So my mouth opened up with, “How about we go to my place?”
His eyes widened. “Y-yeah. That… that’d be great.”
Maybe showing him where I lived was unwise, but at least I’d be on my home turf if anything were to happen. I didn’t want him to lead me to his home and find myself locked in the basement—again—or something else terrible and creepy.
At home, I had more control of the situation. Plus, I had wards and spells to protect me there. So… home it was.
We were quiet on the way there, but luckily, I only lived about five minutes away, so it didn’t get too awkward.
Well, Lanche was awkward all on his own, if I was being honest. Although, it was more of a cute and dorky kind of awkward that I found quite endearing. Not that I planned ontelling him that after this strange display with the damn icicle—that I still hadn’t released even though I was driving—and everything else that’d happened.
I parked in the apartment complex’s lot, and we got out, then headed for my building. I unlocked the security door, led the snow yeti up to the second floor, and let us into my apartment.
“Home sweet home,” I murmured, happy that I’d straightened up a little last night before bed. There was no embarrassing underwear on the floor or dirty dishes on the table, thank the Mother.
“Your place is lovely.” He murmured it so quietly it was like a whisper on the wind that I’d barely caught.
I turned to him. He was standing in the doorway, looking more uncomfortable than I’d ever seen him, a flush on his handsome cheeks, his hair a mess, likely from running his fingers through it, and old paint splashes all over his jeans. He was an artist. I knew that simply from observing him from afar for so many months. He always had paint or pastels or dried clay on his clothes, and half the time, his hands were stained some strange color.
I’d put two and two together fairly quickly, so the paint splatters were no surprise.
He was utterly adorable, and all I wanted to do was pull him into a hug and hold him all night long.
But since that’d be just as weird as him giving me some strange magical icicle, I refrained and waved him inside. “Have a seat in the living room, Lanche.”
He nodded and walked past me, careful not to graze my side. That made me feel… like I was missing out on something, which was ridiculous. So I brushed it off and went to close and lock my door before joining him in the living room.
He’d chosen the loveseat, so I sat on the couch in the corner closest to him so he didn’t feel like I was trying to keep mydistance—I wasn’t. I was simply curious about this icicle and wondering why the hell he thought I was his viramore.
I couldn’t be. I could never be so lucky as to find my one true soulmate.
The thought made my heart hurt, and I rubbed at my chest as I took a breath to speak. “Why in the world did you give me an icicle?”
He winced, and I stared at the icicle—stillin my hand—for a long moment before he said, “You’re my viramore. You… you own my heart.”
I blinked at that. Say what?
He took in my expression and winced again. “You… you’re my viramore, and I… wanted to reach out to you… to get to know you.”
I stared at him for a beat, then at the icicle before waving it around. “And instead of asking me out, you gave me an icicle that doesn’t melt?”
“Um…” His eyes were wide, and he looked ashamed. “I… I tried… to ask you out a couple of times. It’s just… I’m not good with… I… I… my words…” He grimaced, and I decided to give him a small break. I didn’t want the poor guy having an anxiety attack or anything.
“It’s okay. I get it. Sometimes finding the right words is difficult.”
He sagged in relief, nodding his head. “Yeah… it is.”
I sent him a tentative smile before holding up the icicle again. “So… what’s the significance of this then? It obviously means more than I think it does.” Considering Anton and Jed’s reactions, it meant a whole hell of a lot more.
He stared at me for a long moment before clearing his throat. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. Tentative. Shy. “You know I’m a snow yeti, right?”
I nodded.
“Right, well… snow yetis carry an icicle in their hearts. It’s a piece of their magic, and when they find their partner, their viramore or chosen mate, they… they give it to them.”
I stared down at the icicle. “So… you’re asking me to be your partner?”
“Not… exactly.”
