Page 22 of Poseidon's Island Flower

Chapter Seven

Lani

“Whatthehellwasthat?” Candice asked as I finished shutting the door.

The heavy silence was palpable when I asked Cy to dinner. It took some major balls to ask him. I shouldn’t feel awkward about it at all. It was a “thank you” dinner for saving my life.

But it was definitely awkward when he didn’t answer.

He was my rescuer; it was the least I could do, but obviously, Athena saw that there was more to it than that. Especially the way I begged with my eyes for him to look at me, just once.

There was a pull I couldn’t describe. I was drawn to him as much as that red-haired merman I’d only seen for a few seconds. Maybe I was comparing him to the strong armed mythical creature. They were somehow connected, because the eyes were similar.

Okay, so the idea of just giving him a “thank you dinner” wasn’t the only reason I’d asked him out. There was a hidden agenda, and Athena obviously saw that. I found Cy freaking adorable, and I wanted to hug him and kiss him on the cheek.

Any man would have jumped on it, right? Be asked to dinner, suck up the attention, saving a damsel in distress. I mean I was an easy lay.

Cy earned some major brownie points, and any man would be damned delighted if they became the hero. It gave him bragging rights to I don’t know, maybe thump their chest and talk about how big his dick was?

But Cy? He shied away from any sort of praise like it was no big deal.

Or maybe I was a burden?

I saw the way he twisted his pouty lips. He clenched his fists at his side, and those cute bushy eyebrows furrowed together like he was thinking really hard.

Was he mad he’d saved me? Touched me? That he was even put in the situation?

Could I be reading too much into it? Men shouldn’t be that hard to read. I mean, they had dicks. Dicks held like ninety percent of their brain, but this guy was a puzzle. A puzzle that I was really interested in solving.

I shrugged, limping away from the door.

“Lani!” Candice grabbed my forearm, and I hissed when her hand encountered the bandage. “Shit, I’m sorry, Lani. I’m just, damnit!” She ran her hand through her short blonde hair and huffed.

“I was so worried about you. You almost died today, and then you turn around and ask that weird guy on a date!”

I blinked, narrowing my eyes. I felt utterly offended she would say such a thing.

“He isn’t weird. He’s just shy, and he spent a lot of time swimming out there and saving me,” I defended. “Cy could just be tired from all the interaction. You heard Athena, she said he wasn’t used to all that attention.”

“No, he is weird. He won’t look anyone in the eye. Touching him is out of the question and…” A light bulb seemed to hover over her head. “Do you think he’s? I don’t know, has issues? My sister’s son has problems looking at people in the eye. Doesn’t talk much, slightly autistic maybe?”

“I don’t know.” I didn’t have a medical education. Didn’t matter if he did though, I was still interested.

I pulled Candice down the path and to her car. “That doesn’t matter, anyway. He could touch me just fine by pulling me out of the water. He held my hand for a long time until he saw me take notice.”

Candice had left her car parked in the employee parking lot, and I needed her to get me home. Screw where my board was, I’d just have to use Koma’s since he wasn’t going to be using it.

Damn, what a day.

I didn’t see Cy as having a “problem” because I didn’t see it as one. This could just be his personality. He’s shy. It didn’t make him any less attractive. It didn’t deter me in the slightest. I liked how shy he was. How he fumbled with his fingers. How he gave a shocked gasp when he let go of my hand and saw me staring at him.

I liked that he didn’t come at me like Zeus did with Candice.

I enjoyed being in control when I was attracted to someone. I enjoyed taking care of people, which I’d been told could be too much.

He just needed to be coaxed, babied a little.

Was I really going to pursue this, though? I should let this be. He didn’t say yes to dinner, but what if he wanted to go to dinner? He didn't say otherwise?

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