Page 34 of Operation: Ogre

“Hey, Babs,” Samantha said, greeting the woman with a hug.

I blinked. So Sam’s friend was a woman in her eighties at least with bright pink curly hair, ghostly wrinkled skin, and deep brown eyes. She was short, barely five feet, and wearing a bold-patterned kaftan. Not what I’d be expecting.

“Sam, my girl.” Babs cupped Sam’s cheeks, grinning broadly.

“Appreciate you loaning me your kitchen and storing all this stuff until Friday.”

“Not a problem at all.” Babs glanced in my direction. “Who’d you bring?”

“Babs meet my brother’s boyfriend Jaxon. Jaxon, Babs.”

I waved, my cheeks flushing.

“Nice to meet you.”

I waved again; my throat was too strangled to speak. I wanted to. I really did.

“He doesn’t talk much,” Sam said to Babs, then turned toward me. “Help me carry all this in.”

We (mostly me) hauled in all of the groceries and put them away before Sam hugged Babs goodbye. We then went back to Creelin U. I was more than ready to see Chris, and maybe we could cuddle while watching another Hamlet movie.

Chapter Fifteen

Jaxon

I’d never thought Friday would come. All week, Chris had been a bit quieter than usual, not even arguing with Shianne when she’d brought up Romeo and Juliet being the greatest romance play in history. He didn’t seem upset with me or anyone—more pensive than anything. I’d caught him sitting with headphones on and staring into space more often than not. I was fairly certain that he was stressed about something, but he hadn’t shared as of yet and I didn’t want to push him.

Also, I’d been busy too, inviting people with Carter, doing prep work with Sam, and trying to keep up with my homework. I’d been basically running around campus more than I’d been in my room. I hated it. However, it was for a good reason. But when Friday evening rolled around, I was exhausted. I’d spent the time around class cooking with Sam and Carter. And Babs. She’d pitched in, even though she’d refused to come when Carter had invited her.

Now it was time to lead Chris to the place we’d secured by the river and hope he liked the surprise that we’d put together. Not that people would yell surprise like a birthday party. Besides Carter and Sam, no one knew that Chris had zero idea this was happening on Friday—evidence of how out of it he’d been this week.

I walked into our room, and Chris was lying face down on the carpet. I smiled. It was so unsanitary, but he insisted on doing it. I had zero idea why. It was just him. I found it endearing. Without thinking about it, I grabbed him about the waist, making him squawk, and set him on his bed.

“Jaxon.” His bottom lip went out. “Where were you all day?”

Monster god, he was so cute when he pouted. I pushed the black strands of hair that hung in front of his face behind his rather round ears. “I was doing something.”

“Obviously.”

My smile softened as I gently trailed my fingertip over the shell of his ear. Chris shivered, and his teeth sank into his plump bottom lip. In a whisper, he asked, “Why does that feel so good?”

My head cocked. Many people liked their ears touched. Maybe Chris’s previous lovers—ugh, I hated thinking about them, though that was hardly fair—had never played with his adorable ears. I asked, even though I knew the answer, “You like it?”

He nodded, chewing on his lower lip.

Carefully, I massaged his earlobe, and Chris swallowed, the knot in his throat bobbing in such a distracting way that it took all my power not to mash my mouth to his. Having him react to me like this was so hot. We weren’t even doing much of anything, but I’d never been this into someone before. Of course, no one had been Chris. No one had ever looked so much like mine before.

“I have a surprise for you,” I said eventually.

Chris leaned into my hand, his eyes falling closed. “You do?”

“Yep.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll have to come and see.”

“I have to leave the room?” he asked with a loud sigh.