Page 93 of Fire of the Fox

Rune wasn’t wrong to get upset about the whole Blake thing. It was stupid of me to go along with his charade, even if something else seemed to control me for a split second. That part still didn’t make sense to me, which is why I chose to leave it out of the story for the guys. Blake said it wasn’t him, which could’ve been a lie. But if he was telling the truth, it begged the question, what else could it have been?

Chapter Thirty-Nine

AFTER ABOUT TWENTY minutes of jamming to K-Pop alone and reading through the book Avana had recommended, I watched Rune pull back into the driveway. I took a deep breath, hoping he was in a better mood, and I made my way over to his car. He climbed out with grocery bags in each hand.

“Welcome back,” I greeted, trying to remain stoic. “Kill any Water Fae while you were gone?”

His jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth. “No, I didn’t. Thanks for asking.”

I filed that information away. Considering Rune’s heated temper when he left, I was surprised to hear that he didn’t go handle Blake, something he wouldn’t have hesitated on before. Interesting. I wasn’t quite sure why he chose not to seek out Blake, but I wasn’t going to question it. Maybe it meant Rune’s habits, ideas, and views were slowly changing.

Rune pointed at my car with the grocery bags shuffling in his hands. “Were you waiting outside?”

“Yeah. It didn’t feel right hanging out in your house without you guys, especially after how we left things.”

He frowned. “You’re always welcome, whether I’m here or not. Let’s get inside.”

We were quiet as we filed into the living room, and it wasn’t until I made no move to follow him to the kitchen that he looked back at me. “I’m gonna get started on dinner. Are you going to stay here and watch TV?”

I raised an amused brow at him. “You’re cooking?”

He smirked and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I am.”

I bounced after him. “Now this, I have to see.”

We reached the kitchen, and he dropped the grocery bags on the table. He pulled out the various ingredients, and after putting the pieces together, I realized he was going to make spaghetti. Easy enough.

He drew his long, white hair into a ponytail at the base of his neck, and he set about the kitchen. He put the ground beef in a skillet to brown it, and set a pot of water aside to boil the noodles. I stood close by and nibbled on my lip to fight my grin as I watched him work.

He glanced over at me and nudged me gently in the side with his elbow. “Why do you look so amused? Spaghetti can’t be that exciting.”

“Any kind of pasta is exciting, but that’s not what I’m smiling about. It’s so interesting watching you cook.”

“Are you doubting my noodle-making abilities?”

I held my hands up, laughing. “Oh, I’d never.”

He narrowed his eyes and pointed his greasy meat-stirring spoon at me. “Liar. Fine then. I guess I’ll just have to wow you with my fine noodle skills.”

He poured each of us a glass of wine, which I happily accepted when I realized it was the same kind we’d had on the boat. We sipped at our drinks as Rune got busy. He was, in fact, good at making spaghetti. When the pasta seemed ready, he dangled a noodle in the air for me to try. When I went to grab it, he threw it in my hair at the last minute. He burst into a deep, rich laugh, and it took me a minute to recover from my shock. When I did, I ripped the noodle from my hair and threw it back at him, giving him a unibrow. This only sent us both into fits of laughter that didn’t stop until we realized the water was boiling over.

We took our plates and wine to the small table by the entrance of the kitchen. The space smelled like well-seasoned tomato sauce, fresh pasta, and Rune.

Smiling, I met his eyes. “Thanks for making dinner. The guys and I stand corrected. You can cook.”

Rune tugged his hair loose from the band holding it in place and pride blossomed in his features. “Told you.”

We dug in, and after a few minutes of silence, Rune cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for blowing up on you earlier. I’m glad you’re not in pain anymore. I just hate that you had to be around Blake again.”

I swallowed the wine I’d just drunk. “Me too. It was stupid of me to go near him, even if things turned out fine in the end. I should’ve been smarter about it and left as soon as I saw him. Sorry for not being more understanding as to why you were upset.”

“It really wasn’t about him being Water Fae. I mean, yeah, I hate that part, but I care more about what he did to you. That’s the part that made me upset. I still shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. It’s kinda in my Fox nature to lose my shit when something I care about gets threatened.”

My pulse quickened, and a flutter broke out in my stomach. I tried not to get hung up on him saying he cared about me, but it was so hard not to. Hearing that he may, in fact, feel the same way about me as I did him was enough to have me teetering on the edge of giving in to him and my feelings.

By the time we were done eating, I’d had a glass and a half of wine, and I was really starting to feel it. My cheeks and ears were warmer than normal, and everything in the room looked brighter. Sitting down on the couch with Rune was also a trip since I misjudged where I was sitting and nearly collapsed in his lap.

“Woah,” Rune laughed, holding me upright on the couch. His arm was warm and strong around my waist, and his face was a breath away from mine. “I think that wine is doing a number on you.”

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