Page 97 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

As he catches it, I ask, “This?What isthis?”

Devious, he casts a look over his shoulder, and says, “My wrath.”

?

Xios

“Isn’t Mommy pretty?” I murmur to Ash, though he couldn’t care less about Zahra’s stream while he’s attacking his bottle with all the fury of a redcap amid a gruesome battle. It’s almost offensive, how well he eats.

Sighing, I smile at my phone while I feed him.

If my enchanted cuff links weren’t dampening my senses, I’d hear both what’s coming through the speaker and Zahra’s voice down the hall in her office. The delayed echo would probably drive me mad. Thankfully, I am rarely ever without my quality-of-life enchantments, and I’m free to get lost in her smile, her laugh, the animation of her expressions.

When Ash begins to nod off around his bottle, I gently swap it for his pacifier and hold him against my heart as I lift my phone in my free hand. I open the chat. And I tap out a message.

TiniestWhiteBat: I think I’m in love with you.

TiniestWhiteBat: Please marry me.

I watch Zahra’s face cam in the corner of the game she’s streaming while the chat roasts me. Her eyes flick to her other monitor. “Whoa. What just happened? Did I miss something?”

TiniestWhiteBat: Yes. You missed my proposal.

She sees my message this time, and her eyes widen.Then, she smiles. “I missed a marriage proposal, huh? Sorry, TiniestWhiteBat. I got a husband a few days ago, so I can’t accept.”

A string of shocked responses flood the chat.

Casual, Zahra lifts a shoulder and continues building a little house inTerraria. “I didn’t think it was much of a secret. You know how it is. One minute, you’re playing video games together on the couch, the next you’re listening to a confession of undying love.”

More blocks get placed.

More comments explode.

Zahra replies to the main query filling the chat. “No, I don’t think I’ll be doing any husband reveals or videos with him. He didn’t know who Kirby was until last week, so I don’t need anyone else bullying him about his smooth brain. Only I’m allowed to.”

I glance at the pile of plastic mushrooms I’ve quarantined on my dresser and smile. In spite of Zahra’s warning, I turned the fan on earlier and watched something like fifty fling themselves into the crevices of this room, never to be found again.

Her commitment is wholly impressive.

I tap another message into the chat.

TiniestWhiteBat: It’s cute that you call him your husband already if you’ve only been married a few days.

TiniestWhiteBat: He must really like that.

Zahra’s eyes roll. “Probably does. He’s very lucky to have me.”

I would be.

If I did actually have her.

What a shame all I have is over a hundred mushrooms, and unrequited love.

TiniestWhiteBat: If things don’t work out between you two, would you consider me?

Zahra laughs. “Nah, sorry. I’m not considering backup husbands.” Her smile warms every cell in me. “Things’ll work out between us, one way or another. If they don’t, I’m not getting another husband. I’m getting cats.”

Chapter 24

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