I trailed off, not even wanting to entertain the outcome. The idea of going on a date with somebody who wasn't Taylor made me want to gag.
"You do?" Gaius squawked.
I raised a brow at his surprise. "It's not obvious?"
"Well, call me a bird brain, but I guess not!" Gaius leaned in, whispering, "Who is it?"
That was a mild relief. I thought it was crystal-clear to everybody in the world that Taylor was my love. Then again, Gaius was a gryphon. His sense of smell wasn't as powerful as a dragon's, so he likely didn't scent Taylor all over me. Although, I had taken Jade's advice to scrub it off, then misted myself with cologne.
"You seriously don't know?" I asked.
"Is it Alaric? You two have an enemies-to-lovers vibe going on..."
I growled instinctively, deep in my chest.
Gaius laughed, slapping my shoulder. "I'm joking! Come on, Crimson, lighten up."
I removed his hand from my suit. "That isnotfunny."
Gaius's mischievous grin revealed he was screwing with me. "It's totally funny. You should've seen the look on your face! I thought you'd blast me with fire."
"I'm still thinking about it," I said, deadpan.
"It's Taylor. Am I right?" Gaius offered.
My shoulders relaxed. "Yeah."
Gaius nodded, looking pleased with himself. "I've known since the second beach date."
"That's right. You goaded me on purpose and made me lose control on TV," I grumbled.
He didn't look sorry at all. "I wanted to test how serious you were about Taylor." He grinned. "And I succeeded in proving it to you both."
I couldn't deny that was true. Taylor might not have believed my confession of love if he didn't watch—and feel—me shift into my dragon form right on top of him. And his reaction proved to me that he cared for me.Allof me, even the animalistic, possessive dragon side.
Speaking of which, my dragon soul was pissed that Taylor was out of my sight, hidden in the forest somewhere. I wanted him where I could see him and touch him.
"You're growling, Crimson," Gaius pointed out, amused.
"Sorry."
Looking around, I heard distant crashing in the forest, but nothing too chaotic. The quiet unnerved me. I recalled what Jade said about the challenges having safeguards in place, but that didn't quell my nerves.
"Is this really safe?" I asked. "Shouldn't you be patrolling the skies or something to make sure nobody gets hurt?"
"The camera crew is with everyone."
I wrinkled my nose. "No offence to the staff, but with their size, I trust kobolds to protect the contestants as far as I can throw them."
"Isn't that pretty far?"
"Not my point. Also, the kobolds are bogged down with cameras. They can't act like bodyguards at the same time."
Gaius tilted his head thoughtfully. "Hm, that's true."
As Gaius considered it, my skin itched with the urge to find my mate. Challenge or not, I wanted to at least see him from above, to know he was okay.
"We can cover more ground together," I said. "Come on, Gaius. It's better than standing here waiting for something to happen."
