed the other ingredients from the fridge, quickly cutting the onion and tomato.
She set them on the table, along with the cheese, tortillas, hot sauce, and lettuce, as Aodhan observed her every move in silence.
Just when the quiet was about to get awkward, the beans began to steam, so she turned off the stove and scraped them into a bowl, setting it on the table as well.
Aodhan looked at all the things sitting on the table in front of him. “You’re going to have to show me how to eat this, I’m afraid.”
It was Sierra’s turn to smile. “I figured as much. Here, I’ll make your first one for you.”
She quickly grabbed a tortilla, filling it with a little of everything and handed it to him.
He looked at the folded taco in his hand, holding it like it might bite him, before looking back at her. “So, I just eat it with my hands?”
“Yes,” Sierra replied, already filling her own taco. Aodhan waited until she took the first bite of hers, observing exactly how she did it, before bending his neck down to take a bite of his own.
“Delicious,” he said between large bites, devouring the first taco in moments. Sierra was about to offer to make him a second one, but he seemed to get the idea and quickly made his own. “How did you learn to make these?” he asked before eating the second taco in three bites.
“My family, I guess. We are originally from Mexico, well, my parents. I was born in the US, but my parents were born in Mexico and came over as young adults.”
Aodhan’s mouth was full of food, and as Sierra finished off the last morsels of her first taco, he was already making his third, heaping on more than Sierra would have dared.
Aodhan noticed her eyes on the nearly overflowing taco in his hand and quickly explained, “I don’t normally like human food, but this is delicious.”
Sierra began making her second taco, pausing at his words. “You don’t like human food usually? Why?”
Aodhan shrugged, his mouth full of his third taco which looked like he would once again be able to eat in three bites, despite it being overfilled.
“We Fae, because of the way our existence is tied to the environment and nature, normally choose not to eat animals. Some of the Fae who move here—to the human world—learn to enjoy meat, and some in The Hills have taken to eating meat regularly, but I never have.”