Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
AERO
It was research.
That was what Aero told himself as he loaded the basket into his rental car.
The storm system building off the coast required observation from an elevated vantage point.
The sea cliffs north of town offered the best sightlines.
Cassia’s expertise in local atmospheric patterns made her the logical companion for extended fieldwork.
The picnic was practical. They might be out there for hours. Food was a necessity, not a gesture.
“This is a date.”
Delos leaned against the cabin’s porch railing, arms crossed, grinning with the insufferable certainty of someone who saw right through every excuse Aero could manufacture.
“It’s field observation.”
“You packed wine.”
“I packed water and coffee. The wine was already in the cabin.”
“And now it’s in the basket.” Delos pushed off the railing and descended the porch steps, still grinning. “Along with the cheese I watched you select at the market this morning. And the bread you spent ten minutes choosing. And the chocolate.”
“She mentioned she likes chocolate.” The words came out defensive. Aero heard it and hated it. “In passing. During a conversation about surge-related appetite changes.”
“Right. Because observing the storm requires chocolate for the pretty witch…”
Aero didn’t have a reply. The truth was lodged somewhere behind his sternum, uncomfortable and undeniable: he wanted to see her face when she found the chocolate. Wanted to know if she’d smile. Wanted to be the reason she did.
His dragon rumbled approval. He shoved the beast back down.
“Just…” Delos reached out and adjusted the collar of Aero’s jacket, a surprisingly intimate gesture from someone who’d learned long ago to maintain physical distance. “Lean into the awkwardness, okay? Don’t try to analyze it. Don’t make spreadsheets. Just be there with her and see what happens.”
“I don’t know how to do that.”
“I know.” Delos stepped back, his grin returning. “That’s what makes this so entertaining.”
He picked up Cassia at the weather station.
She was waiting on the stone steps when he arrived, her wild dark hair pulled back in a braid that was losing its battle against the coastal wind. Her grandmother’s barometer pendant hung at her throat, brass gleaming dully against her skin.
She looked like a storm waiting to happen.
His dragon stirred, scales rippling beneath human skin. Ours.
Aero tightened his grip on the steering wheel and didn’t respond.
“You brought food.” Cassia slid into the passenger seat, her gaze catching on the basket in the back. “I thought this was storm observation.”
“It is. The system won’t reach the optimal observation position until sunset. We may be out there several hours.”
“So you packed a picnic.”
“I packed sustenance.”
Her lips twitched. Not quite a smile, but close. “Is there wine in that basket?”
“Maybe.”
“And you’re calling it sustenance.”
“Wine has nutritional properties. Antioxidants. Polyphenols.”
This time she did smile. Small and quick, gone almost before it appeared, but it hit him somewhere deep. His dragon purred.
“Sure. Polyphenols.” She pulled on her seat belt and settled back against the seat. “Let’s go observe your storm, Elder Tau.”
He put the car in gear and pretended his heart wasn’t pounding.