“You humans have a lot of sayings that include shit. What is your fascination with excrement?”
I snorted a laugh. “We aren't fascinated with excrement. It's just the word got used in a lot of ways. Someone says it a few times, it catches on, then, over the years, the culture changes but the sayings stay the same. Sometimes that means they don't make sense.”
“So, someone said 'shit happens' a long time ago and it was appropriate then?”
“Well, no. That one's pretty new. It just means that bad stuff happens and you deal with it. It's beyond your control. Shit happens. You get it?”
“Oh. Yes, I see. Shit equates to bad stuff.”
“Yes, unless something 'is the shit,' then it's good.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Yeah, English is confusing. Urban slang makes it even worse. We can talk about that shit later.”
“Would that be the good shit or the bad shit?” Kaspian drew up his knee, braced his arm on it, and smirked.
“I see what you did there. Nice one.” I pulled on my jeans, free-ballin' it, and then my shirt.
“Wait. You're leaving?” Kaspian stood up.
“Yeah. I gotta get us some food. I won't be long. There's a—”
Kaspian grabbed my wrist and pulled me back onto the bed. Rolling onto me, he said, “You can't go. Not yet.”
I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. Just being that close to him got me excited. “Why not?”
“I . . . I have need of you again.”
“You said we should eat first.”
He scowled. “Yes, you need food. But I should be the one to obtain it.” He grimaced and rolled off of me to glare at the ceiling. “I don't like this!”
“Whoa. Easy, alpha. Tone it down.” I sat up. “You don't have to be the big provider right now. You just got plonked down on another planet. Let me take care of you. You've already helped me, remember?”
Kas didn't look assured. He sat up to face me. “I don't want you to leave.”
Oh. So, that was it. The big guy was scared and didn't want to admit it. He didn't want me to leave him by himself again. That was kind of adorable. Maybe those bonding hormones had worked both ways.
“Okay, I'll tell you what. I can order some food to be delivered.”
“You have people to bring you food?”
“No, I don't 'have people.' I have to pay a delivery charge for someone to pick up food from a restaurant and bring it here. It's not something I do a lot because it's expensive.” I got up and left the bedroom before he tried to stop me again.
“Where are you going?!” He shot after me.
“Relax. I'm just getting my phone.” I grabbed my phone out of my jacket, then went to sit on the couch. When I saw Kas coming to join me, I said, “You might want to put on some pants before sitting down.”
“Why?”
“This fabric isn't the most butt-friendly.”
“Butt-friendly?” He grinned and shook his head as he went back to the bedroom.
I enjoyed the view for a moment, then brought up my Doordash app. I was scrolling through restaurants when Kas sat down beside me. And went still. His stillness didn't sink in right away. Slowly, I realized that he wasn't saying anything. Then I noticed that he wasn't moving.
I looked over to find Kaspian gaping at the screen of my phone. The phone! Damn. I told him it was a communication device, but didn't explain that it could do a lot more than that.
