Page 6 of Knocked up By the Minotaur

“Wait,” I say as I pick up our mugs once more. “You’re talking about Oli?”

She grins and takes a sip. “I figured you wouldn’t want anything serious right now, and that man seems like a good time.”

“Ella, baby, I’m not like you,” I sigh. “You know I don’t know how to do casual.”

An image of the big minotaur appears in my mind, even as I try to dismiss it. I’ve met him a few times since Ella’s wedding, when I’ve come here with Lucas for visits, and I’ve also talked to him over Ella’s shoulder during phone calls a fair amount since he’s often around Rho, who’s often around my sister. He’s easy on the eyes, for sure, and equally easy to talk to.

I’m not really used to fae people all that much. Even though they revealed themselves to us humans nearly forty years ago, the small town I live in doesn’t have anywhere near the fae presence that many of the bigger cities have, and definitely nothing on the fae haven communities like Whispering Pines. Stansbury Park is cute, and all, but we have a single pixie living among us, and I’ve barely ever seen him.

And yet for some reason, the second I laid eyes on Olistaire, despite our physical differences and the fact that I’d never seen a minotaur in the flesh before, I was immediately aware of his physical magnetism. Something about his near seven-foot height, his broad, muscled shoulders, the way his brown, lightly furred body fills out a suit… Even his bovine features are appealing to me. The long, pointed ears that poke through his jauntily styled brown hair, the glossy black horns, the short snout of his face and the flat, wide nose with a very bull-like gold hoop that hangs from his septum… All of it looks good to me. He’s very obviously a fine example of masculinity and minotaur perfection, and… none of that even matters because I’m not looking for a man.

“What makes you think he’d be interested in me, anyway?” I ask, unable to stifle my curiosity even as I stifle the image of the big bull. Ella gives me a look,since he flirts shamelessly with me, and I flick her on the forehead again. “He strikes me as the type to flirt with everyone, so that can’t be your only reason.”

“That’s true.” Ella shrugs. “But he thinks you’re extra pretty, I can tell.”

I feel my cheeks heat slightly, and I grin. I can’t deny that I like the thought of being attractive to him. “Well, I don’t want anything with anyone right now. Especially not a womanizer—however nicethat womanizer happens to be.” I say the last part a little louder as Ella opens her mouth to argue, and she shuts it with a small sigh.

I know Olistaire is a nice guy, as a friend. He’s been lovely so far, and always pulled back his naturally flirty personality before it could become too much, while I was in a relationship. He never crossed the line, and I have no bad opinions about the man, despite what other men just like him have done to me. He’s fine. He seems like a good friend. It’s just, I’ve had a lifetime’s fill of partners who don’t want to settle for just one woman, and I’ve learned my lesson.

“Alright, alight,” Ella says, as her phone starts to buzz. “You’ll get back into the swing of it in your own time.”

“If ever,” I grumble.

I take a few sips of my drink as I wait for Ella to finish her call, and when she’s done, she informs me that ‘the guys’ are on their way to Heartwood Grove to meet us now.

“Wait, the guys?” I say as we set about getting our kids ready. “I thought we were just meeting Rhokar?”

“And his second wife,” Ella says with a melodramatic sigh, although she’s smiling. “Oli will be joining us.”

A little flutter of excitement flickers through my stomach at the thought of seeing Oli again, but I roll my eyes at myself and set about shoving Lucas’s dinosaur cap over his messy blond hair.

I’ve talked to Olistaire plenty of times in snatches of conversations and group situations, and just like always, I only… like the attention. Like being complimented. Just because I’m single now doesn’t mean anything else has changed between us.

***

“Grace, my dear! Look at you, bringing the sunshine to Heartwood Grove,” a familiar, smooth voice calls out over the gentle hum of nature and milling people. I turn over my shoulder to see Olistaire approaching us through the scattering of different fae people strolling around in the sunshine. “My day’s gotten a little brighter now that you’re here.”

Rhokar pulls up beside him, looking as grumpy as ever, but I can’t help the way my eyes home in on the handsome minotaur. My heart immediately tugs at the sight of him and I smile, as the kids run circles around us.

“Please,” I scoff when he and Rho come to a stop by us. “Your lines get cornier every time I see you.”

Casual slacks hug Olistaire’s thick thighs, with a white button down tucked behind a crisp black belt. His shirt fits snugly over his broad, defined chest, the top few buttons flicked open and the sleeves rolled to the elbow to reveal his short-furred, nicely veined forearms. He has a beige jacket slung over one shoulder and held with a finger, and when I look up to meet his warm brown eyes, they sparkle with a smug sort of amusement at catching me giving him a one-over. His grin stretches, as if he knows that I like what I see.

“That’s because every time you leave,” he says as he leans closer, his voice dipping, “you take a little more of me with you.”

My mouth drops open in amused incredulity, and my gaze shoots to Rhokar, who’s glaring at his friend as if he wants to smack him, before darting to Ella who’s trying her best not to grin. “I honestly don’t even know what to say to that.”

“Speechless?” His smug look deepens. “I tend to have that effect on people.”

“You could say that,” I tell him with my prettiest smile, before turning to loop my arm with my sister’s and starting us on a stroll. “It’s hard to speak when you’re fighting against your gag reflex, after all.”

He chuckles and raises a hand to his chest as he and Rho follow at a leisurely pace. “Ouch.”

“Now, now, you two,” Ella tuts, her voice laced with amusement as she pats my arm at the crook of her elbow, before both her hands land back on the double-seater stroller she pushes.

The sun is warm on my skin despite the weather moving steadily into fall. But with the bright, colorful tents tucked beneath the leaves of the huge pines ahead, the cloudless sky, and the excited buzz of vendors calling out their wares and children laughing and playing, it feels more like spring today.

I call to Lucas, who stops zooming around us and comes to bounce in front of Olistaire instead, as the twins clamber into their stroller. Lucas begins skipping backwards as we walk slowly down the grass-lined path towards the ancient pine tree grove smack in the middle of town.

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