Ah, I was alone at last. Even though I lived by myself, working in my parents’ restaurant and having a huge extended family meant someone was always in and out of my apartment, staying over for “just a few days” or stopping by “for a moment to catch up.” As I sank deeper into the couch, I let out a long breath and turned on the TV.
A knock startled me. I looked at the remote, the screen, and around me. Nope. I refused to believe what I’d heard.
Another loud knuckle rap on the front door well and truly burst my bubble. Next came a rattle. Was someone trying the lock?
Was it a neighbor?
With a heavy sigh, I rolled off the couch, turned my lower tentacles back into legs, and walked barefoot toward the wretched sound.
A look through the peephole revealed a mess of fiery orange hair. Summoning positive energy, I opened the door.
The young man on the other side offered me a radiant smile and twitched his furry cat ears. He was slim and tall, dressed entirely in black, from skinny jeans to an oversized hoodie and a thin jacket. His mid-calf combat boots were tied perfectly, and his bushy ginger tail swished behind him. I’d call him ahandsome twink if he weren’t getting on my last nerve just by standing there. Then, he opened his mouth.
“Hi. Are you Gabriel? Sorry I’m so late, but I had trouble finding this place.” His words came out rapid-fire, and he made it as if to enter the house.
I didn’t move, blocking his entry with my body, twice the size of his. “Who are you?”
“I’m the guy who booked this place for Christmas.”
“Nope. That’s me.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the door frame. “I’m staying here until January.”
“You’re not Gabriel?” His smile wilted, and so did his ears.
“No.”
His eyes darted to my tentacles, then back to my face. Gabriel was a gargoyle, and if this guy knew that, he should be moving along now.
“But I have the confirmation and everything.” He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket, but it slipped from his grasp. In an attempt to catch it, he bounced the phone off his hands before the device landed with a crack, screen down on a rock protruding from the snow. “Shit, shit, shit.” He fell to his knees and wiped the device with his sleeve. “It still works! Look.” He opened the reservation email and showed it to me through a spiderweb of shattered glass.
He was kneeling, his big eyes on me, an offering in his hand. Like this, he was gorgeous in a chaotic fashion—disheveled hair as if he’d been shoving his fingers through it or pulling it, jacket flapping open, an utterly lost expression on his rosy-cheeked face.
I wanted to scoop him into my tentacles and keep him warm. The reaction was so visceral that my appendages floated in his direction. I snapped them back, crossing two sets over my chest and abdomen while reaching for his phone with my hand.
Indeed, he had a reservation for the last three weeks of December…of next year.
With a sigh, I blew up the details and turned the phone around. “Your booking is for a different date. Get up.”
He shot to his feet as if I’d stepped on his tail, and the immediate reaction to my command sent a tingling through my system.
“That’s not—” He frowned at the screen, cradling the device. “The year. I booked for the wrong year!” His bottom lip quivered as he banged his forehead with the phone. “You idiot.” He looked at me with horror in his gaze. “Not you! I was talking to myself.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I got that.”
“Oh, okay. I’m sorry.” He glanced around at the empty road on both sides covered in snow. “Could I come in and—” He reached for his suitcase. Also black, with band stickers on it.
“Forget about it.”
His hands fell with resignation and his ears flattened to his head. “But—”
“No. Find yourself another place to stay. Good luck.” I stepped into the house, slammed the door, and locked it with a loud clank.
I didn’t get far though, as the need to look through the peephole won over my couch plans.
Chapter Two
Spiro
The guy paced on the sidewalk, talking on the phone, gesticulating wildly.
