Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
By noon on Friday, Akai had tidied the house, washed the sheets for both the bed and sofa bed, and dried them on the line that pulled out from the cabin to a tree—he’d seen Cole use it last summer, so knew how it worked.
He’d done everything he could to stay busy and not dwell on the possibility that Cole wouldn’t return. The flipside was that he was spending far too much time thinking about what might happen if he did return. He didn’t know the first thing about making a pass at a human.
If he did it wrong, things were going to get weird, and he didn’t want weird. He didn’t want Cole to jump back in his truck and leave.
His thoughts kept swinging like a pendulum, flicking between Cole not returning and what to do if he did. The easy answer was nothing. Just because he was thinking about what it might be like to fuck a human didn’t mean Cole was wondering what it was like to fuck a monster.
He’d heard that humans could be surprisingly picky when it came to monsters.
Too furry, too spiky…and he wasn’t even talking about dicks.
He’d read a few of the threads on the message board about humans, specifically the wooing of humans, and a few where the monster had fucked up and was trying to make things right.
Researching humans on the human internet had taken up a decent amount of time, which is what had led him to washing the sheets. He’d plucked a few flowers and stuck them in the empty jar of honey and placed them on the kitchen counter, so the cabin looked pretty as well as being immaculately clean.
He’d also gathered everything for a salad that they could have with dinner.
Dinner, flowers, clean sheets…was that too much?
Too obvious?
He could always say it was done out of gratitude for allowing him to stay while he recovered.
After doing nothing with his wing all week, except for some light stretching, there had been some improvement in the wound.
Though the only reason he could tell was because of the photos.
His arm didn’t need to be bandaged anymore, as it had scabbed up and was healing nicely, though he would probably always be missing that strip of hair.
By the time dusk was settling, he’d stopped pretending to play solitaire on the kitchen counter and was pacing and checking his phone every other minute.
He should’ve given Cole his number…but giving a human his number may lead to problems, especially if it got leaked.
While he could avoid getting in trouble for revealing himself to a human, having his number spread around could be more problematic, as it might lead to humans discovering the monster network.
The rumble of an engine made him freeze. He tilted his head, waiting for it to draw closer to determine if it was from Cole’s truck. He swallowed as the engine became louder. It was Cole.
Did he wait inside or out?
He dithered for several seconds, then walked outside to wait. He didn’t want Cole to think he’d left. Hopefully, Cole was expecting him to still be there…
It felt like forever before the truck’s lights appeared on the driveway, winding their way between the trees, before the truck came to a stop in front of the cabin. Cole nodded at him and got out.
Akai held his breath as Cole walked around the truck, but instead of walking toward him, he opened the rear door and pulled out a bag, which he slung over his shoulder before reaching into the truck.
“I brought extra food.” He hauled a box out of the back.
“Oh…great. Thank you.” He smiled and went over to help.
Cole passed him the box of food. “With extra honey and oats.”
Akai’s lips curved in a small, guilty smile. “Thank you. I finished what you left.”
“I thought you might.” Cole grinned. “How are you? Are you able to carry that?” He asked as he shut the door.
“Yes, my arm is much better.”
Cole laughed. “It was only a scratch.”
Akai turned to show Cole it was not a scratch. “I’ve had plenty of scratches, and this was definitely a gouge.”
Cole glanced at his arm, hopefully noting the strip of missing hair. “And your wing?”
“I’ve been taking photos. And it seems to be getting better.”
“Do you want me to check?” Cole walked in and placed his bag next to the sofa. The clean sheets were neatly folded to one side, along with the unused towels. He turned, taking in his cabin. Did he pause on the flowers?
“Yes, I tried to glide rather unsuccessfully, and it ripped open a little.”
Cole gave him a look of deep disappointment. “Are you trying to destroy my stitches?”
“I was checking to see how they’d hold up—not well.” He placed the box of food on the kitchen counter and started to identify the things that needed to go into the tiny fridge.
“These are pretty.” Cole flicked a petal.
Akai rearranged the fridge, so he didn’t have to look at him. “I thought so. They smell nice too.”
“And you found the washing machine.”
“That wasn’t hard.” Though he had been when he’d smelled Cole’s sheets.
“Thank you. I shouldn’t have left it for you to do.”
“It gave me something to do.” He hadn’t realized how much time he spent moving, making, or exploring. Being stationary had given him way too much time to think.
“Leave the rest. Let me check your wing, and then I’ll cook the steaks. You eat steak, right? We can deal with the rest after dinner.”
That meant no more distractions. “I can make a salad. I gathered everything fresh this morning.”
“That sounds great.” Cole smiled. “Come over here where the light is better.” He patted the stool, inviting him to sit.
Akai walked around, trying to be calm about being so close to him.
It hadn’t been like this last weekend. But then last weekend, they had been trying to figure out who the other person was and trying to make the best of the situation.
A week apart had sharpened his desire for more than talk.
Cole was still in his work clothes, and the scent of his sweat was crawling through him, heating his blood and making him want to do more than talk.
He’d never experienced anything like it.
He wanted to lick the sweat off his skin.
What would Cole taste like?
He sat on the stool and carefully rearranged his pants so his interest in the human was less obvious. Perhaps Cole wouldn’t notice because he wasn’t thinking those things.
As soon as Cole touched the edge of his wing, Akai couldn’t think about anything else. He wanted Cole to touch him everywhere. He pressed his teeth together and breathed slowly, which was not as helpful as it should’ve been, as all he could smell was Cole.
“Can you spread your wing for me?” Cole said, his voice a little rougher than normal.
Akai obliged. It hurt less to extend his wing, but he wasn’t stretching it as far as it could go, as he didn’t want to rip the stitches any more than he already had.
“It doesn’t look infected. It actually seems to be healing really well…not that I’m an expert, but Mom is a nurse, so I have a rough idea. Plus, I’ve been hurt plenty of times.”
“How did you get injured?”
“Playing football mostly.”
“Were you any good?”
Cole’s hand stilled, and he was silent for far too long. Akai turned his head. “Should I not have asked?”
“It’s fine.”
It clearly wasn’t.
“I was good enough that I was looking at a scholarship for college…until the accident.”
Oops. It was his fault. “I didn’t know you were in the car.”
“I’m not blaming you. I blame my cousins.
Not that assigning blame changes anything.
” His fingers swept over the top of Akai’s wing in the softest of caresses.
“The last time you appeared in my life, it was changed irrevocably. I figure the same will happen this time. I don’t know how, but I expect to be knocked off course. ”
He sounded resigned as if there were nothing he could do about it. Akai didn’t mean to knock his life off course, and it was certainly never his intention. And yet that is exactly what he would be doing if he invited Cole to solstice. He couldn’t do that to him again.
“Oh.” There went that plan.
“It’s already begun to happen.”
“What do you mean?” Akai glanced over his shoulder, hoping that Cole would keep touching the edge of his wing because it was better than not being touched at all.
Even though it wasn’t where he wanted to be touched.
He really needed to stop thinking about that because that was something that would definitely knock Cole’s life off course.
That he was staying in Cole’s cabin would have an impact… was already having an impact.
“Well, I didn’t imagine you being there seven years ago.
And this week I told my father I no longer wanted to work weekends.
I hate my job. I actually hate my life. Mostly because it’s not the one I was supposed to be living.
So I figured if you’re here to shake things up, I might as well get a head start. ”
Akai spun around on the stool to face him. “Why do you hate your life?”
“Because it’s the one my cousins were living. They wanted to work in the construction business. So after the accident, and once I’d recovered, it was the easy option for me, and I took it. Maybe I should’ve fought harder to do what I wanted.”
“What do you want to do?” Akai took Cole’s hands, noticing for the first time how much smaller the human’s hands were.
Cole glanced down but didn’t pull away. He lifted his gaze, slightly taller but only because Akai was sitting.
He laughed and shook his head as if nothing mattered.
“That’s the problem I don’t know. I only ever had one plan, and since then, I’ve been going in whatever direction I was pushed.
But I’m tired of being pushed if you know what I mean? ”
“Not really.” He was doing exactly what he loved…though it had been more fun doing it with his sister. Though that was mostly because he wasn’t on his own. Maybe Cole would want to come to solstice with him?
He didn’t need to ask tonight. They had the whole weekend.
Cole’s pulse had quickened, and his scent changed. Akai wanted to pull him closer and breathe him in. To lick over the pulse in his neck and taste him. To press against him and find out what was beneath his clothes.
Cole held his gaze. “You’re lucky.”
He wouldn’t have considered being shot a stroke of luck. However, given the way Cole was looking at him, perhaps it was. “Perhaps it is you who is upending my life this time.”
Cole smiled and pulled his hands away. “I hope something good comes out of this, for both of us.”