Page 81 of Fire of the Fox

There was so much that needed to be talked about between us, so many answers I needed from her. I was scared, though. What if I talked to her and didn’t like the answers I got? She could confirm my worst fears and reveal that she hadn’t told me who she was because she didn’t think our friendship was strong enough. That alone had me freezing up when I even considered answering her numerous texts and calls. I needed more time to sort through my feelings and the fact that she … she was Water Fae.

With Akira and Bassel’s exit, Rune and I were alone in the living room. I looked down at the cinnamon rolls, my heart in my throat with sudden nerves. He sat so close I could feel the heat radiating off his bare skin.

“Thank you for making me breakfast.”

He shrugged and looked at me. “It’s not a big deal.”

I bit into the warm, gooey roll. The hot icing made my taste buds dance. Never had anything tasted so good. I swallowed the bite I’d taken and looked at him. “They said you never cook, though.”

He rested his chin on his fist and mumbled, “I wouldn’t call it cooking. All I did was take them out of the tin container and follow the directions.”

I laughed. “Well, even so, thank you. It means a lot to me. Cinnamon rolls are my favorite.”

Smirking, he said, “I figured there was something about them you liked. I mean, when Dallas offered to get some that first night we ran into each other, you practically turned into a firetruck.”

Glowing bright pink at the reminder of that memory, I cleared my throat and shoved another bite in my mouth. “Oh. Yeah. Right.”

Leaning in close to me, a playful gleam danced in his eyes. “What was that about anyway? I’ve never seen someone react that way to food. What actually had you so flustered back then? Could it have been—”

Quickly turning, I shoved the rest of my cinnamon roll into Rune’s mouth. His eyes went wide, the gooey bun hanging halfway out of his mouth. He met my eyes past the food and started chewing. Taking a deep breath, I turned back to the plate and willed my face to cool down. It was even more embarrassing now than it was then. The irony of this moment, eating cinnamon rolls with Mr. Cinnamon Roll himself was not lost on me.

“No deeper meaning,” I said past my roll. I glanced at him as his tongue slowly blazed a trail across his lip, licking up some stray icing. Warmth trickled through my body, settling between my thighs, and I had to quickly look away again. “I just really like cinnamon rolls.”

Laughing, he shrugged. “If you say so. Anyway, how are you feeling? Want some more pain reliever?”

“I’m feeling okay given the circumstances. Still pretty sore. Some medicine sounds really nice.”

“Thought so.” He pulled a bottle out of his sweatpants pocket and held it out to me. “Take some after you finish eating.”

I did just that. I wolfed down all four of the remaining rolls, downed my coffee, and took two extra-strength pain killers. Rune made me an ice pack to help the swelling on my eye go down. After making me move to the couch, he put on Jurassic Park, which happened to be our shared favorite movie. He had me lie on my side, head in his lap, and an ice pack on my ribs and back. We spent the entirety of Saturday morning like that. Him rubbing soft strokes along my back and keeping my ice pack in place, me commenting on my love for all things dinosaur.

The day felt so normal. So natural.

“So do you want to go back to your dorm tonight?” Rune asked. “Or do you want to stay here?”

Turning my head to look up at him, I shrugged. “Dallas is going to be there tonight. I’m honestly not sure if I’m ready to see her yet.”

He brushed a strand of hair back from my forehead, tucking it behind my ear, and my heart ignited under his touch. “You can stay here then. None of us mind.”

Smiling, I tried to keep at bay how happy that made me. “Really? Are you sure?”

He nodded. “We leave in a week anyway. You can stay here until then. Plus, I don’t think any of us feel comfortable with you being alone while Jonah is still out there somewhere.”

At the mention of his name, fear lodged its way into my chest. I couldn’t feed into that emotion. If I did, he’d win. I had to keep moving forward and not let what happened paralyze me.

Meeting Rune’s eyes again, I nodded. “I’d like to stay here then. As long as you promise it’s okay.”

Rolling his eyes, he poked my forehead. “I already said it’s fine. Now that that’s settled, let’s get some lunch.”

After Rune made lunch—a simple turkey and cheese sandwich with chips—he had me flip over. I lay on my back with ice pressed firmly under me and on my stomach. His thigh was a comfy pillow, and I was so content that I ended up closing my eyes and releasing a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. His fingers gently combed through my hair, and after only a few blissful moments, I was drifting off to sleep.

Chapter Thirty-Four

“I’M SO GLAD all that sleep and ice helped the soreness go down,” Akira said.

My back was pressed against the love seat, and Akira sat behind me, brushing my hair. It was relaxing having him run a brush through the strands and play with different hair styles.

“Me too. It feels a bit easier to walk now, thank God.”

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