“I feel so bad for that guy,” Saffron added, following him, a knit beanie perched on his head. His hat, like Aurum’s, covered his hair, making it harder to differentiate them. The only way I could tell them apart right now was that Aurum enjoyed brawls more than Saffron. I guessed Saffron had taken the lion’s share of the empathy in their shared egg.
I bristled at the twins’ sudden appearance. I was still pissed at Aurum because of our tiff earlier, and to a lesser extent, Saffron for defending him, which he always did.
“A man got hurt, if you even give a shit,” I grumbled at Aurum. “And why are you wearing those stupid hats?”
“Hey, I care! I just said I feel bad for him,” Saffron argued.
“Besides, he wasn’t seriously hurt,” Aurum pointed out. “He’s awake right now.”
“How do you know that?” I demanded.
Aurum shrugged, spinning his baseball hat around. “’Cause we went to see him.”
I didn’t know why, but a rush of jealousy filled my blood. I was the bachelor this season, and Matteo’s injury was my fault. It was my responsibility to deal with Matteo, not theirs. I hated that they went to visit him before I got the chance.
“Whyareyou wearing those hats?” Jade asked curiously.
Aurum grinned like a kid who felt no guilt about breaking the rules. “Last year was boring. We wanted to see the contestants up close. So we went to mingle.” He pointed to the hat. “With disguises, of course.”
I rolled my eyes. The twins had only appeared in human form during last season’s closing ceremony for about five minutes. I doubted any of the new contestants remembered them. They just wanted an excuse to wear those stupid hats.
“Yeah, nobody looked twice at us, except one hot dude who asked a lot of questions about you,” Saffron agreed.
I ignored the comment about the hot dude. All I could think about was poor Matteo’s injury.
Saffron waved his hand. “There were so many people that we got lost in the crowd, anyway. It was stuffy in that lobby with all those bodies, and not in a sexy way.”
Another pang of guilt hit me. The show hadn’t even started, and I’d already caused a big mess.
I stormed past the twins, impatient to reach the medical ward. A kobold nurse sat on a stool by the door. It was slightly ajar.
She pointedly raised a brow at me. “Are you here to cause trouble like those other dragons?” she asked in a stern tone.
I cursed the twins.
“No, I’m here to apologize to Matteo,” I said.
She nodded for me to go inside. Ignoring the random anxious feeling in my chest, I opened the door.
The room was spacious and clean. A man lay in a bed by an open window, letting in the fresh ocean breeze.
My heart sank when he turned towards me.
He had not one but two black eyes.
Oh, Holy Drake, I’m the worst bachelor of a dating show ever, I thought miserably.
“Hey,” Matteo said. His voice was cool and casual. That was a good sign. At least he wasn’t instantly berating me.
“Hi,” I replied. “Is it okay if I come in?”
A smile curled the edge of his mouth. “This is your home, isn’t it? You don’t need my permission.”
“Yeah, butyou’rethe one injured in bed,” I countered.
“True. I’d like the company, in any case. Grab a chair.”
I sat on a stool next to him. He looked awful. The flesh around both his eyes was swollen and purple, making it difficult to see his brown eyes clearly. It was a shame, because otherwise, he was robustly handsome.
