Page 16 of Moonlit Alexandrite

Lex

After cuddling with Mocha for a good half hour, I picked myself up and wandered further upriver to Moonlit Gallery. Seated outside in the sun was a large husky.

“Good timing, you just missed Peter,” he said, scratching his ear vigorously. Peter Vasiliev was not the most liked person around town. His abrupt manner and bigoted outlook put many people offside. The fact he was one of the patriarchs of the local selkie families was the reason he was so often targeted by pranks, as Tase explained to me the other night. Funny to witness, but not so great if you were in the position of being under his employ, like Colbie. “People are going to think you have fleas,” I told him with a teasing grin. “Is she okay? Should I have brought chocolate?”

“You look like you might need chocolate for yourself. Is something wrong?”

He was watching me too closely, and I worried I would do something stupid. Like cry.

“No,” I said, pasting a cheery smile on my face. “Everything is just fine. I’m going to go see how stressed my bestie is. You have a good day, okay?”

He did not look convinced, however he also didn’t stop me as I pushed into the gallery to find Colbie sweeping up confetti.

“Don’t ask.”

I held my hands up innocently and moved out of the way as she dumped the last pieces into a garbage can and blew her caramel curls out of her face.

“I’m all for making that man suffer, but why do I always get stuck with the clean-up?” she asked in frustration. I shrugged, glad I hadn’t been around for the event. Wouldn’t have to be ever again, I realized as I thought about my new store. Nothing could get me down while I had that in the works.

“So the date went well?”

Except that.

The grin dropped from my face in an instant as I remembered Dion’s parting words.

“What happened?” Colbie cocked her head, watching me closely.

To give myself space to think, I wandered around the sparse room. Sculptures and pottery stood on pillars, dotted between canvases of watercolor and acrylic landscapes. Some of this was my work, some from other local artists, and other pieces that were shipped in from parts unknown. I couldn’t wait to emulate some of this beauty in my own space. Teaching people to find beauty in their pieces, regardless of the medium, was going to be so much fun.

“Lex?”

“He doesn’t want me.” My voice was soft and a little sadder than I would have liked, but honestly, it had hurt. A gentle hand on my shoulder told me Colbie wanted the full story, and that she was struggling not to pull me into a hug. It occurred to me how odd it was that I didn’t do so well with physical affection when I was a damned succubus.

Surely I should thrive on it.

With a deep breath, I told her everything before I got stuck in my head again.

“Oh, babe,” she whispered when I had finished. “I’m so sorry. What an ass.”

This was why I loved her. She didn’t make me pick it apart. I couldn’t at the moment, especially with the ache in my chest. Who knew you could get actual heartache from rejection, huh?

A barking from outside drew our attention as a pastel yellow car pulled up. The first one out of the vehicle was Newt, the little boy I had accidentally borrowed the other night. He came flying in through the front door and let out a squeal of delight as he caught sight of me.

“I knew it! You’re herd.”

And... then he was hugging me. I awkwardly patted him on the back as the front doors of the car opened and out stepped Ren, Newt’s father, and Tase. The last time I had seen Tase, he was naked.

This time he was an interesting shade of green, and wearing gray sweatpants.

I don’t know if it was some strange phenomenon, or if he started walking in slow motion, but I was suddenly mesmerized by those sweatpants and the way they perfectly outlined his...

“Lex.”

I threw a wicked glare at Colbie for breaking the moment.

“You’ve got a bit of drool. Right there.”

I batted her hand away from my face, and turned back to see the guys had now cleared the front door. Why were they here?

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