Page 14 of Unhaunt Me

“No, not yet. I do want them, though. As do I acknowledge that timing can be everything. So, if you need to wait ---”

“Uh---”

Had I broken him? He closed his eyes for a second and I was sure I’d asked something that went too far. Only I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“I don’t need to wait,” he said before I could say anything else. “You might want to if you ever--- Well, you just might want to.”

I worked hard to keep my face neutral. Being a guide meant sometimes I heard a lot of confusing stuff. Sometimes I heard sad stuff or angry stuff and sometimes the things people said were down right stupid. Part of my job was not to let them know that’s what I thought and that started with not flashing them a look that let it all out. Casimir wasn’t stupid but he was confusing the shit out of me.

“Shall we go inside?” I asked, nodding to the back door.

“Are you cold?” He asked, shrugging off his jacket and wrapping it around my shoulders.

I wasn’t cold but I took his jacket anyway because it smelled like him. For a second, I thought he would kiss me again, but the moment passed, and I led him inside. The neighbors weren’t nosy, but this was starting to feel like a conversation I didn’t want to have standing in the backyard.

“Bedroom. Sofa. Kitchen table. Living room carpet. Don’t care where. Just get naked,”my dragon demanded.

I ignored his wishes and led Casimir into the kitchen. I hung his jacket on the back of one of the chairs and started a kettle for tea. The Moonys drank a lot of coffee but the last thing this evening needed was more anxious energy.

“Are you cursed?” I asked, starting with the most out there question I could think of.

“Not that I know of,” Casimir said.

“You can sit down and you should. There was to be a buffet at the party. Are you hungry?”

“Are you?” he turned the question around on me.

“A bit,” I nodded. “We should eat now in case tonight leads to more interesting places.”

“Agreed,” he nodded.

“Please, sit. Be comfortable. This isn’t a prison. You aren’t a hostage, and I don’t need a bodyguard.”

Casimir sat down but kept his gaze on me as I moved around the kitchen. Working as much as I did at the Star Room meant I made a lot of meal prep up ahead of time. I tried raking my mental fingers through his thoughts again to figure out what he liked but he was sealed up tight once more. So it was chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and those little purple carrots and peas they started shipping over from 3 last year. If he didn’t like it, he’d have to tell me something else about himself.

“I’m annoying you,” Casimir said as I seasoned the food with my back to him.

“I wouldn’t say it like that.”

“You’re annoyed with me.”

“Earlier, I was talking with a friend and a co-worker named Roary. They said that the word hangry should have a cousin.”

“And?” he asked.

“Do you know what the meaning of this cousin word would be?” I asked him.

“No.”

“Basically, it would mean sexually frustrated. In a bad mood because your sexual appetite isn’t satisfied. So, I’m not annoyed with you. Perhaps a bit with myself. It’s not like I can’t make it through the equivalent of a first date without having my brains screwed out but it sorta feels like that with you. To top it off, it feels a bit one sided.”

“No,” he said, his scent flashing angry for a microsecond. “Were you not outside with me?”

“I was and---”

“Look,” Casimir said when I lost my train of thought. “I’m happy we met.”

I sniffed the air. He was telling the truth but sniffing just sucked more of his scent inside my head.

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