Page 11 of The Ruby Dragon's Unconventional Mate

There was just too much standing in the way. Not least of which was Lars’s position in his wing.

He would hate Bryant if he took that away.

Wouldn’t he?

Chapter

Five

“Oooohm.”

Lars tried to bend into downward dog, but somehow, downward dragon just didn’t have the same ring. He sighed, because Slipknot chittered at him, and he nodded. “I’m letting him steal my joy. Right?”

Chittering again, Slippy leaped at him, landing on his arm. He crawled up to sit on Lars’s shoulder, nibbling his ear.

“No. No, I’m fine. I don’t want to go out.”

Slippy poked him.

“Yes. I know you want to see Teaball. But no.” He could hide. It was fine.

Slippy tittered, nudged him with his nose.

“If I take you to see Teaball, will you stop?”

Slippy curled around his neck, like the world’s weirdest, breathing stole. “I know that you don’t understand. I really liked him, and now I’m like his coworker, and so I have to see him, and he doesn’t like me anymore. Think maybe he found somebody else, and he just doesn’t know how to tell me.”

Like he’d be evil about it.

He wasn’t even sure that Bryant really believed he was an omega. They’d never even gotten to kisses. It had just been a flirtation, and then lots and lots and lots of emails and texts, some of which had gotten pretty intense.

Especially with phone calls.

But he wasn’t going to be mean. Of course Bryant would get mated. He was a guardian. Guardians did that.

And baby fever had hit Oro Escondido. All sorts of people were having babies again, and it was so fun. He loved working at the school with the kids, dealing with issues and…

It didn’t matter.

None of this mattered anymore.

“Come on, Slippy. Let’s go. We’ll go see Teaball, see if Amber doesn’t have something interesting, and maybe my new pastry cookbook is in.”

He drove out because he wasn’t feeling like flying. Not today. He was grumpy and ill-used.

Lars parked in front of the coffee shop. “Okay, let’s go see Teaball.”

They walked in the door to the bookstore, and he’d be damned if Amber wasn’t standing there with goddamn Bryant, who hadhisbook of pastry in his hands.

“I’m sorry, but that one’s been claimed. It’s a special order.”

“Oh, I’ve been wanting to read it forever. Because I could eat my way through it.”

Lars cleared his throat. “Hey, Amber, I’m here to pick up my order, and Slippy needed to see Teaball.”

Teaball cackled from his cage, where he stayed when there was a customer he didn’t know well, and Slippy ran down his body, appearing next to Teaball almost like magic.

Bryant raised his eyebrows. “They’re friends, huh?”

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