Page 36 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

Alexios’s attention darts up off his food before he can take another pathetic bite out of his ravioli. “What?”

“If you don’t tell her we’re soulmates and you’re staying withme in a desperate effort to woo my heart out of its cold, stone cage, I will.” I unleash a brilliant smile. “Lying is wrong.”

“You…” His brows furrow. “If lying is wrong,amI desperately trying to woo your heart out of a cold, stone cage? Is that what’s happening?”

“Oh, totally. You reek of desperation, and my electric fence keeps zapping you. Which is super funny.”

He nods. “Got it. I appreciate your willingness to be clear.”

Amicable, I nod back. “Anytime. Unless it’s funnier not to be.”

Tenderness sweeps into Alexios’s eyes, and I wish I didn’t want to admit that he wears it well. “You won’t tell her about the infant.”

“I’m not going to tell her about Ash.”

“Just about me.”

“Just about you. So she won’t worry.” When Ash starts to whimper, I cautiously offer him his bottle again. “Also, it’ll be easier to maintain this ruse while we get information on Castor. Having less secrets to keep track of where our friends are concerned will make learning what our enemy thinks he needs my baby for easier.”

“Castor isn’t our enemy, but that makes sense.” Alexios takes another cautious bite of his ravioli.

“Also, I want to ask Kass what in the world they were feeding you over there.”

Alexios’s face crumples. He forces down his swallow roughly seventy-five chews too soon. “Did you not say you didn’tcarewhat I ate earlier?”

Glowing like the angel I am, I cuddle my sweet infant when he decides he has had enough food. “Between that wicked outburst and now, I have remembered my Christianity. Tsk tsk. Shame on me for saying such cruel words.If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.”For in doing so, you shall heap coals upon his head. Yet again, God is proud of me.

Ash spitting up on my shirt in this exact moment has no relation to my thoughts at all.

Before I can find one of the baby cloths I bought in bulk today and I swear I got out when I fixed Ash’s bottle, Alexios is looming over me, passing me one with little ducklings on it.

Hesitating a moment, I take it. “Your services please the queen.”

There’s that tender warmth in his expression again. “Is that in lieu of athank you, snowflake?”

I scoop the spit up off my shirt. “Don’t be a silly goose.”

Returning to his food, this insipid man says, “Honk.”

?

Xios: Please be my friend and join my Tree Town.

I’m half asleep, and half delirious, catching up on my dating sim nonsense when the message from Alexios drops onto my screen. Immediately following, there’s a link with a friend code.

Xios: If I invite five people, I get a llama.

For clarification purposes—probably—he sends a picture of a cartoon llama.

This is not the kind of thing I need to distract me from my worries about tomorrow’s LARP sesh. Although, to be fair, the sharp cheekbones of the pretty vampire king male lead character from my game wasn’t helping much either.

Because I’m not a monster, I tap the link and find myself winding down the horrific path of installing a mental health app where, apparently, you take care of a little bird by taking care of yourself. The more days you check in and the more tasks you complete, the more your little bird grows and the more cosmetics you can get in the store.

While I’m still grappling with the tutorial information, Alexios messages again.

Xios: You’re my favorite person.

He sends me a screenshot of hisfull-grown adult birdnext to a llama. If the fact he’s played this game enough for his bird to grow up isn’t cause enough for alarm, the entire complex outfit the little round thing is wearing might be.

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