Page 12 of The Naga

I waited until Dustin started walking away before turning around and wheeling toward home, Bellamy a step behind me. I wouldn't need his assistance—I was stronger than him and could take care of myself—if only the 'don't reveal the supes' rule didn't exist. He was more my human shield than anything else.

"Wait!" I froze as I heard Dustin calling, and turned around quickly. Dustin was running toward us, his heels going clack-clack-clack on the sidewalk. I rolled the few feet to meet him, and he stopped short.

"What is it?" I asked, worried. He didn't look hurt, so what was wrong?

"I forgot to take a picture. We need to memorialize our first date. We should've taken one at the theater too," he said with a pout, then shook his head. "Never mind, we can snap one now. Will you take it for us, Bellamy?"

"Sure," Bellamy said, and I didn't miss the amused tone in his voice. I didn't care, though. I was delighted that Dustin wanted to remember today as much as I did.

Dustin came to stand beside me, placing his hand over mine on the wheel and bringing his face closer to mine.

Just as Bellamy said, "Smile!" Dustin leaned over and kissed my cheek, surprising the hell out of me. I had no idea what kind of dumb face I made, and I glanced over at him to find himsmiling. His smile made my own lips curve, and I shook my head slightly.

Dustin winked at me before straightening up, then took his phone from Bellamy, scrolling through it. "Oh, these are absolutely wonderful. Thank you, Bellamy!"

"My pleasure," he replied, and sounded like he meant it. It looked like Dustin had already won over at least one of my friends. Then again, how could anyone not like him?

Dustin left after that, and this time I waited until he disappeared from view before turning around and leading our way home. Going down an alley, we stopped in front of the wall where the portal opened, and Bellamy pressed his palm against the wall, making a part of it flicker and disappear so we could walk through.

Once we were inside the Sanctuary, the portal disappeared, leaving nothing but a simple wall on both sides.

"Thanks for your help today," I told Bellamy, and he gave me a salute before walking through the door to the Lakes area, probably off to see his mate.

I slid out of the wheelchair and stretched my arms above my head, swishing my tail from side to side. The wheelchair was comfortable enough that my tail hadn't felt squished in, but it still felt great to stretch out.

Debating with myself, I decided I'd tell the headmaster and the others about Dustin tomorrow. For now, I made my way into the Forest, making a pit stop at my cabin to change into a comfortable tank top before making my way to my favorite tree a little deeper into the woods.

Neither Keoni nor Silas were around, and I guessed they'd stayed behind after dinner to chat with the others. I wondered what Keoni had told the others about my absence, then decided I didn't care as long as it wasn't the truth.

Climbing up the tree, I unlocked my phone, opening my chat with Dustin.

Me: I had fun tonight.

It took a few minutes for him to reply, and I guessed that he lived further away from the theater.

Dustin: Me too!!

Me: Could I see the pictures Bellamy took?

Instead of replying, Dustin sent over all the pics, a total of seven of them. They looked pretty good, especially the one where he'd caught the moment Dustin kissed my cheek. The surprise was clear on my face, and then in the next picture, I was looking at Dustin with gushy eyes, and in the next one, we were both smiling at each other, neither of us looking at the camera.

I set that last one as my phone's wallpaper, then smiled at how good it looked. Yeah, I was definitely falling hard for this man.

Dustin

It'd been a few days since our date, and I was on cloud nine. I'd never clicked so well with someone before. It felt like Khush was made specifically for me, which was crazy, and probably a little narcissistic.

We'd chatted on and off the whole day every day since our date, and I knew him even better now. He'd shared some of the things on his list with me, and though we hadn't made any concrete plans yet, I had a few ideas floating around my head.

My phone buzzed, and I glanced at my computer screen before picking it up.

Khush: Text me when it's your lunch break? There's something I wanted to talk about.

I blinked, then blinked some more. Why would he say that? Now I wasn't going to be able to focus until lunch.

Me: Okay!

Like I'd predicted, I couldn't focus on work at all, and I just hoped I hadn't bungled up anything too badly.

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