And the biggest smile took over Omden's face. "You can stay," he hurried to tell me. "We can make that room yours, and get you some things to fit your tastes better." But he paused again, locking up with his lips partially open. Slowly, he forced his mouth closed and turned to Drozel. "I mean, if you are okay with that?"
"Mhm," Drozel said. "Ommy, I already told her she can stay. I had a feeling you'd love the idea."
"I mean, it's nice to have a friend around," Omden admitted.
"Good." And Drozel pushed to his feet. "So sit. Tell her about sexuality, because I don't think anyone has, and I'll tackle the hard part."
"Telling Lessa she can put the fabric back?" Omden asked.
"Telling Lessa I get to keep the little sparrow undermyroof," Drozel corrected. "But close enough."
Twenty
Omden
Drozel headed straight out of the house. I had a feeling he was going to tell Lessa a lot more than simply that Meri wasn't going to be living there. I also had a bad feeling she wouldn't take it well, but it sounded like he might have something to mollify her.
"So," I said, easing myself onto the cushion my partner had just vacated, "tell me how bad Droz confused you?"
"He didn't," Meri assured me. "He just skipped around a bit."
"You make him nervous," I explained. "Meri, you're more gentle than most women we're used to. He also knows what happened to you down there, and he hates it. He doesn't want to be anything like the Moles, and he's terrified he's going to scare you."
"He doesn't," she promised. "Well, he might startle me, but I'm notscaredof him. I just flinch because my body hasn't caught up to my mind yet."
"Which is a great way to say it," I told her, trying to keep the tone light. "But it sounds like he was explaining something, didn't know how, and never gave you an answer?"
Her deep blue eyes jumped to the door, hung there for a moment, then came back. The afternoon light turned her hair asoft champagne color, adding a little warmth to her cheeks as well, but she was still too thin. Dangerously so, yet she didn't realize that. I did.
I also knew her heart-shaped face was my partner's weakness. Add in those full lips, the delicate - well, everything? Because this girl wasn't just starved, she was built to be one of the dainty types, and I swore the biggest men always had a weakness for that.
Lessa didn't, not usually. To me, that showed she liked this girl for more than her pretty face. Granted, she and Drozel had the same weakness. Both of them were protectors. They were both so damned strong they'd tear each other apart without me to keep them from doing it. With Meri, I had a feeling she'd either thrive with that much protection around her, or shrink so much she forgot she was supposed to be free now.
That meant I needed to figure out which it was.
"He was telling me that living here wasn't keeping the pair of you from..." Her cheeks were flushing quickly. "...you know. Fucking."
"So he got to fucking," I said around a laugh. "Because that's not your word. Did he say anything about how it's okay for you to fuck a woman?"
"I think that may have been the part he was avoiding," she admitted. "See, I said moving in with Lessa felt..." And one more time, she trailed off, clearly not sure how to even talk about this.
"Meri, I can't dig the words out of your head, sweetie."
And she flopped her arms beside her. "Omden, I don'tknowthe words. That's the problem. I just learned about fucking a minute ago!"
"Okay, so try it the way you know?" I suggested.
And she huffed in frustration, but did try. "The thought of moving in with Lessa feels like my wedding day. I knew I was leaving the room I shared with Ayla and Callah. I knew it wasthe last time I'd be there, and I wanted to, but it felt like I wasn't ready. I keep thinking this is too fast, and maybe that's because I keep moving? I mean, that's all it can be, right?"
"Or," I said carefully, "could it be that Lessa makes you feel the same way that man did at first? That you have a crush on her - "
"A what?" she broke in to ask.
"Crush," I said. "It's what we call it when we start to like someone, but don't know them well enough to be sure the feeling's right. It's attraction, but the blind kind. The kind that can be wrong."
"But Lessa's a woman!"
I lifted a brow and stared, waiting for her to put it together. When she shook her head in confusion, I knew I was going to have to lay this out for her.
