Tan popped his head into the room. “I’m really sorry about your neighbor.”
“Thanks.” Elliot smiled. “He was a hundred and two years old. No one lives that long, but somehow he managed it. It shouldn’t hurt so much, but I’ll miss him.”
“I get it, man.” Tan smiled, then met my gaze. “If everyone in your life tells you something, maybe you have a problem. Thus, dressing like a workaholic.”
I picked up a pillow from the couch and threw it at Tan’s head. I would have hit him if he hadn’t ducked into the kitchen. I turned to Elliot, wanting to be a good listener for my beloved, even though the pillow I had just thrown still lay on the floor, mocking me.
Elliot wiped his eyes. “You’re a workaholic?”
I lasted ten whole seconds, letting the pillow bug the shit out of me before I couldn’t take it anymore and had to pick it up. “So they say.”
“He was before you came along,” Ossy and Tan yelled from the kitchen.
“Can we go somewhere with more privacy?” I asked as I put the pillow back on the couch. It didn’t seem right, so I had to straighten it, fluff it, and put that choppy crease on top.
I wasn’t sure what I’d done, but Elliot laughed. It sounded more like a giggle, like when he’d gotten high with Joel behind the pizza restaurant the other night.
I met his gaze and smiled, but I was curious about what I’d done, so I could duplicate it.
“He’s also anal about stuff,” Elliot yelled.
“We know,” Ossy and Tan yelled.
That made Elliot laugh even harder for reasons I didn’t understand. I knew he was laughing at me, but at least he wasn’t upset anymore. “Oh my god, the way you’re looking at me... that’s no fair. No fair at all.”
Despite his words, his tone suggested he liked it, though I had no clue what my face was doing. “How am I looking at you?”
“Like you like me.”
That was an easy one to explain. “I do like you.”
Elliot faced me. He wiped his hands on the sides of his pants. He wore cargo pants, complete with a place to hang a hammer in case he needed to keep one within reach. They hung low on his hips, making me want to push them down just to see what was underneath.
He averted his gaze for a second. His brow furrowed. Then he met my gaze. He sucked in a breath, and his eyes widened as if seeing me for the first time. “I think I feel the connection you’re talking about. Like I’ve known you my whole life. I think I felt it when I delivered your pizza. That’s why I texted. And beforethat, when I almost died. But I...” Elliot shook his head. “You are so far out of my league, Grym. You’re in another galaxy.”
I shook my head, denying it. “I think the same, but in reverse.”
Elliot blinked as if he didn’t believe me, so I nodded again, hoping to make my point. “Do you look in a mirror?”
That made Grym smile again. “Do you? And then I find out you have very special abilities.”
Elliot shook his head. A crease formed on his brow. “I’m just a normal guy.”
I held his hand. “You can walk between realms. Only gods can do that.”
Elliot shrugged. The crease in his brow deepened. “What is a realm, anyway? And why would I want to walk between them?”
Maybe it was the wrong conversation to have. Maybe I should wait, but it was such a special thing to do. He was the only one who could. At least so far. There would be others. Eventually. But he was the first.
“A realm is like another world. The afterlife. Tir an Nog. Mag Mell. Heaven. Hell. Tech Duinn. Annwn. They’re all different realms.”
“That’s a lot.” He sighed. “I don’t want to be special. I just want to be me, like I’ve always been.”
I just smiled, which made Elliot lean into me a little more than before. Our gazes met, and I could tell something shifted in my favor. “You have a nice smile.”
That made me smile even wider. “You think so?”
Instead of answering with words, he pressed his lips to mine. The change in his demeanor made sense. He’d been reacting to me. That was a revelation. I had no idea that smiling could soften him so quickly. It was sweet. Making breakfast for everyone was sweet, too. But he was confused and sad. All of that came through in our kiss.
