Page 44 of Ulune's Daughter

“Are you going to see them at the equinox?”

“Hell to the no. I’m going to the fires and getting drunk.”

He squeezes my hand. “That sounds like a plan.”

“Things tense for you at home?”

“No, I get along fine with my family. I’ll see them at Yule. I just figure, the fires are for celebrating the way the Mother intended. Not babysitting my younger sisters who will want me to watch K-dramas with them while they paint my toes sparkly purple.”

I try to smother my laughter to avoid driving us into a ditch. From the look Rhodes slants me, I don’t think I succeed very well.

“Sorry,” I say when my guffaws die down. “Sparkly purple polish is a whole vibe, though.”

“Yeah,” Rhodes grumbles. “I wear it well.”

I bet he does, actually. I can’t imagine him looking bad in much. “And K-dramas?”

“I can give you a synopsis of every major K-drama episode for the last five years.”

I crack up again. “I’m sorry. You’re a good brother. Very long-suffering.”

“No brothers?”

“No, just me and my younger sister.”

“Part of the older brother job description is watching whatever your kid sisters want to watch.”

“And making fun of it, surely?”

“Oh, definitely. But, you know, not in any way that belittles them. Watching K-dramas and painting my toenails is, literally, the least terrible of the things they want big brother to do with them. I finally had to draw the line at chaperoning them to teeny-bopper rom coms. There are things I can’t unsee.”

“How bad can it be?” I ask, laughing.

“Watch Another High School Dance-Off Five and ask me that question again.”

I’m wheezing as I pull off Route 1 into Bevington from laughing so hard. “Which way to your place?”

He grunts. “Too early to go to yours?”

I think about it for a long moment. A few years ago, no, it wouldn’t have been too early. I lived in the moment and if the moment took me to bed with a guy on the second date, or even the first, I was okay with that. But I’ve adopted a longer view as I’ve gotten older.

“Not too early to come to mine to snuggle. Too early to come to mine for sex. I’m sorry to be so blunt?—”

“Don’t be,” he says quickly. “I like to know where I stand. I’d really like to sleep with you, Kellan. Just sleep. Cuddling and more making out in the morning if you don’t mind me waking you up at six, but nothing below the waistband. I’m just not ready for our night to be over yet.”

“I’m good with that and I don’t mind being woken up at six for sexytimes. Wake me up at six for any other reason and we’ll have issues.”

“Not a morning person, huh? I can’t get you to join my pre-dawn workouts?”

“Not a snowball’s chance in Hell.”

He chuckles. “Wimp.”

“A wimp who will still be warm in bed while you’re jumping into cold water.”

“Eh, it’s not too bad this time of year. You can gloat at me in October when we’re still using the outdoor pool and my skin steams when I get out because the air’s so cold.That’swhen it sucks.”

“That does sound sucky,” I admit, turning the corner down my sleeping, moonlit street. “Why are you still using the outdoor pool in October?”

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