Page 22 of Call Don't Fall

I nodded my agreement and squared my shoulders. Touching him made me feel brave. As an artist I was better at putting an idea down on the page as a drawing or concept art. Putting it all into words and saying them with my chest had never been my strong suit. I could be a smartass but that wasn’t the same thing as standing up for yourself or setting good, strong boundaries. It was something I was still working on.

“I’m okay,” I added when Treg and Grina both looked to me for confirmation.

“We’re just worried about you. You went down so fast,” Treg said. “One moment you were upright and the next I had to catch you. I thought you died right there on the spot for a second.”

“Thanks for catching me.”

“Thanks from me too,” Kirk said. “Thankfully, he didn’t hit his head. That would’ve been worse than the blood sugar by a long shot.”

As we talked, we moseyed our way up to the ticket booth. Grina insisted on buying everyone all day arm bands. I wasn’t sure how long we’d stick around because I wasn’t sure how long I could go without being alone with Kirk so soon after meeting him, but I didn’t put up an argument as I put on the armband and followed my friends to where all the food was for sale.

As a general rule, shifters loved to eat. Wolves are omnivorous and will eat just about anything that won’t eat us first. I really wanted a pumpkin funnel cake but wasn’t sureoverloading my stomach with all that sugar and fried carbs was the best idea before we even got near a ride.

“I think I’m okay for now,” I said, eyeing Kirk who bought two corndogs and tried to hand me one.

“Are you sure?” he asked, brow furrowed.

“Don’t look at me like that. I did eat breakfast!”

“I know but that was a while ago,” he said and glanced at his watch.

I didn’t know anyone else who wore a watch these days. Even those computer watches had gone out of style years ago, but Kirk wore one.

“Tell me if you get hungry,” Kirk said before biting into one of the corndogs. “Even if we’re on the other side of the fair and you don’t feel like walking back let me know. Actually, if you’re too tired to walk back and hungry – you really do need to let me know. I’ll come get you something.”

I opened my mouth to tell him that I was okay, and he didn’t have to be my gopher but stopped short. Grina and Treg were listening to our every word, and I didn’t want them to think we were arguing. I nodded and said I would. It’s not like I went around not eating when I was hungry.

“He’s always been like that,” Treg said, and I mouthed that he was a traitor when Kirk wasn’t looking at me.

“Like what?” Kirk asked as if he were clueless to any flaw others might perceive in me.

“Putting off eating.”

“I am not!” I said, rolling my eyes. “That day I didn’t eat because I wanted to eat here. I’m not eating now because I had a big breakfast!”

“I bet!” Treg teased and nodded in Kirk’s direction.

“That’s enough of that!” I snapped.

“Sorry,” Treg frowned, and I felt like a giant, furry ass.

“It’s alright. I don’t want to talk about food anymore and don’t joke about my sex life! I’m not in the mood for all that teasing,” I frowned back.

The walk over to the corn maze was a quiet one for us. I’d ruined the mood by snapping at Treg. Teasing newly met true-mates was an age old tradition. It wasn’t one I agreed with hanging onto, but it wasn’t out of the ordinary. Mostly I was mad because his joke made me think about Kirk naked and that made my wolf irrationally mad that Kirk and I both weren’t naked.

“What sort of art do you two do?” Kirk asked my friends, breaking up the awkward silence as we walked by the maze and toward the rides.

“Does he know what you draw?” Grina asked me.

“Yep. I told him everything,” I nodded.

“I do boudoir photos,” Grina grinned. “Singles, couples, thruples, polycules. Whoever wants it. Let me know if you two want to book a session.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kirk said, his tone easy-going. “What about you?” He asked Treg.

“Mostly art of and for trans and non-binary folx,” Treg said, choosing his words carefully.

“They have a web comic and everything,” I added on. “You should read it.”

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