Page 59 of Training my Human

We’d taken to doing embraces on the regular. Weird, I know. I mean, who intentionally squished a dragon? Me, apparently. I squeezed the sturdy body tight and murmured, “I’ll be home before you know it.”

“With pizza?”

“Yes, pizza.”

“Meat lovers?”

“Yes.” I’d learned my lesson the one time I came home with a veggie-only pie.

I headed out wearing a few layers, because only an idiot didn’t leave the house prepared for the weather when the meteorologists were crowing this hard about it. Yes, I’d be ensconced in a luxury SUV with heating, but sometimes vehicles broke down, or required digging out of snowbanks, or tires changed. Better to peel layers than freeze.

I rode my bike down the road to the main driveway and up to the house. The Suburban idled out front. I parked and headed for the passenger seat, sliding in to Leo’s upbeat, “Morning, Pip.”

“Hey, boss. Thanks for the ride.”

“No problem. How’s things at the barn?” he asked as he put the truck in gear.

“Good.”

“And the boyfriend?”

For some reason my cheeks heated. “Also good.”

“Seems like a nice guy.”

Leo had met him when Maddox popped by to do lunch with me but they’d not really had a chance to socialize. “He’s great. I’ll talk to him about a night we can have you over for dinner. I’ll have him make his crazy ass yummy chicken parmesan.”

“I look forward to it.”

We spent the rest of the drive discussing upcoming clients and the possibility of attending an ink convention in Vegas. I pretended as if I’d actually be there, when in reality I had no intention of going. Abaddon couldn’t be left alone for that length of time.

Bruno came in for his appointment and I went to work, intent on the art, so focused on my task I didn’t realize the storm hit earlier than expected until Bruno was leaving and I looked outside.

“Oh shit.” Thick snowflakes swirled, a brisk wind whipping around the fluffy stuff.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got my winter tires and four-wheel drive,” Leo boasted.

Only slightly reassuring.

“Where’s Kalypso?” I asked, noticing her usual spot was empty. When I got into the tattoo zone, I phased out everything else around me.

“Gone an hour ago. She didn’t want to disturb you and left the second the first snowflake fell.”

Smart. She didn’t have far to go but I knew for a fact her car did not like winter conditions.

“We can leave now if you want,” Leo offered.

“Actually, Maddox already said he’d give me a lift home. He’s closing shop early because of the storm.” I’d no sooner finished speaking when the lights went out. Not just in our shop. A glance through the window showed the whole street had gone dark, making this a power failure and not a blown electrical switch.

“I really should get a generator installed,” Leo grumbled as he headed for the washroom to turn on a tap to make sure the pipes didn’t freeze. This wasn’t our first rodeo with a power failure during subzero temps.

As I began putting on my layers to join Maddox up the street, my phone beeped.

Sorry, babe. Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to leave anytime soon. According to the hydro outage map, shop might be out of juice until tomorrow. I’m gonna have to stick around and keep an eye on the genny.

Having chatted with him about the pet store business, I knew this had happened in the past where he’d had to monitor his generator to ensure the heat lamps kept running for the lizards. While I would have loved to hang out with him, keeping hisotherlizard warm, I couldn’t leave Abaddon alone in this storm. Although, I doubted my dragon would be too happy when I arrived without the promised pizza. I couldn’t exactly grab any with the power out up and down the street.

It’s okay. Leo offered me a ride. I’ll text you when I get home.

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