Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
MATEO
Flirting wasn’t really his forte, but Dax seemed not to mind the bad line. He actually flushed, and when he seized Mateo’s lips in a greedy kiss, Mateo felt like he’d done something right.
He kind of loved being in the pool like this. Not only did the quiet settle the parts of his brain that were anxiously spiraling most of the day, but no one else was in the pool at the moment. It felt like they were all alone in the world where no one could bother them.
He didn’t linger, they were still at the office and he wasn’t big on PDA, but sharing that quiet moment with Dax helped settle him a lot after all the stress of the day.
He’d honestly not thought a job in cyber security would be this stressful, but then again, he also hadn’t planned on having roommates and being surrounded by chaos every time he went home either.
After separating, Dax tugged on Mateo’s hand, a big smile on his face. “Let’s swim.”
He didn’t know why he thought swimming under water would be harder, it wasn’t like he hadn’t done it before, but generally while doing laps, he was above the water so he could breathe.
He hadn’t realized he could do the same stuff at the bottom of the pool without issue.
If anything, it made him faster since he didn't have to fight for breath after a while.
Watching Dax swim was kind of fascinating, too. Like an octopus, his tentacles did kind of a push-pull movement, which looked like it wouldn’t be as effective as it was. The third time he passed Mateo by, Mateo couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s not fair.”
Dax swung around, a mischievous grin on his face. “What’s not fair?”
“You keep lapping me. I don’t have as many appendages as you do.”
“Neither do merfolk. Limb number doesn’t necessarily equate to speed,” someone said behind them. If he hadn’t been in the water, Mateo would’ve jumped in surprise. He was so distracted by Dax, he hadn’t realized someone else had joined them.
The familiar face smiled at him when Mateo turned around, tipping his head toward the amulet around Mateo’s neck. “I see you’ve learned your lesson from last time. Smart move. I would hate for you to get hurt swimming with someone so careless about your safety.”
Had Mateo not been between the merman and Dax, he got the feeling the normally good natured kraken would’ve lost his shit. As it was, Dax bared his teeth at the new arrival, snatching Mateo with a tentacle and pulling him against his side.
The merman raised an eyebrow at him. “Gonna hold him captive again? How long until that charm wears off?”
“It doesn’t,” Dax snarled. “Mind your business.”
The merman looked smug when he replied, “As long as his health is in danger, he is my concern. I’m a water healer. If he drowns because of you, I’m the one who would save him.”
Water healer? Mateo had never heard of that. He knew about druids, his parents had taken him to see one when he was a kid and broke his wrist, but he didn’t know there were specific elemental healers.
“He’s not going to drown!” Dax shouted. “I made that charm myself! The spell is attached to the stone and would only stop working if the runes were worn away! They’re fine!”
Shaking his head, the merman turned his attention to Mateo, ignoring Dax’s growl. “No temporary magic is perfect. If you’re worried about it wearing off, I can always do what I did last time. That, at least, won’t wear off until you get out of the water.”
“You’re not kissing my–”
Dax cut himself off before he could finish the sentence, making Mateo glance over his shoulder with a frown. He looked a little pale, like he hadn’t intended to say the words out loud. Mateo cocked his head at the kraken.
“Dax?”
Dax’s eyes darted to Mateo, then back to the merman. He seemed to consider his words for a moment before finally finishing the sentence. “Boyfriend. You’re not kissing my boyfriend. Stay the hell away from him.”
Mateo realized belatedly that while they mentioned the word over the weekend, neither of them had discussed it further. It didn’t matter to him, he didn’t mind people knowing, but it was sweet all the same that Dax didn’t want to say it without talking about it first.
Turning back to the merman, Mateo gave him a polite smile. “I’m good, thanks. The charm works fine, and I’m not worried about it.”
With a shrug, the merman swam backward away from them. “If you change your mind, I’m around. It’s not a hardship for me to kiss a beautiful man.”
He felt Dax jerk against him, like he was fighting the urge to attack the man for even mentioning the spell. Mateo had to pull his boyfriend into his arms to stop him from doing something stupid. If he got caught fighting on company property, he could get fired.
Dax buried his face against Mateo’s chest, wrapping him in that all over hug that Mateo loved so much. He barely noticed the merman swim away, too busy basking in the moment.
Quietly, since he wasn’t sure how well merfolk could hear, especially in the water, he murmured, “I appreciate you wanting to check with me first, but I promise I don’t mind if you refer to me as your boyfriend.
That’s what we talked about over the weekend, right?
It’s still new, but I’m not going to hide it just because of that. ”
Dax lifted his head slowly, eyes searching Mateo’s like he was looking for something. He opened his mouth, seemed to think better of it, then tried again. “Actually, I–”
What felt like a rush of bubbles overtook them, sending them shooting for the surface in a way that made Mateo gasp.
It was then that he noticed the bubbles had successfully pulled the amulet over his head.
He started choking immediately, thankfully reaching the surface before things took a turn for the worse.
Dax panicked, though, practically throwing the both of them out of the pool to get him to safety.
Mateo collapsed onto his hands and knees, coughing and spluttering, while Dax lightly patted his back.
“Damn it, Miles! What was that for?”
“Sorry,” Miles said apologetically. “You hadn’t come up for a while, and I needed a way to get your attention. How was he down there so long anyway?”
“He had a charm which you pulled off with that spell,” Dax snapped. “Mateo, are you okay– What the hell are you doing?”
A large hand settled on his back, and Mateo heard someone whisper a spell.
Tingling swept through his lungs, making him cough once more, then disappeared, taking with it the burning pain and discomfort of breathing in water like he had.
When he could finally take in a deep breath, he looked up to find the merman kneeling beside him, in his human form and studying him with a worried frown.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Mateo croaked. “Just surprised me, that’s all. Thanks.”
“No problem. I’m not even going to blame the kraken on that one.” He shot a look at Miles, displeasure written all over his face. “You can’t use spells on others without consent. You could have hurt someone.”
Miles scowled at him. “I said I was sorry. And Dax normally doesn’t mind when I use that spell. How was I supposed to know he wasn’t alone? Humans can’t be under water that long.”
Mateo put his hand up to stop the debate, sitting back on his heels.
“It’s fine. I was just startled. I’m good.
” With Dax and the merman helping him to his feet, he stood and gave Miles a reassuring smile.
“I was wearing an amulet that allowed me to breathe under water. That’s how I was down there so long.
It must’ve slipped off with the bubbles. ”
“I knew I should’ve shortened the chain,” Dax mumbled, scowling to himself. Mateo put a hand on his arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze. It wasn’t his fault either. Mateo wasn’t even upset. When it came to all the crap going on in his life, this didn’t even hit the top fifty.
Turning to the merman to thank him, his eyes bugged out when he realized the guy was naked.
He immediately averted his gaze. “Uh, thanks. Again. For helping me. It’s nice not to have to feel my lungs burn for hours after accidents like that happen.
I remember my sister dunked me once without warning, and I coughed for at least an hour afterward. This is way better.”
He heard the merman chuckle, and he forced himself to look the man in the eye, careful not to let his eyes drop even a little. He was glad he wasn’t a merperson. The embarrassment every time he got out of the water would make him want to never swim again.
“Humans are so weird about nudity,” the merman chuckled. “I’m glad I could help. I’m Hiro, by the way. I’m part of the healing staff at Spellbound.”
“Mateo,” he replied, then waved a hand at Dax. “This is Dax. And that’s Miles.”
The merman dipped his chin in greeting, then gave Mateo a serious look. “You’ve been at risk twice now in the water. I’m going to suggest you be more careful or avoid the water until the charm can be fixed. I’m not always on staff, and I would hate for you to get seriously hurt if I wasn’t around.”
“I’ll shorten the chain tonight. It won’t happen again,” Dax growled.
He didn’t seem to like Hiro, and his grip around Mateo’s waist was possessive when a tentacle wrapped around him.
Was it wrong that Mateo kind of liked that?
His few relationships in the past had been short lived and none of his partners ever felt possessive over him.
Or at least, they never acted like it. They mostly just found him annoying after a while.
“Good,” Hiro agreed. “Mateo, if you ever feel like swimming and your boyfriend isn’t around, you can always find me. I’ll spot you. Have a good night.”
He ignored Dax’s glower and dove back into the water, his legs transforming into a tail as he disappeared beneath the surface.
Miles scoffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the water. “Ignore him. He’s a dick.”
Dax frowned at his friend. “Weren’t you checking him out last week?”
Miles looked disgruntled by that, waving the comment away. “That’s not important. I’m hungry. Do you guys want to go out somewhere? If I go home, I might murder my roommate.”
Mateo blinked rapidly in surprise, but Dax just snorted. “Let me guess. The playboy kept you up late?”
Miles’s scowl deepened. “Roommates suck. Food?”
Since Mateo very much understood the irritation Miles was experiencing, he figured the kind thing to do would be to feed the man. “Do you guys like fish? I know a good poke bowl place a few blocks from here.”
Both men swung to face him, eyes wide. “Really?” they coursed together, looking as eager as little kids going out for a treat.
Mateo snorted. He could think of worse ways of spending his evening.