Page 33 of Under the Mistle-Foe

“That’s not funny,” I bit out, because if this wasn’t adream, and I wasn’t dead, then this had to be a joke. That was the only explanation.

“Who says I’m joking?”

“If you’re not, then…” I faltered.

“I’m serious, Jett. I think dating you is a pretty good idea. A fantastic idea, in fact.”

“But…have you ever dated a man before? Are you evenattractedto men?”

He paused, and that was all the answer I needed.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you better stop it right there and give me time to answer.” He sighed and weaved a hand through his locks before focusing his eyes back on me. “I’ve never dated a man before, and I don’t know if I’m attracted to them, but that’s mostly because I’ve never been attracted toanyone…until now. Because I’m sure as hell attracted to you.”

My mouth hung open so wide it got another laugh from Remy. He reached out his hand to gently pushed my chin up to close it. “So what? Are you demisexual? Or asexual?” My mind was swirling from this revelation.

“I’ve never really thought about it. It was never a priority. In school, I’d always been so focused on working on my goal to take over the diner from Dad, and after…” Remy shrugged instead of finishing the sentence, but he couldn’t hide the raw emotion in his eyes from me. Not when I’d spent years studying how to read Remy Trent that I practically had a degree in it now. And it was accurate ninety-nine percent of the time.

I blamed the small margin of error and my failure to read his expression correctly earlier on the fact that I’d never seen Remy make that expression before.

“And after, you got to meet me again and realize you didn’t hate me so much, after all?” I teased, hoping to get a laugh out of him. It worked.

“You know what they say, there’s a fine line between love and hate…” Remy’s words trailed off as if he’d only just realized what he’d said. He covered it up with a cough. Meanwhile, I could feel myself heating up despite the short-sleeved shirt I had under my jacket.

“So…we should head home instead of standing here like idiots.”

My shoulders drooped. I didn’t want to leave him yet, not when I wasfinallygetting somewhere with him. But I knew not to push my luck.

“Yeah. It’s getting late,” I forced myself to say.

“Do you think I could maybe…go home with you? There’s no other meaning behind it! I just want to spend more time with you…”

I leaned into him, and his arms wrapped around me. I liked having them there. “I wouldn’t mind even if you had other intentions, especially since you’re my boyfriend. Is that okay?”

His chocolate eyes melted into a dark brown that threatened to consume me. “More than okay,” he replied, then sealed his words with another kiss. When the kiss broke, he added, “You still owe me one more.”

It took a second for me to realize he was referring to trading three kisses for an answer to my earlier questions. “You can have as many as you want,” I answered with a laugh and another peck, which Remy took no time deepening.

Who knew how long the kiss lasted, but it was the sweetest thing I’d ever tasted. I was hard with lust but filled with so much warmth from his kiss that I didn’t even care about the uncomfortable boner that stuck with me all the way home.

Sugar and Spice greeted us by the door, meowing probably in protest at their dinner being slightly delayed. Sugar rubbed up against Remy, and he picked her up. “I knew thecollars would look good on them. I have good taste,” he boasted while petting Sugar. She purred under his touch. I wished I was in her place right about now.

“Would you like anything to drink? Hot cocoa?” I asked, shifting my gaze away before I physically moved Sugar and tried to jump into his arms myself. I took off my jacket and hung it by the door, letting the heat in my house defrost me.

“Sure,” he called to me as I moved to the kitchen. Spice followed me, crying, probably berating me for being one thousand years late with their dinner. I quickly prepared their food, and they immediately ran to their bowls. Even Sugar had left Remy’s embrace at some point and was now chowing down beside her brother.

Remy leaned beside me on the counter as I made our hot drinks. “I didn’t think you actually used your kitchen.”

“I use it…sometimes,” I muttered. Remy grinned, as if he didn’t fully believe me, which was valid.

I ate out for most meals, and the times I was too lazy to leave the house, it was either instant ramen or one of those microwaveable meals. However, the kitchen was getting more use these days, with me needing to prepare the cat’s food, even if it was just opening a can and plating it for them.

Handing Remy his drink, I took a deep gulp, trying to chase away the chill of the cold. Remy poked at my visible tattoos. “Why’d you wear so little tonight when you’re shivering like this?” He didn’t take back his hand but traced the visible part of my eastern dragon tattoo. Now, I was shivering for a whole other reason.

“Some people don’t like tats, so I like to have them visible on first dates.”

Remy’s fingers wrapped around my biceps. His hold on me was tight, and I could see the sexy strain of his muscles on his arm, but the way he gripped me wasn’t painful, almost like he was trying to hold back from hurting me.

“Is thisdatealso the reason why you didn’t come to the diner today?”

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