Chapter Seven
Seven
Cyrus
“Cyrus, are you out of your mind?” Fallon squawked from where he sat at the kitchen island.
As usual, I was preparing lunch and he was sitting on his ass watching me, expecting the food to just appear in front of him.
“This is Reece we’re talking about. Tegan’s asshole brother Reece.
He gives you one weak-ass apology about his behavior at the party and you just forgive him?
” Fallon cocked his head from side to side and wiggled his talons.
“Oh, Reece. It’s fine. I forgive you. I’ll train you,” he mocked in a terrible British accent.
“First of all, that is a terrible impression of me—”
“I thought it was pretty good,” he said under his breath.
“Second of all, he said he’s trying. His sister is marrying our best friend. I’m simply”—I turned around to face him and held my arms out—“trying to extend an olive branch of sorts.”
“I’m telling you, man. This is a bad idea.” He let out a long whistle and bristled his feathers.
I whipped back around and continued to aggressively chop the vegetables for our stir-fry.
Fallon’s reaction to the news made total sense, given his understanding of the situation between Reece and me. But there was no way I was ready to reveal the fact that he was my mate. I was still coming to terms with it myself.
And if the news got back to Reece?
It would be disastrous.
He was just now starting to warm up to the idea of Atlas being his sister’s fated mate.
Having that bomb dropped on him when he least expected it?
I was positive it would lead to instant rejection.
There was nothing in the world worse than being rejected by your mate.
It was likely I wouldn’t survive it. My lifespan was tied to Reece’s now.
For the rest of Reece’s lifetime, I’d have to struggle with a broken heart, knowing that my mate was out there and wanted nothing to do with me.
Only to pass when he passed, alone and never knowing true love.
It would be a miserable existence.
And, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to live through that.
Coaching Reece would give him an opportunity to get to know me better, and perhaps with time, he would develop feelings for me.
But maybe that was wishful thinking.
I jostled the wok with my hand while using my tentacle to stir the dish with a wooden spoon, focusing all my attention on the stir-fry instead of debating with Fallon.
“Cyrus,” he said from behind me, “I worry about you. That’s all. You’ve been going through it lately.”
I stilled, my fins perking up.
Other than not painting, I’d thought I was acting normal. Had it really been that obvious I was struggling?
I didn’t give Fallon enough credit. He could be tiring, but he was a good friend.
I plated our food, setting a steaming bowl of stir-fry in front of him before taking a seat beside him at the island.
“Thank you.” Fallon clicked his beak with excitement.
“You’re welcome. It’s hot.”
I shook my head as the impatient griffin brought a forkful of stir-fry up to his beak.
“I know you worry, but I’m a grown man, Fallon. One who is centuries older than you are, in fact. I’ve just—lost my way a bit. It feels like everyone else around me is growing and changing, and I’m stuck in the same place.”
“Even though you’re older than me, I’m still allowed to be concerned about you. I mean, I get it. Being single as fuck and watching our buddy meet someone and fall in love fast. It sucks.”
I laughed around a mouthful of food. “Fallon Ridgewing, Briar Glenn’s biggest player, is lamenting about being single? I never thought I’d see the day.” I reached out with my tentacle and playfully nudged his shoulder.
He shrugged, his wings making the gesture look ridiculous. “What can I say? Summer will be over before we know it and then it’s cuffing season.”
I stared at him and tilted my head in confusion. These kids and their slang. “What in the goddess’s name is ‘cuffing season’?”
Fallon let out a chirpy laugh and fluttered his wings slightly. “Cuffing season is basically the fall and winter. The cold months when people don’t want to be single and so they jump into relationships.”
“But why ‘cuffing’?” I asked.
“You know, like ‘handcuffed.’ Being tied down.”
I nodded my head in understanding. Maybe I’d have someone of my own to warm my bed this cuffing season.
Gods, I was getting ahead of myself.
“Shit,” Fallon mumbled with a noodle dangling from his beak. “I gotta get going or I’m gonna be late for work.” He bolted off his stool and grabbed his preworkout drink from the fridge. “So, when’s your first training session with him?”
“Monday. We’ll be training a few days a week.”
Fallon clipped his bag around his neck and tilted his head in my direction. “Diving right into it, I see.”
I rolled my eyes, and he warbled with laughter.
“I had to,” he said once he caught his breath. “Thanks for lunch, bud. I’ll see ya later.”
Fallon opened the front door, yelling over his shoulder, “And get some painting done! I can’t afford the rent by myself!”
Cheeky fucker.
He was well aware I had enough money stockpiled for multiple lifetimes, but he loved to tease me.
Fallon was right, though, I did need to do some painting. And thanks to my new muse, my well of creativity was practically overflowing.
After cleaning the kitchen, I shuffled down the hall to my studio. The afternoon sun filtered through the wide windows, lighting up the space and filling it with warmth.
It was perfect for what I wanted to paint.
The only thing I wanted to paint.
I grabbed a pencil and pulled my stool in front of one of the blank canvases lining the wall.
I closed my eyes and thought back to how Reece looked as he stared up at me from the ledge of the pool: those emerald eyes shimmering bright, the freckles dotting his muscular forearms, and the way the water dripped off his beard down into the pool.
Despite the fact that I’d been around for a long time, I wasn’t always certain of everything, but I was certain that Reece Rollins was one of the prettiest men I had ever seen.
With his macho exterior, he probably wouldn’t want to hear that, but it was the truth. You could be masculine and pretty. They weren’t mutually exclusive.
As I finished the final line of my sketch, my phone buzzed from where it sat on the cart that held my paints.
My tentacles clenched tight to my arms, almost forcing me to drop my phone.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
It was like he knew he was on my mind.
Unknown: Hey, Cyrus. It’s Reece. I got your number from Atlas. Are you available to meet a little later in the morning for training Monday? Around 10 am?
Reece Rollins—my mate—had asked for my phone number.
I was so giddy, I felt like my hearts were going to burst out of my chest.
The other morning at the gym was such a whirlwind that I’d completely forgotten to exchange our contact info.
I saved his number in my phone, then typed out a response.
Cyrus: Hello! 10 a.m. works for me.
I hesitated before hitting send.
Should I add “Have a nice day”? “See you Monday”?
Shit.
Even if Fallon was home, it wasn’t like I could ask him for advice on this. It would be a dead giveaway that I had some sort of interest in Reece. “See you Monday” was probably my best bet.
Cyrus: Hello! 10 a.m. works for me. See you Monday.
I hit send and stared at my phone, still in shock that somewhere in Briar Glenn, Reece was choosing me, of all people, to message.
His response was almost immediate.
Reece: See you then. Have a nice day!
I smiled at my phone before setting it back down on my supply cart.
It would be a nice day.
Because today I was going to paint another portrait of the most beautiful man I had ever seen, and next week, I’d get to spend time with him.
Sure, I’d be giving him the adult triathlon version of swim lessons, but it was still time with him.
Time with my mate.
As I started to mix the color palette for today’s painting, the merman portrait from the other day caught my eye.
It really was a gorgeous piece. Gallery worthy, even.
I snatched my phone from the cart with one of my tentacles and rang up Eduardo.
He answered on the first ring.
“Cyrus, I’ve been worried about you. I thought you might be dead.” He huffed.
“Nope, very much alive. I’ve been in a bit of a slump, but I think that’s over now. Can I send you some photos of my recent work? I think I want to put on a show.”
Eduardo screamed with excitement, and I smiled.
I was back.