Page 14 of Mane Full Of Stripes
“Otto. Something you want to tell us?” Ella asked, hands on hips.
“No. I only kissed her.”
Jost sat on the chair and grinned as Otto glared at Freya, who smiled back at him. “I kissed a girl behind the football stadium, too. Stella. She’s engaged to a nice guy who is in the army now.”
“Jost. You do surprise me.” Anslem chuckled. “I never heard of this Stella.”
“There was nothing to tell. We kissed a few times, then it kind of fizzled out. We talk when we see each—” A knock on the door had Jost freezing. He stared at the front door, then slowly stood. “Apollo,” he whispered.
“Do you want to introduce him to us, or would you prefer to leave?”
“You know him, Dad.”
“But he isn’t meeting me as the leader of the dazzle. He’s meeting me as my son’s mate.”
Jost wrapped his arms around his waist, then straightened. He went to the front door and opened it. “Hi.”
Apollo smiled and Jost wanted to melt into a gooey mess of ‘oh my god my mate is gorgeous’. “Hi. Are you ready?”
“Do you want to come in for a minute? I need to get my coat.”
“Sure.” Jost stepped to one side and Apollo entered, walking into the living room. “Hi Anslem. Ella. How are you?”
“Apollo. Good to see you again.” Anslem stood and shook Apollo’s hand and Jost felt awkward, so grabbed his coat and waved to Anslem.
“Ready Jost?” Ella asked.
“Have fun skating and don’t fall over,” Anslem joked.
“Well, I have two left feet, so Jost will be holding me up as we go around the rink. I don’t think much skating will be done.”
“You can’t skate?” Jost asked. “Really?”
“Nope. My sister found it amusing when I told her we were going there. She said I should pay you danger money or something for having to cope with me on the ice.”
“She sounds funny.” Jost gave Apollo a small smile, fighting the nerves running riot in his stomach. “We can go somewhere else.”
“Nope. I’m ready to spend more time on my butt than on my skates. I can watch you from the ice.”
“Oh.” Jost smothered a smile, then saw the twinkle in Apollo’s eyes. “Are you really that bad?”
“I am and you’re about to find out I’m probably worse than you can imagine.”
Jost waved goodbye to his family and followed Apollo outside. Once they were alone, the nerves began to get the better of him, and he struggled to breathe until he felt arms around him. “Take deep breaths. Take my scent in. We’re mates. My scent will calm your lion.”
Jost did, and once he felt relatively normal again, he lowered his head. “Sorry.”
Apollo stepped back and Jost immediately missed the feel of being wrapped in Apollo’s arms. “Don’t ever apologize for feeling this way. I understand. Are you ready to go, or do you want to rearrange?”
Apollo smiled at him and Jost felt some of the tension ease. “Let’s go. I’m looking forward to hot chocolate after.”
“I’m looking forward to not spending the entire time on my ass.” Jost followed Apollo to his car, his eyes dropping to his ass. Sighing softly, he smiled when Apollo glanced over his shoulder at him, his dark green eyes soft as they looked at him. “I haven’t made any plans for after. I thought I’d leave that up to you, but somewhere with hot chocolate and nice food would be good.”
“There’s a small restaurant nearby. We could eat there, if you don’t mind.”
“As long as there is food, then I’m good.” Apollo opened the door to his car. “In you go, or would you prefer to drive?”
Jost hesitated, then licked his lips. “Thank you.” Climbing in, he waited for the door to shut, and when Apollo got in the driver’s side, he said, “Are you ready?”
