Monster mash, p.41
Monster Mash, page 41
He flashed me a tight smile, nodded and squeezed my hand. “Spend time with your fans,” he said and skated away.
I turned back to the crowd, a little relieved that he was okay with it. Cage would’ve told them to come to an official signing where he charged for autographs.
Someone handed me a sharpie. I looked down to find a kraken bouncing in his skates.
He gave me a sheepish smile. “Mr. Powers, would you sign my jersey?”
I held up the sharpie. “All right, kids. Who wants me to sign their jersey?” Every hand shot up, and I grinned. “Let’s form a line. That’s right. Little ones up front. C’mere, kid. What’s your name?”
I spent the next hour or so with the kids, signing their jerseys, taking selfies, and answering questions. It turns out, they were part of a junior league who’d heard I was in town and come to the rink to see me once word got out that’s where I was. It wasn’t surprising that it’d leaked online quickly. I’d been worried about that as soon as we showed up and people started taking videos with their cell phones.
“Who was your friend?” one boy, an incubus with a long waving tail, asked me.
“Is that your boyfriend? We wanna meet him!” a small minotaur demanded, tugging on my sleeve.
I stood up and rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“How come?” The minotaur frowned.
I bit my bottom lip and looked over my shoulder to where Nicola was busy doing some small circles on the other side of the rink, which had emptied when the kids came onto it. He worked up some speed, going backward like he was going to do a jump again, but did some kind of spin that left me sighing. God, he was so pretty, especially with flakes of ice melting on his wings.
It suddenly struck me how little I knew about his life. I didn’t know where he lived, or what his other hobbies were, or why he did the job he did. I didn’t even know his favorite food or his favorite color or his favorite song. Yet here we were, married after knowing each other for what? A few hours? How did that even happen?
And why did it feel like the smartest thing I’d ever done?
“Mr. Powers?” The minotaur kid pulled on my sleeve again.
“Huh? What were we talking about?” I blinked and shook my head, trying to remember.
“Your boyfriend.” The lone human kid pointed right at Nicola.
Nicola must’ve seen him pointing, or heard, because a second later, he was skating over. “Is everything all right over here?”
“Are you Tripp’s boyfriend?” one kid asked.
“Are you going to get married?” another said.
“Are you gay?” demanded another.
In seconds, he was being swarmed by curious kids, his attention darting from one to the other, brows drawing together as if he wasn’t sure how to answer, let alone where to start.
After a minute, he straightened and put his hands behind his back again. “Glad to see you kids have taken an interest. Tripp is a good role model to have. However, at this time, he’s not ready to make a statement concerning his relationship status.”
The human girl frowned and put a hand on her hip. “So you’re saying he’s not gay?”
Nicola smirked. “No comment.” He looked at me and held out his hand. “Unfortunately, our time here is coming to an end, children.”
They let out a collective groan of disappointment.
I took Nicola’s hand and waved as we skated for the exit. “Bye, kids! Stay in school!” As we stepped off the ice, I turned to Nicola. “Sorry about all that.”
“About what? Being who you are?” He shrugged. “I’d be more upset if you ignored your fans after they came out to see you. It’s good for you to spend time with them, but you need to learn how to end interactions more gracefully when you get overwhelmed. I skated over because you looked like you were about to combust.”
“I was, sort of.” I plopped down to start unlacing my skates. “They started asking about you and I just…froze. And then I looked over at you and totally forgot what I was even doing.”
He chuckled and fluttered his eyelashes at me. “I can be quite distracting.”
My face warmed, and I fumbled with the laces, suddenly all thumbs. I knew how to get them undone, but it was like the signal from my brain wasn’t reaching my fingers.
“Here. Let me,” Nicola said gently and knelt in front of me, having already removed his skates.
The heat in my cheeks spread down to my neck, my brain going other places with him suddenly at my feet. I started thinking about what it might be like to be inside his mouth. What would he do with that proboscis of his? Whatever he did, I was absolutely sure I’d like it. Nicola seemed like he knew his way around sex with men. Maybe I should take him up on his offer, have him teach me how to do it. I mean, what was the harm? He was right. It was just sex, not a blood pact. I did it all the time with women. That he was a dude, and we were married, didn’t have to change things.
I was starting to like him more and more with every passing hour, but that didn’t have to factor in either. It shouldn’t. We were adults. We could fuck and still be friends after, right? It was just an experiment, after all.
This is temporary, Tripp. By Tuesday afternoon, you’ll be back to being strangers. But then he looked up at me while he was still down on his knees in front of me and my breath caught. There was suddenly an ache in my chest I couldn’t explain, one that I knew I could only ease by touching him.
I reached for his cheek, gently brushing my fingers through the thin fur there.
“Tripp?” he said, brow creasing.
“Huh?”
He frowned. “You didn’t hear me, did you?”
I dropped my hand and shook my head. “Sorry. I, uh, zoned out. It happens a lot since the accident.”
“That’s okay. Today’s been pretty taxing, and you’re probably still dehydrated from last night.” He pulled off my skate and set it aside. “But that’s what I was asking about. I asked if this happens often, if you’ve been checked out.”
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “I’ve got a neurologist I see. I’ve been medically cleared. There’s not much they can do. I just kind of have to live with the symptoms. Sorry if it’s annoying. I don’t mean to be a burden.”
Nicola stood and took my chin in his hand, tilting it up, his expression firm and his wings spread wide. “You are not a burden.”
I sighed and looked away. “I might forget some of today, you know. It happens a lot. My memories… They’re a bit fragmented sometimes.”
He smiled and grabbed my street shoes, holding them out to me. “Well, we’d better make the most of today, just in case, right?”
I hesitated, but took the shoes. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, cocking his head. “Should I be some other way?”
I shrugged and bent over to put the shoes on. “It’s just that most people get real impatient with my memory issues. I know I’m kind of an idiot, too.”
He started to protest, so I held up a hand.
“Before you object to me calling myself an idiot, it’s true. I make dumb, impulsive decisions all the time. I know it’s true.”
“And marry mothfolk you just met,” he pointed out. “But that doesn’t make you an idiot. It makes you alive. Darling, listen. We’ve only got one life to live.” He put a hand on his chest. “We can’t go back to undo what was done, so the best thing to do is make what we can of the time we have. What else are we going to do? Sit around and be miserable?”
“You mean you’re not mad that we got married?” I asked. “Or ashamed or anything?”
Nicola shrugged. “Why? Life’s an adventure and every day is a blank page in it. I have no time for shame. Being ashamed of the past is like… It’s like walking backward and expecting to go forward. We did what we did. You seem a decent fellow in need of a friend. Perhaps I make a poor husband, but I like to think I can be a decent friend.”
“Is that all?” I asked, swallowing. “Just a friend?”
He smirked and stepped forward, pushing my knees wider so he could fit between them. “Reconsidering my offer, are you, darling?” he asked, drawing his fingers through my hair in a way that left me shuddering and biting my lip. “You should. The things I could do for you, the pleasures I could show you…” And then his hands were gone, and I almost whimpered when he was out of reach. “But then perhaps we shouldn’t. I don’t want to ruin you for anyone else.”
Some part of me lamented that he already had, even though Nicola had barely touched me. I think he knew it, though, judging by his sultry smirk.
He held out his hand. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” I asked, putting my hand in his.
Nicola grinned and tugged me along behind him. “For some much needed stress relief,” he announced.
My heart fluttered, hoping he meant back to the hotel because I wasn’t sure my brain could handle much more. It was getting more difficult to concentrate by the second, but I wasn’t willing to end the day. Every second I spent with Nicola was better than the last. I never wanted the day to end.
“You don’t have to do that, Inzo.” I pressed the button on the hotel elevator and shifted the phone against my ear. “I can pay you back for the room.”
“Nonsense,” insisted the incubus chef on the other end. “It costs the same to keep open whether I stay in it every month or not. Someone might as well use it. Consider it a honeymoon gift.”
I glanced back at Tripp, who looked confused. He stopped in the middle of the lobby, glancing around as if he’d forgotten his way. I waved to get his attention. He grinned and shifted the bags on his arms, coming to meet me.
After our trip to the skating rink, I decided it’d be a good time for a little shopping trip, except I had underestimated just how frazzled Tripp was. He’d clearly enjoyed his time with the kids, but the more exhausted he got, the harder it was for him to remember things and keep track of what was going on around him. He needed to be somewhere quiet and familiar, and he needed to rest. So, after grabbing some multi-packs of t-shirts, sweats, and underclothes for the both of us—enough to get us through the weekend—I put in a call to one of my assistants, Marin. She’d flown out to buy us a few things. Then I’d called Inzo to arrange payment for the room we were staying in, since it was his private suite we’d wound up in.
“About that,” I said. “I’m not sure there’ll be much of a honeymoon. We’re just staying until the courthouse opens Tuesday morning. Then the plan is to annul the marriage.”
“Oh, Nicola. Really?” Inzo sighed. “Is it that bad?”
“I barely know him, Inzo.” I lowered my voice. “I still can’t believe I let you two hook us up. I should’ve known better.”
“Well, I do hope you’ll change your mind, Nic. You sound so much less stressed than usual. I think he’s been good for you.”
Tripp finally arrived, so I shifted the phone to my other ear. “I’m charging room service to your account, just so you know,” I told Inzo. “And I have expensive taste.”
“Of course you do, my friend,” Inzo said, undeterred. “That’s why we’re friends. Ciao.”
I hung up with a sigh and turned to Tripp, putting on a smile. “Got everything?”
“Yeah, I think so.” He glanced down at the multiple bags on his arms. “This feels like a lot.”
“It’s hardly anything. Just some odds and ends Marin picked out based on the measurements I gave her. Something suitable in case we decide to go out.”
“Oh, that’s good,” he said, turning to face the elevator. “I wouldn’t know what to buy. I haven’t done my own shopping in years.”
I smiled, trying to imagine Tripp in a grocery store squeezing vegetables and squinting at packages like a normal person. It didn’t suit him.
The elevator doors opened, and we stepped in, ascending to the penthouse floor.
“So how do you know Inzo Amoretti?” Tripp asked as the floors sped by.
I chuckled. “Ancient history. Back when I was new to the business, I was an assistant on the set of Top Chef. My job was essentially to bring coffee to everybody. I was brand new. Inzo was just starting to become a household name back then. Took an instant liking to me for some reason. I think it was because I could remember his coffee order. Anyway, he helped me move up in the industry, and in return, I send him work when he needs it or wants it, or help him out however I can.”
Tripp made a low humming sound.
I glanced over at him and found him staring blankly at the elevator doors. “Are you tired?”
He blinked as if he were just waking up and then yawned. “A bit, yeah.”
I smiled. He was cute when he yawned. Skating had taken a lot out of him.
As soon as I let us into the suite, I took the bags from him and put them near the table. “Why don’t you go shower and take a little nap, Tripp? I’ll call down to have dinner brought up.”
“Really?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Aren’t you tired? You’ve been working all day.”
“Go on and relax, darling.”
He sighed. “All right. If you say so. But shout if you need me.”
Tripp went immediately for the shower while I settled into the chair to text Inzo.
Nic: Did you know Tripp is trying to get investors to open a coffee shop?
Inzo: My broker will kill me if I get involved. He nearly had a coronary after I told him how much I’d given Bluz.
I smiled at that and quickly tapped out a reply.
Nic: I’m not asking you to invest. Just to get me people who will. I think his idea has good bones.
Three dots danced on the screen before Inzo’s reply appeared.
Inzo: Are you sure you’re not the one in need of a good bone?
He followed it with several devil face emojis and a few eggplants.
I rolled my eyes.
Nic: Please, Inzo? It would mean so much to him.
Inzo: All right. Email me the details. I’m about to take Coco out for a walk.
I waited about five minutes before launching the next phase of my plan, long enough for Inzo to leave his home. I shot off a quick text to my second potential source of financing for Tripp and sure enough, the phone dinged about thirty seconds later with a reply.
Adam: I LOVE COFFEE!!!
Adam: Inzo would want me to ask about the financials. Send me those, but if they’re good, I’ll make it work.
Adam: Oh, and samples!
We spent the next half hour working out a plan. If I could get a sample of Tripp’s coffee onto Northstar’s brunch menu, it was sure to be a hit. The wealthy clientele of Northstar’s would be clamoring to throw their money at Tripp as investors to get Brewtiful’s off the ground.
By the time I had a workable plan set up with Adam, I was exhausted. I glanced at the clock with a sigh, noting that it was only four in the afternoon. Mothfolk were supposed to be nocturnal, but I had spent a lifetime battling my natural urge to sleep all day, fueling my success with determination and unhealthy amounts of caffeine. While I still had plenty of the former, I could use a top off of the latter.
I glanced through the cracked door into the bedroom where Tripp had gone to lie down a short while ago. My heart did a funny little dance at the sight of him lying on his back with his eyes closed. He looked so…adorable wasn’t the right word, but it encompassed part of what I felt. When I saw him, sometimes I just wanted to pinch his cheeks. Then, inevitably, I’d envision myself riding his big human cock into oblivion and adorable wasn’t the word I’d choose to describe that feeling.
But there was something else now, a new feeling just starting to grow. A strange longing sensation that had nothing to do with sex or pinched cheeks. I looked at him and I felt…
Home.
Like I could curl up in his arms and never leave and be perfectly happy there.
I shook the thought away. Maybe I was only feeling it because we’d spent the day together. As pleasant as the day was, even I didn’t believe in falling in love that quickly. Relationships had to be built on more than one good day.
I walked across the room and sifted through the contents on the table, finding Tripp’s bag of coffee from that morning. I frowned when I opened the bag and realized they were still beans. I’d need to measure them, grind them…
While I liked my coffee as much as the next mothfolk, I wasn’t a connoisseur. Until I had Tripp’s coffee, I’d always drank it to stay awake, not for the taste. I wanted to recreate what he’d made earlier, but I had no idea what I was doing.
He’s worked so hard today, I thought, pouring what I hoped was the correct amount of beans into the grinder. I don’t want to disturb his rest.
So the noise of the grinder didn’t wake him, I took it into the bathroom to run it behind a closed door.
I tossed and turned in the bed, unable to get Nicola out of my mind. I’d had dozens of one-night stands and a handful of relationships, but I’d never thought about anyone the way I thought about him. With everyone else, it was all about what I wanted. Short-term rewards. Even with my girlfriends, I’d never once thought of them as forever material. They were just pretty people to keep on my arm to pass the time with. People who put up with me.
Nicola did more than put up with me. He cared. He listened.
I thought of how he’d convinced me to get out on the ice again, something I thought I’d never have the courage to do. I’d tried several times, but every time I got close, I froze up, the anxiety just too much. My head would start pounding and I’d have to back away. None of the coaches I’d hired had been able to help me. Not even my therapist had found a way to get me back out there.
But Nicola had, and he’d done it effortlessly. Not only had he gotten me back out on the ice, but he’d helped me to remember why I loved it so much. When I was holding his hand, it felt like I could do anything, and when we were apart, all I could think about was getting back to him. I wanted to be with him all the time.
Thinking about how our time was so limited, about how we were going to have to annul our marriage on Tuesday, left a pit of anxiety spinning in my stomach. Was that what I wanted? Even if I liked him, we shouldn’t stay married. Should we?
