Page 6 of Operation: Ogre

“Good. Dress nice.” He yanked on his shoes, and wiggled his eyebrows as he said, “You have an ogre to impress.”

“Right,” I replied after the door closed, not feeling nearly as sure about this whole Aaron thing as I’d been ten minutes ago.

Chris had told me to dress nicely, but every outfit I looked at felt wrong. I’d kept yanking and tugging on my clothes, until Chris had returned from his run and grabbed a plain gray Henley and jeans out of my closet. His arm had brushed mine, and I’d sworn my heart sped up from the slight contact and the smell of the rich musk of his sweat.

Something was wrong with me. I had to be actually sick. There was no other explanation possible. I might even need to see the new school doctor about it.

Still, even as I sat on a log around the bonfire, waiting for Aaron to show up, my mind kept replaying the touch of Chris’s skin and the sight of his stomach. Both made my mouth perpetually dry while sending my pulse through the roof.

A nudge on my arm jolted me out of my thoughts, and my cheeks heated. I hoped anyone bothering to look would think it was from the fire. Also, the few humans around probably couldn’t tell because of their poor eyesight, which meant Christopher couldn’t. That fact relieved me for some reason.

The object of my thoughts landed on the log right next to me, close enough that I could feel the warmth of his body. Chris looked good in his pink tank top and short shorts, his skin extra warm from the fire.

“Okay,” he whispered, the sugary scent of his root beer reaching me. “Aaron is coming tonight and should be here soon. According to my sources, he does drink, so give him a beer when I start to talk to him.”

I nodded. Chris was sober, so it made sense he would find out Aaron’s drinking preferences.

He turned to lean against me, his impossibly long legs straddling the log, and I wrapped my arm around him without thought. No one batted an eye, and even I wasn’t shocked. All of the Kim siblings were cuddly like this—Carter was currently sprawled over two different people’s laps right this second, one being his new roommate, who didn’t look exactly comfortable with the arrangement—and Chris and I did this so much that the move was familiar.

What wasn’t familiar was the feel of his much smaller body against mine. My awareness of every breath he took and every vibration from his laughter. The way his hand remained on my arm, holding onto me, and his fingertips lightly dragged through my arm hair. The coconut vanilla fragrance of his shampoo that tickled my nostrils with each inhale.

All of them were things I’d experienced before but felt so new, so raw, so different, and I didn’t know what to do with these sensations. What exactly was happening? Was the doctor here? Could I get a checkup? I couldn’t even say why this was all so different, or why my stomach was fluttering and my skin was tingling like electricity was coursing through my veins instead of blood.

Nothing had changed, and yet… Everything had.

I cast my gaze around. Most people I didn’t know; I truly wasn’t that social. I did recognize Mort Rain, mothboy from that kids’ TV show years ago, though I would never have the courage to talk to him about how I’d spent my childhood watching him. I saw an older orc who hovered on the fringes. Perhaps he was the doctor. That would fit. I blinked. Was that a gargoyle chilling near the fire? His horns and massive wings seemed to suggest it. I didn’t know him—not shocking with my introverted ways.

“Ugh,” Christopher groaned. “Sam says she met Teagan Dae before me. I love him. She doesn’t even like him. Why did she have to meet him first? I can’t believe he’s even going here. Major celebrity.”

I had no idea who that was. Apparently, Mort Rain wasn’t the only famous person at Creelin U. Still, I patted Chris’s arm in sympathy.

Carter practically bounced up to us, dragging a younger man behind him. His wide brown eyes and hunched shoulders spoke to his freshman state. Carter yanked the new person closer and said, “This is my new roommate, Tate. Tate, meet my younger brother, Chris, and his best friend, Jaxon.”

Tate waved, a cute blush burning his freckled cheeks.

“Hey,” Chris said. “Nice to meet you. Love your hair.”

I glanced at the brown curls that nearly brushed his eyes. I supposed they were fine. For some reason I couldn’t explain, I tightened my hold on Chris. Tate smiled, revealing a dimple, and I had the strangest urge to yank Chris away before this adorable human stole him.

As Carter, Chris, and Tate all talked, I barely listened. These new feelings really didn’t make sense. Yeah, I’d missed Chris during the two weeks we hadn’t been together, but that didn’t seem reason enough for whatever this was. I’d never been possessive of his attention before.

“Ooh,” Chris said, patting my thigh and getting my attention, “there he is.”

I didn’t know who the ‘he’ Chris was talking about, and I didn’t turn to look. No. My focus was on his smaller hand on my wide thigh. I couldn’t feel the brush of his skin through my jeans, but the weight of it felt so damn right that it stole my very breath.

Something was indeed very wrong with me.

“Jaxon, come on,” Chris continued, not noticing my absentmindedness, and I finally looked up, spotting Aaron in a crowd of students. I also realized that Carter and Tate were gone. When had that happened?

Aaron was taller than me, and his massive frame was mainly bulging muscles, though he still had a huge round gut. His skin was iridescent green, which shifted to golden yellow in certain lights, and monster god, he was hot, with heavy brows, thick lips, and a crooked nose. His laugh boomed across the clear area, and I swore it rattled the trees, or maybe it was the sole dryad student, Kovi—I couldn’t tell in the darkness.

Only yesterday, I could’ve waxed on, in my head at least, about how his laugh made me feel—the tingles down my spine, the fluttering in my gut like I’d eaten something bad, the awareness of how close Aaron was to me—but now, it was all muddled, as if someone had stirred up the silt on the bottom of a pond.

However, I stood to follow Chris, who darted around the partygoers and sidled up to Aaron so smoothly I was almost jealous. I smoothed my plain gray shirt and secured two red Solo cups of beer—I was really going to have to speak to whomever organized these bonfires about more environmentally friendly options. Or have Christopher talk to them with my notes.

When I basically punched the cup of beer out to Aaron, he took it from me with a smile, and I grunted, though I didn’t experience the normal urge to hide behind Chris or look at the ground. That was good, right? That meant I could talk directly to him eventually. Hopefully. Monster god, please.

Chris took a sip of his drink, still nursing his root beer, then said, “You know, I think you and Jaxon are the only two ogres at Creepin U right now.”