Chapter 5
FIVE
Asher
I’m a few steps away from Penny’s apartment when the weight of my actions settles hard on my shoulders. There’s no knowing what got into me, maybe it was the silent plea for help or something in her eyes when she was talking to her mother. Maybe I wanted to be her hero once more.
I jog across the street, scraping my shoes across the mat while I fish my keys out of my pocket to unlock the door.
She’s probably going to ghost me after all this, and I wouldn’t blame her. Who invites themselves to their family Christmas? I remember the look of fear in her eyes likely echoed what she felt running into the park in her rabbit form.
There’s time for me to apologize. I can give her an easy out the next time we talk.
She can use whatever frustration I might have caused to spin a believable end to this fictional relationship.
Perhaps if I ask for mercy, I can avoid the months or years of awkward moments in the street which will continue until one of us decides to move.
The overhead light flickers, reminding me it needs to be replaced, and as I walk deeper into the foyer, an orange blur darts across the living room, heading towards the kitchen. Mango’s collar jingles wildly, letting me know he was watching me from the front window.
“Hey, bud.” I say, tossing my keys into the crystal bowl on the hall table and following the pitter-patter of paws against the fake tile floor drowning out the silence of my parent’s old townhouse.
I’ve lived in Madison all of my life, with most of my memories taking place in this large two-story building, both good and bad.
It still has most of our old furniture from when my parents signed it over a couple of years ago.
They had moved into another of our properties outside the city without a second story.
It still feels strange they aren’t even in the country anymore and the distance isn’t something a dragon could manage.
No, I have to rely on human means if I want to visit my family. I have my friends, but the city is oddly isolating. Perhaps it’s why I jumped at the chance to avoid spending Christmas alone.
Mango meows, circling around his food dish, gold eyes looking up at me expectantly the moment I walk into the kitchen. The beginning of our nightly routine and one of the lesser-known reasons I don’t feel comfortable dating.
There are some people who would grab me by the shoulders and shake, telling me it’s just a cat. He’s more than that. He’s family.
I found Mango as a kitten a couple of blocks from here, cold and shaking in a large cardboard box.
He needed my help; he needed a home. I was between futures, trying to cling to the friend group which was slowly drifting away and burying myself in my new hobbies, which ultimately led me to opening Dragon’s Lair. Two lonely boys finding each other.
A few years in, he was diagnosed with a rare heart condition, and I was solemnly told he would need medication twice a day for the rest of his life. There was nothing to consider, I would do anything to keep him healthy. Dragons keep those they love close, after all.
I set my phone on the table, preemptively silencing the alarm to remind me to give him his medication, before moving over to the fridge. I pinch off a piece of cream cheese and hide the tiny white pill inside before offering it to him.
“We’re lucky your perception modifier is low.” I say, holding out my finger, nearly catching a little fang as he gobbles it down.
My phone chimes as I’m prepping his canned food, and when I check the screen, I do a double take.
There’s a new message from an unknown number. It’s Penny.
I don’t remember agreeing to the pet name ‘baby’.
I swipe open my phone, adding the contact under the name “Baby?” and shoot off a quick reply.
What would you prefer?
The three dots bounce in time with the jingle of Mango’s collar as he practically inhales his food, then stop altogether.
Baby?
Way to put me on the spot.
Warmth spreads across my chest at the thought of those green eyes looking at me with an empty challenge, the little fiery rabbit ready to stomp her displeasure to make a point.
Would she be pouting right now?
Fuck, I can almost imagine her furrowed brow and the tiny crease at the corner of her down-turned lips. Me fighting the urge to lean over and brush my lips against her cheek until I hear a tiny gasp.
You’re the one who brought it up.
Those dots return, but this time the response is immediate.
Baby?
Nicknames and pet names should happen organically.
It did. I chose it.
Fine. You win this round, sir.
Her ‘sir’ does something to me. There’s a tease behind it which makes me want to poke at her some more, to push past the chatter to flirting. This isn’t like me, I don’t usually get flustered this easily, but she’s different. I can sense it.
I set my phone face down on the countertop, trying to rein in my thoughts. Penny has a way of stirring emotions I had long since thought were nothing more than embers.
Mango nudges my calf, coiling around my leg before staring out towards the front room, his gold eyes transfixed by the dying light of the sunset.
The long shadows reduced to ghosts on the hardwood floor next to the bay window.
He bounds off after the shifting shapes before sitting on the edge of the sill.
My phone chimes, vibrating against the counter.
Baby?
Is Mango okay?
The fact she thought to ask . . .
Mango meows, watching the slow trickle of people crossing in front of our house on their way to whatever lives they have when the day is over.
He’s good. Just soaking up the last bit of sunlight.
Oh there he is. I always wondered about him when I’d see him in the window.
If she can see me, she must be in her bedroom. If memory serves, it’s the only room on their floor to face the street.
I walk across the room and draw back the sheer curtains. Penny waves down at me, her phone in her other hand.
This position feels too vulnerable. I wave, then take a couple of steps back and continue observing her from the shadows. Her expression falls as soon as I’m out of view and a barb sticks directly between my ribs.
I can’t deny I’ve been drawn to Penny for months. Like a moth to a flame. Finally, being able to talk to her, to have a full conversation and see her smile, to hear her unguarded laughter, feels like a dream come true. This is already more than a simple crush.
How is this going to work?
The plan is to drive up to my parents’ house in Arbor Ridge the day before Christmas Eve and stay at least until after the family party to keep them off my back until next year.
That’ll be easy. If we’re gonna be convincing as boyfriend and girlfriend, we’re going to need a backstory of how we met.
You’re right. What do you have in mind?
Okay, so I’m getting greedy, but I need to see her again. I don’t want to spend these entire three weeks playing phone tag and potentially letting the woman of my dreams slip between my fingers. Oh, where did that come from?
We should meet up this weekend if you’re free and talk it out in person. In the tabletop world, we’d call it a session zero. It’ll be a chance to get our stories straight and go over boundaries just to make sure everyone is comfortable.
Penny stares at the text for a few moments, her fingers moving across the screen as she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. The dots bounce on the screen in time with her efforts.
Do you mean like a test date?
It isn’t what she was typing. I wonder what she had been ready to send but decided against it.
Yes, a test date.
The phone vibrates in my hand immediately.
I’m in. This weekend.
When I look up at her again, she’s beaming, the warmth in her smile rivals the setting sun. I can’t take my eyes off her, watching as she glances down at Mango again, searching.
Is she looking for me?
She turns on her heel, walking deeper into the bedroom, and whatever spell she had me under breaks.
This isn’t normal for me. Dragons rarely get attached this fast, which makes me wonder. No, we’re too different, she couldn’t be.
I’m almost jealous of the other demons, if I weren’t a dragon, I might recognize her soul. Since my kind have been living side by side with humans since the beginning, it’s not a power we possess despite the fact we primarily seek soul connections.
It’s not something I can spring on my parents, either. I can imagine the conversation right now. “Hey, Mom and Dad. How did you know you were soulmates?”
I’m in big trouble.