Page 76 of Never Flirt with a Dragon

I needed release—but not the sexual kind.

The kind only flying could give.

“Does Randa not like flying?” Elodie asked a moment later. They must’ve put me on speaker.

“No,” I gritted out.

There wasn’t much about me she did like, though.

Which was a real fucking shitshow, considering we were going to be sharing the rest of our lives.

“She’ll come around,” Elodie said. She sounded much more confident about that than I felt. “Randa is… well, cautious. Vi never lets her drive anywhere, because she goes so damn slow. She doesn’t ever really hurry. We joke that if you give Randa a task, she’ll find the least-effective way to do it, then get distracted halfway through. That sounds mean, but she makes those jokes with us. It’s just the way she is, and she’s accepted it. She likes to take her time, to follow her inspiration, to ease into things. Nothing about heat is easing. She hasn’t turned her phone back on from what I can tell, so she’s probably avoiding facing reality. I’m sure she’s scared out of her mind.”

My chest tightened with Elodie’s words.

My female didn’t seem scared.

Overwhelmed, maybe?

Sure.

I would’ve gone with furious, after our conversation when she was in the shower, but overwhelmed did seem to fit better.

“I need to fly before I lose my fucking mind,” I gritted out.

“What’s she doing now?”

“I don’t know. She disappeared into her office.”

“Drawing, then. She does that when she needs a distraction sometimes.” Elodie paused for a moment. “Randa grew up with Vi bossing her around and taking charge when things got difficult or tense. She’s used to people who rip the Band-Aid off, so to speak. If I were you, I’d give her twenty minutes to hide away, then bring her a snack and tell her straight-up what you need. Don’t beat around the bush. When she feels strongly about something, she’ll stand up to you. She’s used to that too.”

I had already told her I needed to fly, but I supposed I could add an “in the very near future” to that.

And feeding her more would settle me slightly.

“Alright. Thanks.”

“Of course. Try to get her on the phone afterward, if you can. Vi’s been freaking out since the radio silence began.”

Shit.

I’d noticed missed messages and calls from her on my phone, too. She was going to be pissed at me, and Miranda wanted me on her family’s good side.

I raked a hand through my hair, agreed to do so, and hung up.

Despite my tension, which I couldn’t fix, I’d been given problems to deal with. And problems, I could handle.

I texted Viola back.

Me

Heat just ended. Randa is drawing to decompress right now, but I’ll get her on the phone with you when I can. Might be a few hours.

She answered immediately.

Vi

I NEED PROOF OF LIFE

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