Page 54 of Fated to the Grumpy Dragon
I smiled to myself. She couldn’t see my dragon head, not where it was in the water far ahead. But she could feel my reaction.
“Thank you for trusting me. That meant a lot.”
And it had. Things between us were progressing in a way neither of us had planned. It was all so new, so unexpected. Having earned her trust like this was a good feeling.
She stiffened, and I sensed the curiosity giving way to uncertainty.
“Is something on fire?”
I dragged my neck and head around until I could see where she pointed on the shoreline. As I watched, another fire flickered into existence thirty or forty feet away.
“Wood, yes,” I said. “Those are just campfires. Looks like there’s going to be a beach party tonight.”
Emma brightened. “Beach party? I haven’t been to one of those in ages. Is it fun?”
It was rare for me to be seen at one of the beach parties. It wasn’t something that interested me. But Emma wanted to go—I could sense it. And if she had fun sitting by the fire, listening to the music and enjoying the general festivities, then I could certainly suck it up for a little while.
“Do you want to go?” I asked.
“Seriously? We can go?”
“If you stay with me, yes,” I said, eager to do whatever it took to make her happy.
I would ignore the looks for a little bit.
For her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Emma
Iwaited a solid several minutes before piping up just to make sure I wasn’t making a fool of myself.
“You know the party is in the other direction, right?”
“Don’t worry, I haven’t lost my sense of direction. We’re just not going there.”
“We aren’t? But you said …?”
He chuckled, the mirth bubbling up through both of us. Rhyse was teasing me.
“We’re not going thereyet. Perhaps that’s more accurate.”
I gently smacked one of his scales. There was no reaction.
“Do you even feel that?” I asked, doing it again.
“What? The mosquito on my stomach?”
I hit him harder.
“A tiny little bug tapping on my scales? Is that what you’re referring to?”
“You better watch it, mister. You can’t always be a dragon.”
“I can, actually,” he said with a laugh. “I’m just as comfortable in either form. We go days, sometimes weeks, without shifting back if we don’t necessarily need to.”
“Eventually, you will,” I growled, waggling a tiny fist in the direction of his head as his tail propelled us toward shore. “And when you do, I’ll be there.”
