Page 11 of Lion's Crossing

“Well, if Andrew auditions for a spot in the next pop group at Adan, he’d live here and be out of your hair.” Bert’s son had interviewed me for a school project before I’d returned home and told me that one day he wanted to be part of a pop group like me.

“You might regret that.” Bert waggled his finger at me. “You haven’t seen his bedroom. Anyway, you’d best be getting back upstairs. I see that you have two dinners there, and you don’t want to keep your guest waiting.”

I winked at him. “Always perceptive. Have a good night.”

On the elevator ride back up, I tried to figure out a way to get Knox out of the room. Would telling him the food had arrived be enough? I’d ordered beef curry Pad Thai for myself and vegetable Pad See Ew for Knox, assuming he was some kind of herbivore shifter from his scent, and that he had a limited flavor palate from living in Shifter Crossing with no international food places in the town or even nearby. I didn’t want to give him an invitation to refuse the food right away, or to give him an upset stomach at the beginning of his vacation. It had already started off on the wrong foot. If all else failed, I’d ordered an herbivore appetizer platter with multiple finger foods for him to eat if he didn’t like the Pad See Ew. I didn’t know what it was about him, but I wanted to make sure his night at my place was the best part of his vacation in Saramto, even if I never saw him again. Though my lion growled at that thought.

After setting the food on my dining room table, I lightly knocked on the door again. “Knox, the food is here. Please come out and eat with me.”

I had stepped away when I heard the click of the door handle. Though I didn’t turn around, I felt the corners of my lips raise at not having to do any more convincing.

He sat at the table across from me in blue, green, and white plaid pajamas, his hair still damp from his recent shower. His scent had faded some, but I still caught a whiff of it with every movement he made. It seemed like my body was attuned to him.

He opened the lid on the take-out container but didn’t touch the food in front of him, only stared at it.

“It’s vegetable Pad See Ew. No meat, and not spicy. I hope that’s okay.”

As he leaned down, I saw his nose twitch as he sniffed the dish. “Smells good.” He nodded before reaching for his fork. “Thank you. What do I owe you for it?”

I shook my head, stunned by his question. “Um, nothing. You’re a guest at my house. The least I can do is feed you.”

He winced, making me feel like I’d said something wrong. “But I’m an imposition on you. You talked about how you enjoy living by yourself.”

“I do.” I took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “I do, but I also enjoy company of my choosing. I asked you to come here, Knox. I wouldn’t have asked if I thought you were any kind of imposition.” His face wrinkled into an expression I didn’t understand. “Are you okay? Is there something wrong with your room? Or the food?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m just not used to alphas being so…nice. You’re nothing like the alphas back in Shifter Crossing, and you’re a celebrity. I didn’t expect…”

I shoved some food in my mouth, trying to formulate a response without downright stating my lion was obsessed with him and wanted him to stay with me forever. “You’re nothing like the omegas I’m used to running into. Like that one on the train. You and I only just met, but I feel like I can be myself around you, that my persona doesn’t matter to you.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, I figured at the train station that you were trying to hide your identity for some reason. But I just thought you’d pissed off an omega from our town and were trying to get away before they discovered you were leaving.”

I chuckled. “If I’d stayed in Shifter Crossing, I might be a male like that. Makes me glad I left. Though it would have been nice to have met you earlier.”

He blushed before glancing down at his food as he stirred the noodles, tofu, and vegetables. “Yeah, I guess that would have been nice.”

We ate with very little conversation. With many stolen glances, Knox quickly looked away each time as his cheeks brightened more and more. Eventually, I came to the same conclusion as my lion. I needed to find a way to convince Knox to spend his nights with me. Maybe not yet in my bed but at least in my guest room. I had work, and he had his sightseeing, but I wanted him back at my place every night until the day he had to leave.

“What type of movies do you like?” After we finished our meals and the appetizer platter, I gathered the containers and put them in the sink so I could wash them later then take them back to the restaurant to be recycled.

Knox lifted his shoulders to his ears. “I don’t know. You don’t have to do this. I can go back to the guest room if you want to be by yourself. I’m sure you have lots of other things you’d rather be doing.”

I sighed and shook my head. “Knox, I want to spend time with you. Unless you want to be on your own. Then I understand if you want to go back to your room.”

He chewed on his bottom lip and fiddled with his fingers. “I really appreciate your hospitality. I hope you know that.”

I smiled and tilted my head toward the living room. “Come on. Let’s pick out a movie together.”

Though he sat at the opposite end of the couch from me, I was thankful he didn’t choose a spot farther away in one of the chairs.

“Are you one for action? Horror? Romcom? I do love a good romcom every now and again.”

He smiled and turned to face me. “You have surprised me so much since I met you. But I’ll let you pick. I don’t like bodyhorror, but I do enjoy psychological horror. And the other two are great as well. Whatever you want.”

On my streaming service, I found the latest thriller that had a romantic element and pressed play. Knox seemed to enjoy it until, about twenty minutes into the movie, he fell asleep. Wanting to watch the whole thing, and enjoy the closeness of the omega, I waited until it had finished to wake Knox. Yet, gentle prodding and me calling his name didn’t wake him. I worried about how he would react if I carried him to his bed, but I did it anyway. As I held him in my arms, he wrapped his arms around me and rested his head on my shoulder. I had to take a deep breath to calm my racing heart and stop myself from taking him to my bed. In the guest room, I laid him on the bed then covered him with the quilt folded at the foot of the bed. As I left him, closing the door behind me, I hoped he slept well. I doubted I would, my lion and every other part of me radiating with a new and unfamiliar need. Something much more than simple lust. Maybe it had been a mistake to listen to my lion in the first place. I had no idea what to do next.

Chapter Thirteen

Knox

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