Page 73 of Outside the Lines
A laugh. “Yeah, I know a bit about managing that.”
One less thing to worry about.
Saturday was rainy as all hell, so I stayed at home during the morning and worked on some sculpting. In the back of my mind, I was thinking about Simon, the dragon I’d given him, and the relationship that had developed out of the mess I’d made, and somehow, those thoughts and feelings turned into a gryphon with wings of flame throwing itself up into the air from a rocky outcropping. I was putting the finishing touches on the wings when my cell phone blasted out the ring tone I’d set for Simon.
Shit. Too many of my fingers were covered in clay slurry. I managed to answer with my pinky and set the phone to speaker mode. “Hey, Si.”
“Hi there.” It came out as a weary sigh, and I held my breath. Something was most definitely not right.
“You okay?”
His grunt was answer enough. Nope. Not okay. “I’m fine, but I have to cancel tonight. I need to take Lydia’s shift.”
We were supposed to have a date tonight. Dinner, a movie, then he was coming over here. My heart sank, but not at the loss of the date. “Is Lydia all right?”
A heartbreaking pause, then a whisper that sounded too loud over the speaker. “Not really.”
The slurry had started drying, and I picked bits off and let them fall to the table.
“What happened?”
“She was feeling better. Seeing the shirts was hard, but it wasn’t killing her like it had been. Then, a new design came out.”
Fuck. “Another one of hers?”
“Yeah. The last piece of art she put up before this all began—it was actually a take-off on wolf T-shirt designs from the eighties. And everyone is going fucking nuts over it, like it’s the greatest thing ever.”
Lydia’s artwasthe greatest thing ever. “Si,Wolf’s Landingowes her for saving our asses over the whole altar and rune mistake.Pleaselet me say something?”
“God, Ian, I want you to. But I—we—can’t go behind her back on this.” There was pain in his voice.
While I wanted to rub my face with my hands, I resisted the urge. I already had enough clay on my face, in my hair, and on the drop cloth beneath my feet. “I know, I know.” I couldn’t break Lydia’s trust any more than Simon could. “What else can I do?”
Simon blew out a breath. “Maybeshecan be your date tonight?”
“What, dinner and a movie?”
“Pretty sure she doesn’t want to go out.” His voice dropped. “I’d feel better if she weren’t alone tonight. She’s . . . not doing well at all.”
My heart fell straight to the floor. “I’ll come over.” Anything for Lydia. For Simon. If I could ease their pain and worry, I’d walk to the moon.
“God, Ian, I love you.”
My throat tightened as my soul sang. “I love you too.”Both of you.
We set a time for me to come over, and after Simon hung up, I gave up on sculpting and cleaned up the work area and then myself. I knew better than to badger Lydia to fight with Wolf’s Landing’s merchandizing partner, but I wanted to make her feel better and take her mind off the issue foroneevening.
A plan took form in my head. It was silly and cheesy, and exactly what Lydia needed. At least, it was an evening that I wouldn’t have minded when I was down. On my way out the door, I grabbed a couple of old movies. I swung by the grocery store on the way to Simon and Lydia’s, then arrived at their doorstep a few minutes before Simon had asked me to arrive. My finger hovered over the doorbell, then dropped.
In my pocket were the keys they’d given me. Seemed appropriate to use them, so I did. When I walked into the kitchen, they were both there. “Hi honeys, I’m home!”
Damn if that didn’t get me two smiles. Lydia’s was full of tears and sadness, while Simon’s was filled with hope. He crossed over the room and pulled me into a kiss that was both sweet and scorching hot. I had no idea how he managed to be lovelyanddirty with a press of his lips and a quick swipe of his tongue. He left me breathless. Someday soon, I’d put him on his knees again, and do exactly what I wanted to do to that mouth.
But not tonight.
When we broke the kiss, Lydia was smirking a tiny bit, and there was a hell of a lot less sadness on her face. I lifted my grocery bag. “Don’t worry. I have something for you, Lyds.” All of us gathered around the kitchen island and I pulled out a half gallon of vanilla ice cream—the good kind, not the cheap imitation crap.
Lydia tilted her head. Simon snorted. “I never pictured you into vanilla.”
