Page 28 of On A Rift's Edge
Damn, he had to get himself under control.
“Well, there wasn’t much time for the two us to chat.” Kat glanced down at his arm where Lyall had touched him. Instead of looking offended, he gave Lyall’s arm a gentle pat back and turned to Kaveh. “It was terrifying talking to him, but fascinating too.”
There was nothing fascinating about a hopper who now knew the vet assistant was important to Lyall and would tell Arimanius as soon as he found the mob boss. It was terrifying, and yet another reason Lyall was too dangerous to be around Kat.
On the other hand, not being around Kat meant Lyall wouldn’t be able to fight off the hopper if he came back.
“Kat, it might be best for you to take extra precautions if a killer frog is on the loose and my father is involved.” Remi added a buzz of compulsion to that suggestion, which Lyall could sense with his mental shields. Normally, he would have been angry if his ratkind friend used his psychic compulsions on Kat, since most of them were sexual. But he was willing to lower his ethical standards if it kept Kat safe.
“Lyall’s been your bodyguard before,” Remi continued, “and he can help Kaveh and me keep you safe.”
Kat said nothing.
Lyall wanted to burst out that he was protecting Kat no matter what, because the Matchmaker had made its decision and Kat belonged to him, goddamn it.
He wanted to tell Kat the truth, even if the rejection would be devastating. But letting him know now might cause him to run away straight into danger, as he had when Kaveh had told him he might be his Matchmaker pick.
“If that’s okay with you.” Lyall forced that out as he turned to Kat. He hated sounding so wishy-washy, but the young human’s face had gone blank, and he couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“I’m not complaining that you’re offering to be my bodyguard again.” Kat squirmed in his seat. “But I have to make it to Sunday dinner with my family tomorrow. Are you okay with that?”
“Sure.” Lyall relaxed back into his seat. He was surprised Kat was so anxious about him meeting his parents. Compared to the hopper, it would be nothing. “I’ll pretend to be a normal human, and everything will be fine.”
11
Kat took a deep breath, opened the door to his apartment, and let Lyall inside.
“I’m sorry it’s such a mess.” Kat removed his shoes and circled his not-so-great great room, scooping up empty mugs of coffee, scattered textbooks, and a few errant socks in a desperate attempt to make his home look presentable.
It was a pleasant space, if small. Glass doors led to a small balcony, where Kat tried not to kill the small container garden his father had set up to comply with building requirements that all tenants participate in CO2 mitigation. The kitchenette even had Riftworld tech useful in rift storms, such as shroom lamps and the ice worms in the refrigerator.
The attempt at cleaning up also gave him a reason to focus on something other than Lyall.
Not that Lyall was unpleasant to look at, even by the objective standards of people who weren’t Kat and weren’t crushing on him. But seeing Lyall in his apartment did things to his stomach. Calling them butterflies wouldn’t be accurate. It was more like a dozen or so Bugs were buzzing around in there, stirring up thoughts of how domestic and cute this was.
No, Lyall was acting as his bodyguard again, and they were friends. Friends came and stayed overnight all the time. Or maybe only a few times, but there was nothing inappropriate about a sleepover.
“Where’s your bed?” Lyall asked.
Kat made a choking noise, then realized he had put the socks in the sink and the coffee mugs into the refrigerator. Okay, he was distracted, and Lyall’s question was perfectly reasonable. He should not feel this horny by the thought of Lyall in his bedroom.
Kat dumped the remaining items in his hands on the counter and had to gather his thoughts before he could identify and open the right door. “There’s only one bedroom, and the bathroom is next to it.”
He hadn’t made his bed this morning, but he had thrown the duvet over the pillows and rumpled sheets, so it didn’t look too awful. The room had a nice view of the skyline out the window, and the natural light brightened up the otherwise disorganized contents of the room. These consisted of a queen bed and dressers, along with Kat’s work-out equipment and even more books.
“You can sleep in here, and I’ll take the couch.” Kat would need to change the sheets and pillowcases and move out some of the junk. “Feel free to unpack your stuff, even though you don’t have much. If you need to borrow any of my clothes, that’s fine too.”
After an early dinner at a Tex-Mex restaurant Kat had suggested, the two of them had stopped at the motel Lyall was staying at. The hellhound had come out of his room with one rather ordinary travel backpack. It wasn’t surprising he traveled light, but he must need some human comforts. Even if he wasn’t—human.
No matter how many times Kat tried to tell himself he and Lyall were such wildly different people that a serious relationship between them was impossible, having dinner with Lyall and then taking him back to his apartment felt right in a way he knew was wrong.
Lyall prowled around the room, rapping his fingers on the window, searching behind Kat’s weights and exercise bands, all the while muttering to himself.
“I don’t like it.” Lyall came up to Kat, scowling. “Especially the bed thing.”
Kat had no idea what he had done to irritate the hellhound. “It’s pretty comfortable. My mom insisted I get a high-quality mattress so I don’t get back pain.”
Lyall stared at him. “The security situation is what I don’t like. Your apartment is on the fifth floor, but hoppers climb well and could get up to that window.” He glared at the last beams of a beautiful sunset streaming into the room as if they had personally insulted him. “Still, this is better than the outer room. That balcony would be the first place I’d pick to get in here and take out a target.”
