Page 181 of Bride of Choice

Swatting at him in a backhanded smack, I muttered, careful to keep my voice low, “That’s not funny.”

“Little funny,” Gopher muttered between sputtering laughs.

“He looks like he’s got some kind of personal problem going on…” I was all but clapping my hands to my face and gaping, or cracking. Or both.

Clearing his throat, all traces of humor leaving him, he rumbled out softly, “Him do.”

Looking to Go’ askance, his soft blue gaze bore into mine. “No come,” he said simply, but it didn’t need any further explanation.

Folding my arms over my chest, I muttered, “Didn’t see either of you coming to me, either.” Several chuffing huffs left me.

Was this all as exciting as it was awkward for them, too?

Curling an arm around me, eyes slowly closing, Gopher pressed his nose to my temple and inhaled deeply. “My Jo,” he murmured gutturally. His grip tightened before loosening completely and then he was taking a step away from me.

It shouldn’t hurt me— I knew what was going on— he was feeling it, perhaps a bit too much so— but that prick of pain and hint of rejection was still there.

Without looking his way, staring straight ahead to watch Odix straighten, giving up the weird duck with a wedgie walk, and start haggling with a seller, I shrugged. “Maybe I missed you… both of you.” Forcing words past the lump in my throat, I confided, “Maybe I’m not as… brass and bold as I might act, in all things.”

The back of Gopher’s hand brushed mine where I was gripping my basket a little too hard. Back and forth, the flat of his hand gently caressed mine, until he reached out and fingered the gems on the bracelet he’d given me.

His fingertips would smooth over my skin every few brushes, gooseflesh pebbling on my skin in its wake.

A low rumble built in his chest as we stood there, side by side, staring straight ahead, barely touching, that electric current between us zinging and zapping at the littlest, the lightest touch.

“Ey!” Holding up his find, some weird doodamahickey I had no idea as to what it was for, waving it about happily as he spoke in Lo denaii, it wasn’t until Odix got all the way up to us, right up on us, that he realized anything was off.

His gaze darted between us and his nostrils flared. “Go’ finds things,” he muttered, separating us completely with a sharp nudge at Gopher’s shoulder.

Taking his place beside me as Gopher leaned in and snuck a quick nuzzle that was silly and overdone and made me laugh, Odix bared his teeth at him and grumbled something in Lo denaii that had the slimmer beast snickering at him and walking away chuckling.

“Think him’s funny,” Odix grumbled, looking like my own personal bodyguard as he stood next to me and his gaze darted around. Looking at me sharply, he grumbled, “You watch? Jo watch Odix go?”

Taking a page out of Pop’s book, I nodded enthusiastically and gave him two thumbs up. “Oh, yeah. Totally.”

“Goot.” With a satisfied grunt, he just stood there quietly beside me, content to take in the chaos around us.

Growing interested in a loud bidding war for a very large knife, I heard it before I felt it. Slowly, a teeny bit at a time, Odix was moving closer, and closer, towards me, until my jacket covered shoulder was brushing his thick arm.

And that sound, it started off small, spiraling into a poorly contained purr.

A knowing smile tipped my lips. It was kinda cute how hard he was trying to stay in badass mode, despite the happy kitty purr at something as simple as a light, innocent touch.

Swaying a little from foot to foot, humming under my breath, I’d just switched from my left foot to my right when an ominous squelch issued from inside my boot. Crap on a dirty cracker.

“Do you think he’ll be long?” Lifting a dirt encrusted snow boot, I grimaced. “I think one of these bad boys has finally sprung a leak. “My sock is starting to get soggy.”

“Odix see,” the large male rumbled, leaving my side to shove his way deep into the crowd.

I knew when he was close. I could sense it, feel his eyeballs boring into the back of my head.

When I turned, I found him glaring at me like he hated me from a short distance away. Kirch nudged him, examining something in his hands he wanted Rek to get a good look at.

Unsettled by that hateful green stare, I turned back around. Yet, I felt it on me once more, almost immediately.

Unwilling to stand there and just take it, I moved closer to the big crowd, searching the tops of all those tall beasts for two in particular. Standing on tiptoe as I thought I spied Odix, I tried to wave him down but he wasn’t looking my way. A Lo denaii exiting the crowd accidently hip checked me on his hurry past me. I stumbled but caught myself, getting my shoulder checked by another as he stumbled back a few steps and almost fell on top of me.

A snarl sounded behind me and then he was there, growling what sounded like a back off to me as I was jerked to my feet. “No belong here,” Rek snarled.

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