Page 26 of Knocked up By the Minotaur

Her name once more leaves me in a contented purr, and I lean towards her. “Grace, do you remember when I told you I’d never lie to you?”

She finally makes eye contact with a half-glare. “You mean literally one minute ago? Yes, Oli, I remember.”

“Good.” I keep my gaze steady on hers. “You are much prettier than Sera could ever be.”

Her face scrunches with a frown, loosens with a sigh, and then her lips purse as she tries to suppress a smile. “Jeez, Olistaire… Could you maybe tone it down for like five seconds?”

Tone it down?

“You are the prettiest female I’ve ever seen, possibly the prettiest I’ll ever see,” I say instead, feeling a rush of warmth in my chest when she finally lets out a laugh.

She grabs a loose napkin and throws it ineffectually at me. “I don’t care. She can be as pretty as she likes, it’s got nothing to do with me.”

I hum noncommittally, but I can’t help feeling both amused at her reaction, and relieved that I seem to have made her feel better. The world around me is beginning to fade into nothing once more, melting away to non-existence as I look at Grace. We sit in comfortable silence for a little as she fiddles with another napkin, sending me a shy smile followed by an immediate eyeroll, and I smile back. I could do nothing but watch her all night, and I’d be satisfied.

“Well, well, look at the happy couple.”

It takes me a second to register the newcomer. I turn to look at Sera standing suddenly beside us. Huh. I didn’t expect her to approach us at all.

“Fancy seeing you tonight, handsome.” She spares Grace an unreadable glance with eyes the same color as her blood red lips, before laying a hand on my shoulder. “What are you doing out here in the cold?” Her fingers trail towards my neck. “Come join me inside, enjoy some good company tonight.”

“Sera, it’s nice to see you here,” I say with a wince as I brush her hand away. “But as you can see, I’m in the middle of something.”

“Oh, come on,” she huffs, shivering her wings coquettishly so the dark feathers gleam in the warm lights. “It’s nicer at my table. I’m with the old crowd, we’ll have a good night together. You can bring your little friend, too. What do you say?”

“My name is Grace.” Grace’s voice is calm enough, but when I look over, I notice her spine is stiff.

Sera barely spares her a glance. “Oh? I’m Sera. Oli and I are good friends.” She puts her hand back on my shoulder. “Very good friends.”

“I know who you are,” Grace replies. “You and Oli used to fuck.”

I press my lips together to stop myself snorting in shocked amusement, and Sera’s smile freezes on her face. She finally turns to give Grace her full attention. “Excuse me?”

“Oh sorry, was I speaking too quietly?” Grace’s eyes flash towards Sera’s hand on my shoulder, which I once more remove. “I said, you and Oli used to fuck, but now you don’t. So you should keep your hands to yourself.”

There’s a brief silence between the three of us.

“Ah, well,” I say awkwardly, doing my best to keep my voice neutral. “Like I said, nice to see you, Sera. Have a lovely evening.”

Sera lets out an outraged huff, her brows slashing furiously over her red eyes, but she seems to stop herself from what she’s about to say and lifts her chin, pointedly turning away from Grace. “When you get tired of keeping such poor company,” she clips angrily to me, “you know where to find me.”

Then she turns and saunters away.

Grace watches her until she’s out of sight, and I can’t seem to hold my smile back any longer. “You have nothing to fear from that female,” I tell her, hoping to soothe her blatantly territorial behavior. The fact that she’s acting like this over me, the male she insists she has no interest in, has me feeling all sorts of masculine satisfaction. I decide not to analyze why I like this behavior in Grace so much, and simply allow the tugging in my heart to draw me closer to her. I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees with half a mind to reach out and touch her cheek, when she finally looks away from where Sera disappeared.

“Little friend…” she repeats Sera’s words darkly. “I don’t like her.”

“I wonder why,” I say under my breath, but I don’t think Grace hears me anyway. I’m starting to realize she’s got quite a temper on her, and I like the way it fires her up.

“We’re clearly on a date.” Her glare deepens as she stares across the courtyard again. “But she still flirted shamelessly with you and tried to steal you away.”

My smile stretches, and the warmth in my chest flourishes. “Nobody could steal me away from you, sweetheart. Not for anything.”

Grace barely even hears me, her eyes once more pointed to where Sera walked away. “She called us a couple, so it’s not like she didn’t realize. She knew exactly what she was doing.” Her lips purse, and she stands. “And she’s still staring at you, by the way. She’s sitting by the window looking out at you as if I’m not right here.”

My brows shoot up my face, although the warmth spreading through me only deepens. I wonder if I’m going to have to break up a fight, and I brace myself to stand, but instead of storming across the courtyard, Grace instead storms over to me and angrily plonks herself sideways onto my lap.

My heart rate instantly doubles at the feel of her soft body pressed against me, and I palm her thigh.

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