Page 27 of Mytho Investigations: Side Stories

“Maybe.”

Vlash shook his head. “If you need me to do that, we shouldn’t be together.” He washed his hands. “I’ll gather my things.”

“Wait.” He didn’t want Vlash to leave. But he wasn’t sure how to ask him to stay, either. He didn’t know what they were to each other or what he wanted to be to Vlash.

Vlash lifted his eyebrows and waited as if Mason had used magic to command him.

“What are we doing?” Mason finally asked.

Vlash shook his head, his long hair sliding over his shoulder and his ears peeking through. “I’ve asked myself the same question every day since New Year’s Day.”

“I feel like I’m lying to my friends, keeping you a secret. And I don’t like it. I want to say something, but I don’t know what.”

Vlash glanced away. “I do not want this to be the last time I see you. I am sure of that.”

“Same.” But did that mean they were dating?

“Then if we agree on that, perhaps it is best we take a few days to think about where this is heading. Because we should also agree on the destination.”

“By destination, you don’t mean marriage, do you?”

Vlash laughed, the one that was all razor-sharp edges. “Gods, no. Only that we need to decide if it is sex or if we are going to date openly. Because those two things lead to different places.” Vlash walked over and kissed his cheek. “Neither of us can make that choice right now.”

“Next weekend then?”

“I’ll come around after I close the shop.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Mason put his arms around Vlash, breathing in the rosemary sent of his shampoo.

Vlash returned the embrace. “You held your ground well with Bud, even before I used magic.”

“Is it wrong that I liked him a little more when he was listening?”

“Everyone wants to be heard.”

True. But this time, neither of them knew what to say.

CHAPTER 14

“You’ve been home every night this week,” Lekso said. “Is everything okay?”

Vlash glanced up from the stock ordering he was trying to do. He’d been staring at the screen, not thinking about pasta and cereal at all. “I went to training last night.”

He’d been out but hadn’t seen Mason all week, and he didn’t like that he was missing him or that he had become a frequent and enjoyable occurrence. Somehow, Mason had slipped beneath his guard, shoved a blade between his ribs, and now it was lodged in his heart. And he didn’t like that feeling at all.

But he didn’t want to lose it either because the emptiness would be worse.

“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”

“Why are you so keen for me to leave the house?”

“Because when you’re not leaving it to be with that human boy, you’re a grumpy shit.”

Vlash scowled at him. “Ah, you want me to go out so you can have that… Katie over. Is the knights’ return from their honeymoon impacting your ability to visit your girlfriend?” Vlash lifted his hand. “Do not bother to tell me half-truths. I know you two have been dating for some time, but I do not want to wish you a short life so that it works out. Nor do I want to see your pain when she ages, and you do not.”

That wasn’t his concern with Mason. Vlash doubted he’d make it anywhere near the elvish average lifespan on Tariko.

No, he was worried about what everyone else would say about him being with a human. He shouldn’t care what they thought or said. He was old enough that he should be able to withstand their disapproval.