Page 12 of Cupid
Jude’s fingers slid into my hair, and he gently pulled my head back so we were face to face. “You’re so awesome. I would give anything to be able to do that. Can I ride on your back when you fly?”
All the tension I’d been feeling for the past few hours was released in a deep laugh as I pressed against his body, desperate to hold him again. “Yeah, if you wait until it’s dark, I can take you out over the ocean tonight.”
The way Jude looked at me made the purple glow around us pulse with energy. “That sounds so romantic.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” I’d never flown with a rider, but Jude didn’t weigh much, certainly less than the load I was used to pulling. “And, um, if the offer to stay longer still stands, I think I can make that work.”
“You can?” His eyes were almost as excited as his smile. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
It’d only been a few hours since the last time we were together, but that didn’t stop me from carrying him back to his room so we could pick up where we’d left off.
He was okay with me being a shifter.
He knew I was part of the sleigh team.
He accepted my weird matchmaking gift.
And I never wanted to leave him.
NINE
JUDE
Arrow was a freaking reindeer.
That first night when he showed me his reindeer, I almost didn’t believe it was true, until we went out on a moonlight ride over the ocean. That was the most unbelievable and surreal moment of my life. I could have stayed out there all night, but after a while, I got too cold and we had to come back.
Not to mention that I was still in shock.
But now that it had been a full week, reality was starting to set in.Arrow was a freaking reindeer.
The good news was that Arrow had a lot of vacation time saved up, so he was able to stay with me for a full month before he needed to get back home. It was definitely not long enough for me to get my fill of him, but we agreed to take things slow and just focus on the present. Well, he agreed to go slow.
I wanted to profess my undying love and adoration and awe and passion for him after our first kiss. But even I knew that was ridiculous. And it would scare him away.
That meant having fun while we were together without strings or promises. Just enjoyment of each moment.
It was during one of those moments when I was on the back deck, watching Arrow body surf in the freezing cold water, when I got a call from Orion.
I was reluctant to answer it because I hadn’t given him the full story about what was going on between me and Arrow. But Orion, my best friend in addition to being my cousin, had access to the perimeter cameras and must have seen us making out on the deck or the beach at least a few times.
Besides, I wanted to tell him everything. I just didn’t quite know what to say. “Hey.”
“Yo. The money should be in your account. Check it and let me know.”
“What?” As usual, he skipped right over the niceties of a greeting and context and went straight to a point I couldn’t follow. “What money?”
“From your tenant. Everything was released today when he checked out, so the money should be in your account. Now you can pay your tax bill.”
“Oh, shit. I forgot about the money.” I didn’t feel comfortable accepting Arrow’s money now that we were…something.
“How did you forget? That’s the whole reason you’ve had to share your house with a stranger all week.”
“Yeah, I know. But…maybe I should give it back? Can we refund it?”
“What?” I could almost see Orion shifting his phone from one ear to the other and putting his hand on his hip as he paced. “Why would you do that? Did something happen? Is there a problem I need to know about?”
“No, nothing like that.” At least, not anything for him to worry about.
