Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Cryptids United in Delightful Dating and Love Encouragement (CUDDLE) Forum
SuperShySasquatch: I’m following your advice and waging a love campaign to win my man’s heart! Tonight, I’m going to ask for permission to court him. It’s pretty nerve-wracking but I need to do it, even if I end up getting shot down.
YetiOrNotHereICome: Being honest with him and true to yourself is the best way forward. In love, there’s always a risk of rejection. But if you never take that risk, you’ll ultimately have more to regret at the end of the day.
SuperShySasquatch: Yeah, I’m not new to rejection. Can’t say I enjoy it, but I’m prepared. I just don’t want to make him feel bad or awkward around me if he doesn’t want me to court him.
IPutTheBrahInChupacabra: If he says no, you gotta do some soul searching, man.
Do you want to try and maintain a friendship with him, knowing how much it will hurt not having your feelings reciprocated?
Hell, he might end up dating someone else.
If that happens, can you genuinely support him as a friend?
Don’t forget, you need to protect your heart too.
NessieNeedsLoveToo: I second that. It can take time to move on from feelings, and most species typically need distance and space for that. If this guy is living with you, that could spell all kinds of trouble afterward.
SuperShySasquatch: Sigh. I know. I’ve considered all these things. Honestly, I’m not sure what I’ll do if he rejects me—other than go cry a whole lot and try to crochet away my sorrows. I’ve decided to figure out “what next” when and if I cross that bridge, so to speak.
LoungeSingerLizardMan: That’s what I like to hear! Never lose sight of your inner romantic. What’s life without wine, music, and love? You’ve gotta put your heart on the line to have any shot at winning in the romance game, my friend.
MerMagicMan: We’re going to be cheering you on, SSS! And if things don’t go the way we all hope they will, we’ll be here to lend an ear and offer moral support. You can count on us.
SuperShySasquatch: Sniffle. Thanks, friends! I love you all too.
Hal
Icheck my apron pockets to make sure I have everything: flashlight for Skylar, trail mix for just in case, extra plastic baggies to collect samples of anything strange we might want examined, a pair of latex gloves, my cell phone, and keys.
Phew! All set.
What I can’t store in my pockets, however, is the gumption to ask Skylar out on a proper date.
I glance over to where he’s getting ready.
Dearest, bravest Skylar. Would you like to be my boyfriend? I can’t give you sex, but I can share almost anything else with you. My heart, my home, my future.
I wince as I play that out in my mind. My romantic record of failure isn’t exactly encouraging, and I don’t want to mess this up, but I’m all kinds of awkward and unsure of myself.
While he doesn’t have an issue with interspecies relationships, I’m still unsure if Skylar would want to be in one, let alone with me.
From what I’ve gathered so far, his last relationship wasn’t great most of the time and ended badly.
Maybe he isn’t ready to get into another one. If so, I don’t blame him.
But patience is something I’m good at.
I’ll wait for him. As long as he wants me to.
If only he’d give me a sign that I might have a chance. Someday.
Skylar finishes lacing up his boots and arches an eyebrow at me. “We good to go?”
I gently set aside my bucket full of feels, as Ryder would call it, and nod. “Baxter’s going to meet us there, but he messaged me a few minutes ago and said he might be running a little late. We can start scoping things out before he arrives.”
Skylar smiles, runs a hand through his hair, and shrugs. “I’m glad we can have some time alone.”
Flippity-flop goes my heart, and I’m strangely lightheaded.
Skylar wants to spend time together, just the two of us? I heard that right, didn’t I?
The very idea has me ready to swoon like one of the main characters in a romance novel.
I’m still a bit stunned as we make our way down to the lake.
Outside, the sun has set already. I lead us down the paved trail that goes around the lake, soaking in the peace I always experience in nature. Water softly laps at the shore and an owl hoots somewhere in the forest.
“It’s real pretty down here. Then again, everything in Mystic Hollow is,” Skylar says as we move side by side.
My chest swells with pride. “I’ve felt this town was a truly special place ever since I first walked down Main Street. I’m so glad you’re now a part of our community.”
“Me too,” Skylar says, his voice hoarse.
Frowning, I pat my apron pockets. “Oh dear, I forgot to bring any lozenges with me. Sorry.”
Skylar chuckles and pulls one out of his coat pocket. “When it comes to Hal’s Craving Crushers, I’ve got it covered. I bring these babies with me everywhere. They’re helping a lot with the nicotine cravings.”
I sigh in relief. “Thank goodness. I’m so glad.”
By now we’ve left the main strip of beach near the center of downtown and the trees on the forest side of the path are beginning to grow dense and dark. For me, this isn’t worrying. I’m perfectly at ease when it comes to forests. But I know others sometimes find this forest intimidating.
“I brought a flashlight for you if you’d like to use it,” I tell him. “My people have what I guess some would call night vision, so I can see just fine, but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
Skylar is quiet for long enough that I almost start to worry I might have said something wrong until he clears his throat.
“Ahem. Well, I wouldn’t need the flashlight if we held hands. You just, uh, need to make sure I don’t trip.”
Talk about hitting a bull’s-eye straight to my poor heart.
Somehow, I manage to nod my head.
The Cure’s “Friday, I’m in Love” starts playing in my mind, bringing me back to that day we first met. By the Light, Skylar has me so befuddled I worry I might be the one to trip—right over my own feet.
I let out a startled squeak when he slips his small but firm hand in mine. A zing of awareness races up my arm and spreads out in a rush of warmth throughout my body.
“How’s this?” he asks, his voice gruff.
“G-good,” I manage to stutter out.
“Cool.”
I try not to hyperventilate.
We’re holding hands. Like in all the books I’ve read and movies I’ve watched.
And it’s even more glorious than I imagined.
I’m starting to realize why characters in musicals burst into song and dance out of nowhere.
Right now, if I could dance and sing like Fred Astaire, I’d take Skylar in my arms and serenade him with “Cheek to Cheek” while waltzing down the lake trail.
“Do you think whatever’s going on with these naked gnomes could be connected to the wonky magic situation?” Skylar asks, jolting me out of my rose-colored reverie.
“That’s an excellent question. I can’t say for sure, but if the magic can make apples start singing, who knows what it might be doing to other flora and fauna?”
It’s quite worrying, to say the least. Many folks in town forage for berries, herbs, and mushrooms in the woods.
Others have their own vegetable gardens, just like me.
If the magic is affecting locally grown fruits and vegetables, we could have a huge problem on our hands.
Thankfully, the main harvest time has passed, but magic can be unpredictable, so we’ll need to be on our guard.
A short time later, I spot what appears to be a bonfire on the beach.
As we get closer, I can only gape in stupefaction. Two dozen naked gnomes dance around the fire, waving glowsticks in the air, accompanied by several of their friends on drums and fiddles.
“Holy shit,” Skylar whispers. “It’s like a gnome version of Burning Man down there.”
“What?”
Skylar waves his free hand distractedly. “It’s a festival, more like a week-long rave, out in the desert. I dated a guy once who was super into it. Not my scene though.”
My heart clenches at his mention of someone from his past. I know Skylar has dated, and it would be absurd for me to have issues with that.
Thinking about it with such logic, I can only assume I’m a tiny bit… jealous.
It’s ridiculous and not like me at all, but I can’t deny it. I want Skylar to think about only me, not other men. If he’ll let me, I’ll help him forget every other man who didn’t deserve him.
Oh dear Goddess, I’m already in love with him, aren’t I? This is what all the stories mean when they talk about people becoming fools for love.
But there isn’t anyone I’d rather be lovestruck by than Skylar Wright.
Inside, my heart tap-dances in time with the butterflies in my stomach. A sense of euphoria washes over me, and I understand that expression about floating on air.
Then the bubble bursts with a gravity-force wake-up call that the sensible part of my brain drops into the mix.
Skylar and I may not be on the same wavelength when it comes to love and romance. Him taking my hand and wanting to spend time with me are certainly signs pointing in the right direction, but if this were a marathon, I’m probably laps ahead of him on the emotions.
Not knowing how Skylar feels is agonizing, and I’m pretty sure that’s giving me what Ryder likes to call angsty teenager vibes right about now.
Another new sensation for me, but definitely not a pleasant one.
We reach a set of stairs leading down to the beach and slowly make our way toward the fiery festivities, where a gnome wearing a string of glowsticks around his neck greets us.
“Welcome, friends! Have you come to join us in giving praise to The Great Sporefather?”
“The what now?” Skylar says.
The gnome’s eyes glitter in the firelight. “Come. Witness his greatness.”
We’re summarily led to a blanket a short distance from the bonfire. The gnomes form a large circle around the smoldering heap and, each holding a glowstick in one hand and a flask in the other, begin to chant.
Oh, Great Sporefather, wise and true
We praise your bountiful beneficence
With which we make our tasty brew!