Page 53 of Moody as a Minotaur

“Where did you get these? They’re amazing. Is there a place where you order things like this?”

My gaze darted from scene to scene. There were so many things to see. Eager to see what I’d find next, I turned a corner and right in front of me, in place of prominence—or so it seemed to me—was a room as familiar to me as my own home. I leaned closer.

“Is that the Flying Rowan?”

It was a silly question because it couldn’t be anything else. He’d recreated the café in exquisite detail, from the treats in the display case to the pattern of the fabric onthe booths. That wasn’t a kit or something that he’d ordered from a catalogue. I spun around to stare at him.

“Uh, yeah…” Levi’s cheeks darkened.

“Holy crap, did you make it? Did you make all of these?”

“It isn’t that big of a deal,” he muttered.

I closed the distance between us until I was standing right in front of him, and he had to meet my eyes. “You’re so talented. I can’t believe I didn’t know you were so artistic.”

He shrugged.

“No. I’m serious. All I do in my spare time is watch baking shows on TV.”

“And then you create amazing things for people to eat. At least your interests are useful.”

Okay. His hobby was more whimsical than practical at first glance, but I loved knowing that if something ever happened to the Flying Rowan Café—I’d worried about it catching fire too many times not to think like that—that there was some record of it. That some part of it would survive.

“How long have you been doing this?”

Levi squished up his face and shook his head. He cupped his hand around his ear and pointed at one of the dioramas. Oh right. The bugs. I’d gotten so caught up with Levi’s amazing creations, I’d forgotten why we were here. Of course, Levi hadn’t invited me here because we were really dating. He’d invited me over because that’s where the bugs were.

“Quite a while,” Levi said.

“Well, you’re very good at making them.” I wanted toask more questions, but that wasn’t why we were here. “I wonder if I should get a hobby, you know, something that isn’t watching TV. You have this. Finley has his ghost thing…”

“What do you think about that? I watched some of their videos. It seems weird. Do you think monsters and ghosts really exist?”

I hated that he’d called himself a monster, but I couldn’t refute him when Tammy or Kyle might be listening to us right now. “I don’t know. I suppose anything is possible. Did they have any links or anything on their videos? You know, like places where you can get more information? I’m curious.”

“I’m curious too. But I’m not sure I feel comfortable sharing a world with things like that. Finley suggested there might be more than just ghosts.”

I slid my hand into his and squeezed. Because I hoped he didn’t think I thought like that. He knew not all humans did, right? He pulled his hand away and walked deeper into the maze of shelves.

“Wouldn’t we know?” I trailed after him. “I could see not knowing about ghosts; they would be invisible, right? But how could we miss creatures walking around beside us. I think I would have noticed a yeti walking down the street.”

“Wait. Shit.” Levi made a production of patting down his pockets. “I think I forgot my phone at the motel. Do you mind if we go back there? If you’re interested, we could watch a couple of their videos. I bookmarked a few on my office computer,” he said, leading me back to the door and away from his inner sanctuary.

I suspected very few people had ever been invited into the heart of Levi’s home. Hell, him letting me see this much was a privilege. I wasn’t going to press for more.

Would Tammy and Kyle think it was strange that we said our little script and left? I hoped not, but I wasn’t going to push Levi to take me any deeper into his home.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t wish he’d invited me inside for entirely different reasons.

18

WHEAT ALE WITH AN ANTACID CHASER

LEVI

The bait had been set. Now we were waiting to see if the hunters would pounce.

I was a herbivore, so why I was thinking in predatory metaphors, I had no idea. But everything about today had felt topsy-turvy and upside down.