Chapter 41
Magma
It’s the big day.
I called Ridge, and he is fine. I think I might be more nervous than he is. No, I am more nervous than he is.
The passport control building sits low and gray at the edge of the airfield, two guards posted outside the door. I check my watch. I’m a few minutes early. My car is parked in the lot behind me.
I rub my palms down the front of my pants. Once. Then again.
I don’t know what to expect. That’s the problem. We’ve exchanged some texts over the last few weeks. I asked her to the wedding because I needed a date. I’ve kept things friendly and casual. My hope is that she doesn’t think it’s more than it is.
A shout goes up from one of the guards, and I look up to find three shapes cutting across the sky, the red in their scales catching the mid-morning sun.
The last time I saw her in dragon form, I was pretty messed up, but I still recognize her.
Her wings are wider than the two males flanking her, her body longer through the middle, and she banks first, leading the descent toward the strip behind the building.
They come in fast and then pull up. The two males flare their wings hard ten feet off the ground and drop the last of their height in a controlled fall, claws finding the dirt, dust flying up around them. Brook follows a beat later, landing smoothly.
The shift happens almost too fast to track. Scales fold into skin, the long lines of her body drawing inward, wings gone, and then she’s just a woman crouched on the ground where a dragon was standing a second ago. The two males do the same, one staggering slightly before he catches his balance.
They’ve all got bags, which they must have been carrying in their talons. The males open their bags right there and start pulling out clothing.
Brook doesn’t bother.
She jogs toward me across the open ground, naked, grinning, her bag bouncing against her hip with every stride. She’s tall, every inch of her toned. Her hair is dark and about shoulder-length. She lifts a hand and waves before she’s even close enough for me to make out her face properly.
I lift my hand and wave back.
I feel nothing.
I stand there with my arm half-raised and wait for something to happen, because she is beautiful. Any male with a pulse should feel something looking at her. My dragon doesn’t so much as twitch. He could be asleep. It’s a little annoying because I want to feel something.
She pulls a shirt over her head and steps into a pair of panties.
She reaches the gate and ducks through it.
Two guards take her details, scan her passport, stamp it, and she’s through. I watch through the glass while she answers something one of the guards asks her, head tilted, easy and relaxed about the whole thing.
She steps through the door and pulls on a pair of really short shorts, dressed before she’s halfway to me.
“Hi.” She’s all smiles as she slips her feet into a pair of sandals.
She closes the last few feet and wraps her arms around my neck. I hug her back, and then she leans up and kisses me.
It’s quick and soft and shocks me to my core.
I don’t move into it. I don’t move at all. I don’t kiss her back. It’s too quick to push her away.
Fuck.
She pulls back first, and if she notices that I stood there like a fence post the whole time, she doesn’t say so. I take her bag from her shoulder before she can argue about it.
This is a mess. I shouldn’t have asked her. She thinks it’s more.
Dammit!
“This is so exciting,” she says, falling into step beside me. “I love weddings. There’s something about them.”
“Robyn will be glad you came.”
“How’s Draig Island treating everyone? I haven’t heard much beyond what Flint tells me, and he’s not exactly a gossip.”
“Good. Quiet, mostly.” I glance at her. “How’s Mistveil?”
“Better than I expected, honestly. Flint’s doing good work over there. The frontline staff actually like him, which is saying something, given where we started.” She bumps my arm with her shoulder. “You should be proud of him.”
“I am.”
We reach the lot, and I pop the trunk and put her bag inside.
“I got a hotel room for tonight,” she says, “but I don’t need to check in yet. We could swing by your place instead, get ready there. I’d love to see it.”
“I’ve got something I need to do for Ridge.” I close the trunk. “Flint’s actually going to swing by and pick you up to take you to the chapel. I’ll meet you there. I hope that’s okay?”
Her face falls a little.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “Best man duties,” I lie through my teeth. I don’t want her at my place.
She recovers fast, mouth curving again, hands going to her hips. “Well, you’ll just have to make it up to me later, then.” She gives me this pouty look.
“I will.”
“I’m holding you to that.” She climbs into the passenger seat, and once I’m behind the wheel, her hand lands on my thigh. She squeezes, leaving her hand there.
I feel nothing other than uncomfortable.
Do I tell her to take it off?
I want to.
Shit!
“Great weather we’re having,” I tell her.
“It’s beach weather. You should take me tomorrow. We could skinny-dip.” She bobs her brows when I look at her, and I feel my cheeks heat.
“I’m not much of a swimmer,” I lie again.
I have never been so glad to see a hotel come into view a few excruciating minutes later.
I pull up at the entrance and put the car in park. “Need a hand with your bag?”
“Come up for a while.” She pulls her seatbelt off, already reaching for the door handle, and winks at me on her way out.
Shit.
I sit there a second too long.
Is that an invitation to have sex? I think it might be exactly that.
This is terrible.
Worse than terrible.
I get out and meet her at the trunk, then I hand her the bag instead of carrying it in. “I’d love to, but I can’t. I’ve got to get going,” I lie for the third or fourth time; I can’t keep count.
“Let me guess.” She tilts her head, lips pressed together like she’s fighting a smile. “Best man stuff?”
“Yeah. I’m afraid so.”
She steps in and kisses me again; I feel her trying to deepen the kiss, even though I haven’t so much as lifted my hands. I pull back before it can go anywhere.
“I’ll see you later,” I blurt like an idiot.
Her eyes are a little dull when she looks up at me, and she isn’t smiling anymore.
I feel like an asshole.
“See you later,” she says.
“I can’t wait.”
Yet another lie comes tumbling out.
She heads inside, and I pull away from the curb and let out a long breath through my nose, then groan, low and rough, the kind of sound that comes from somewhere deeper than my chest.
I’m the biggest asshole on this island.
I call Flint on my hands-free as I pull away.
“What’s up? Is everything okay? Is Ridge alright? I just got to my apartment not so long ago.”
“I know. Everything is on track. How was your flight?” I ask.
“Quick and uneventful. You sound…uptight.”
“I do not,” I growl.
“What’s up?”
“Why does something have to be up? Why can’t I just call to check in on you?”
“What are we? Five? You sure as shit do not need to check in with me. What is going on?” He knows me far too well.
“I need a favor.”
He chuckles. “What do you need?”
“Please can you fetch Brook from the Seaview Hotel on your way to the chapel later?”
“Why can’t you fetch her?” he asks.
“I need to help Ridge get ready for his big day and drive him to the church,” I tell Flint, who starts laughing.
“What?” I ask, feeling annoyed.
“You’re kidding me, right? You need to help Ridge get ready?”
“Yes.”
He laughs some more. “Bullshit! We agreed to meet at the chapel at two-thirty; since when did things change? I would understand you giving him a ride, but helping him get ready? Not a chance. What the fuck is going on? You’d better be straight with me, or I’m not fetching Brook.
Actually, what am I saying? I’m not fetching her. She’s your date, Magma.”
“She kissed me.”
“You poor thing.”
“She invited me up to her hotel room,” I tell him, wincing at how I sound.
He laughs some more.
“Look, forget I called you.”
“Wait!” he says.
“No. Fuck you!” I snarl.
“Don’t hang up.” He’s still laughing. “Don’t! Wait.” He sobers up, but it’s taking some work on his part. “Why is that a problem? She’s a beautiful female. You’re single and not blind.” He gasps like he just figured something out. “Unless you have cock problems.”
“I don’t have cock problems!” I growl it so loudly that the couple standing at a red light hear me, their eyes going wide.
They start laughing as I pull away.
Holy fucking shit!
“I don’t have those kinds of problems,” I tell him, under my breath even though it’s too late.
“I don’t see the issue, then.”
“I guess I’m not into her.” I shrug, even though he can’t see me.
“Back to your eyesight needing checking, Magma.”
“Can you stop, please? If you won’t pick her up, I’ll—” I start to say.
“I’ll fetch her for you.” He sighs. “You need to…” He tapers off.
“Need to what?” I ask, even though I don’t want to know the answer.
“Get a life and stop being such a pussy.”
I have a couple of choice things to say back to him, but I hold them back because he’s right. I’m one hell of a pussy.
Whatever.
I won’t take advantage of Brook. I need to tell her what’s going on. Well, some of it, anyway. She deserves as much.
“Brook came all this way for you, bro. What did you expect? She likes you. She—”
“You know what?” I tell him. “I’ll do it. I’ll fetch her myself. You give Ridge a ride to the chapel. I’ll meet you both there.”
“Wait, what? Are you sure?” he asks. For someone who just gave me so much shit, he sounds concerned.
“Yes, I’m sure. I’m not being fair. I need to sort out my own shit and not run from it.”
“You know what, Magma?”
“What?” I bark because I have a feeling I’m not going to like what he says.
“I’m proud of you.”
“Fuck off!” I snarl, but I’m smiling.
He starts laughing, and I put the phone down, shaking my head. I’m smiling too, but it soon dies.