Chapter Two #3
“She doesn’t,” he confirmed. “She just said so.”
“That means we’re going to have to share a room.”
“Unless you want me to see if I can get a room somewhere else? Considering how small the town is, I doubt they have motels or even a bed and breakfast.” It wasn’t only because the town was small, but because this was a demon town.
They wouldn’t have a bed and breakfast because they didn’t need one.
The only people allowed in were the people who’d lived here all their lives.
Kael bit his lower lip and glanced at the bed. It was big enough for two, but not big enough that they wouldn’t touch each other if they shared.
“I don’t want to make Poppy feel uncomfortable,” he said.
“Why would she feel uncomfortable? Because she assumed we’re a couple?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to make her feel bad or anything. She’s nice.”
“I agree, but if you don’t want to do that, what do you want to do? She probably won’t mind finding another room. She doesn’t know us. She might be a bit flustered initially, but I’m sure she’ll understand.”
Kael looked torn. Ridge’s instincts were pushing him to solve this problem for him, but at the same time, he wanted to see what was going to happen.
He hadn’t told Kael that they were mates.
He knew that Kael suspected something—it was the only explanation as to why he’d been so clearly avoiding Ridge since they’d left Starhaven—but if Kael wasn’t ready to face it, Ridge was willing to give him more time.
He just wasn’t sure how that would work with them stuck together in this room and with people around them assuming they were a couple.
They could either go along with the assumption or explain to every single person they met that they weren’t together, which would probably make things awkward.
Ridge didn’t care either way. He didn’t care if he made people uncomfortable. Kael did, though, which meant that once again, Ridge would let him take the lead.
He eyed the bed again. He was sure Kael would be uncomfortable if they had to share, and there were no other rooms available. That left only one solution.
Ridge grabbed one of the pillows and fluffed it up. “That’s comfortable enough,” he said. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Kael’s eyes went wide. “You shouldn’t have to sleep on the floor.”
“No, but I don’t have an alternative. You don’t want me to tell Poppy that we’re not together so she can try and find me another room.
She’ll know something’s up if I try sleeping on the couch, which means that the only thing we can do is share the room.
Since you don’t want to share a bed, one of us will have to sleep on the floor. ”
“And it has to be you?”
Ridge arched a brow. “Are you volunteering? Because I’d rather have the bed.”
Kael’s cheeks flushed, and he looked away. Ridge was pretty sure he was about to climb out the window or something like that, but instead, he shook himself.
“Fine, but if it’s too uncomfortable, we can swap.”
“I’m not letting you sleep on the floor.”
“Why not? You’re willing to do it.”
“I’ve been trained to do it. In fact, I’ve been trained to sleep and work in the worst circumstances. This won’t be the first time I’ve slept on the floor, and it definitely won’t be the last. You don’t have to feel guilty.”
“I never said I felt guilty.”
But he did. It was clear in his expression that he didn’t want to cause a fuss, but he also didn’t want to share the bed with Ridge, which was fine.
Ridge understood. He knew about their bond, but Kael didn’t, not for sure.
Even if he had, this wouldn’t feel as instinctive for him as it did for Ridge.
He didn’t feel the pull as strongly as Ridge did, if he even felt it at all.
Bonds between shifters and their mates always grew stronger as time passed, and he and Kael hadn’t known each other long.
Their bond would grow stronger, but it needed time.
And Ridge wasn’t sure that Kael was willing to give them that time.
* * * *
“IS EVERYTHING TO YOUR liking?” Poppy asked as soon as they were out of the bedroom door.
Kael opened his mouth to explain that he and Ridge weren’t a couple, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Poppy looked so hopeful that his answer would be yes, and he didn’t have it in himself to rain on her parade.
Besides, what could she do? She didn’t have another bedroom, and even though Ridge had offered to find another place to stay, Kael knew that he wouldn’t, even if he could.
He was here to protect Kael, and he couldn’t do that if he wasn’t near him.
Ridge hadn’t told him that. He’d just volunteered to sleep on the floor, and Kael hadn’t had a choice.
He’d agreed because he didn’t know what else to say.
Could he share a bed with Ridge? Probably.
Would it be awkward and tense? Definitely.
He had no idea what was happening between them or if anything was happening at all, but he could feel that sharing a bed would lead to something he wasn’t ready for.
So he forced himself to smile at Poppy. “Everything’s perfect,” he said. “We freshened up, just like you suggested. I’m ready for dinner.”
She beamed. She really seemed excited for them to be there, which was a bit confusing. When Kael first found out that a shifter had snuck into Starhaven, he’d been terrified. He hadn’t known that Tex was Nymon’s mate, and he’d been even more scared when he found out.
He wasn’t scared of shifters anymore. He’d met plenty of them since he moved out of Starhaven, and the stories he’d been told about how shifters and humans treated demons seemed far away now.
He wouldn’t say that most people were happy to see him when he went to town, but no one had tried to run him out yet, so he took that as a win.
And he was here to show demons that whatever stories they’d heard about shifters weren’t true.
Hell, humans were probably more likely to push demons out than shifters were.
Shifters understood. They’d been hidden, just like demons still were.
It hadn’t been quite the same thing since they didn’t have magic to hide, but they’d lived for decades hiding from humans in plain sight, and everything had been fine when they’d been forced to come out.
Well, mostly.
But the council didn’t expect demons to open up their towns instantly and welcome the whole world in.
Hell, they didn’t even expect demons to open up their towns at all.
They just wanted to be able to communicate with demons in case something happened, like it had in Starhaven.
Demons had been responsible for human deaths, and that wasn’t something the council or the human authorities could allow.
They’d had to intervene, but it would’ve been much easier to contact the Starhaven authorities and deal with them directly.
The council hadn’t been able to because they had no idea how to contact them or who they were.