Page 16 of Sprite Wedding
“It’s not easy.” Sebastian rubbed his beard. “But it was worth the wait. She was worth the wait. But what are you so antsy about, anyway? You’re mates. You’ve sealed your bond with the mating bite.”
That was true. When I thought about the magical night several months ago when she let me bite her, a flutter rose in my chest. It was followed by a twitch farther down. It was a scorching hot night.
“She’s not here, though,” I protested. “And that makes it hard.” I grinned. “Well, notit.” I motioned between my legs.
“Dude, you’re such a dog,” Diego scoffed.
“He’s the dog.” I pointed to Sebastian, since he was part wolf. Turning back to Diego, I asked, “Since you technically live here, would you be okay with her moving in?”
“Doesn’t bother me at all,” Diego replied. “Zoe’s great. I’m sure she’d be easier to live with than you.” He snorted. “She’s a lot quieter for sure.”
I snorted. “You haven’t heard her walk?”
“What?”
“I tease her about her heavy feet. She’s petite, yet when she walks—boom!” I spread my cupped hands apart to emphasize the explosive sound.
Diego laughed. “You don’t tell her that, do you?”
“Of course, I do. I ran into the living room one day as I thought dinosaurs had infiltrated our house.” I shook my head. “Nope. Just Zoe walking down the stairs.”
Sebastian chuckled. “And I thought you had a way with the ladies.”
“Only one lady for me anymore,” I declared.
“Have you brought up Zoe moving in here with the boss lady?” Diego asked.
“Not yet. That’s my next step. Is Nova home?”
“Yeah. She’s editing right now.”
Nova split her time between the Network and a children’s publisher where she worked remotely. She’d inherited the house from her Aunt Margaret. Margaret taught me everything I knew about gardening and plants. After she died, I strove to keep her garden flourishing.
“All right. I’ll go talk to her after I do some yard work.”
I headed out to the garden and put on a podcast about music while I cut back dead stems and trimmed branches. It was an overcast day, which kept the heat away and kept it cool enough to work without dripping sweat.
After about an hour, Nova approached me. “Hey, Lucas, what’s up?”
“Just doing some spring cleanup.” I closed my shears and stood. “How’s editing going?”
She rubbed her eyes. “I need to give my eyes a break from the screen.”
“It’s a good day to get outside.”
“Yes. I’m headed out for a walk before I get back to work.”
I wiped my brow. “Do you have a minute?”
“Sure.”
I shuffled my weight from one foot to the other. “Now that Sebastian is moving out, I was thinking about asking Zoe to move in here. But I wanted to check with you first.”
Nova clasped her hands together and exclaimed, “That’s a great idea!”
I grinned. “We need someone to keep me in line.”
“Right.” She smiled.
