A part of me is oddly thrilled.
Not that I want her to cry.
But maybe I’m a bastard, because I loved the way it felt to be wanted. To be missed.
Okay.
So maybe I’ve become alittleattached. I know. To a human.
Yeah, yeah, all that stuff about how short human lives are and how it’s better not to be attached.
I’m breaking my own rules.
But if I’m attached, then so is she. Because you don’t go crying for someone you don’t care about.
Her body feels so small and mortal, so fragile against mine as I wrap my arms around her, my chest pressed to her back beneath the sheets.
I shouldn’t do it. I shouldn’t let myself get closer than I already am.
But maybe it’s okay, if only for this one moment.
Just for tonight.
Just for tonight, I’ll pretend her life will never end, and she can be mine forever.
37
Dive Bar Dancing with the Hot Guy
You
The next morning, you enjoy a lovely fancy breakfast overlooking the bay, and then have to pack up and head home. It feels…kind of sad and dull being in your tiny studio apartment again, no longer on that superyacht.
Or—it would be sad, if it weren’t for what’s in front of you.
You’ve just emerged refreshed and dressed after a nice, hot shower, when you see Ziros.
Shirtless.
On the floor.
It takes your brain a full second to register what you’re seeing.
The muscles of his back flex, his biceps taut as he lowers himself nearly to the ground, then back up. And does it again.
And again.
You stare from the doorway, your head tilting up and down as you follow his movements.
He’s doing push-ups.
And holy heck, does he look good doing them.
He pauses in the middle of a set, still facing away from you, body straight and muscles taut as he asks, “Are you just going to stand there staring at me all day, human?”
You freeze, heat rushing to your face. “I’m not staring!”
How did he know!?
