Rhys’s griffin perked up at that, as did Rhys himself.
Our mate is ‘gaga’ for us! And we are ‘gaga’ for her! I am not entirely certain what that means, but I am certain that it must be positive. Truly, today is a day to be recorded in the annals of history.
“Really?” he asked, before he caught himself.
“Oh, yeah,” Michael laughed, and Shaz nodded.
“Definitely,” Shaz confirmed. “Couldn’t take her eyes off you. She was almost as bad as you were.”
A warm feeling spread throughout Rhys’s body, even as he schooled his face into his best attempt at indifference.
“Am I really that obvious?” he muttered. “So much for being a secret agent.”
Shaz laughed. “Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us. I mean, I shacked up with this idiot here, so who am I to judge? You have better taste than I do.”
Michael started to yell something that was probably pretty rude, though it didn’t really matter – Shaz was so much more physically imposing than him that anything he could threaten her with was basically water off a cassowary’s back.
The oven timer went off at that moment, saving Rhys from the indignity of trying to find a way to extricate himself from this conversation.
“Well, I’ll just go and head back out there,” he said, jerking his thumb in the general direction of the rubbish tip that was the rest of the apartment.
“Yes, you hurry on back toMaisie,” Michael said with an innocent smile, and, exiting the room, Rhys wondered why he was even friends with him.
Well, heisa really good hacker. And he’s pulled your arse out of the fire more times than you can count. And he basically has a not-technically-quite-legal copy of every computer game that ever existed.
He made his way back, picking his careful way around the piles of junk. Maisie was still sitting on the couch, leaning back with her eyes closed. Now that things had calmed down, Rhys could see just how exhausted she looked.
Go to her,his griffin urged.Demonstrate your undying devotion.
Rhys didn’t know aboutthat, but he did ease himself down gently next to her. She didn’t even stir.
He looked at her, finally having a moment to reallyseeher. To take in her beautiful face, the slight frown line between her eyebrows finally smoothed out in sleep. Her golden hair, tumbling down from its bun. Her freckles, which, he had to admit, were pretty damn cute. Her long lashes, twitching slightly as she slept. Her perfect mouth, hanging open and emitting a light snore.
His griffin nodded approvingly.Even her snores are enchanting! Truly we have been graced with the finest of all mates.
Rhys found that he couldn’t disagree, even if his griffin was being ridiculous about it.
He watched her for a few more long moments, letting all the other events of the day drift from his mind as he just let himself look at her and be in her presence.
My mate.
… Shit, I’ll probably have to tell Hec about this at some point. Though I might wait until she actually knows we’re mates and has said whether she thinks that’s a good thing. Bastard would never let me live it down if he knew I’d met my mate and then stuffed it up.
Not that he thought that would happen, but hard-won experience had taught him to keep his cards close to his chest at times. He knew, in his more self-aware moments, that he could be a bit defensive… but then again, that came at least partially from having two older siblings who were both griffin shifters.
There had been a point in his life where they had both been able to shift, and he hadn’t, and the two of them had thought it would be hilarious to do things like stand outside the toilet in griffin form so they could scare the shit out of him when he opened the door, or pick him up in their talons and fly him around while he yelled at them. Typical older sibling behavior really took on a whole new level of obnoxiousness when the older siblings could turn into giant beasts.
In any case, he knew he would talk to Hector about it at some point. And he knew that Hector would be sympathetic if things didn’t work out. But for now, he wanted this to just be for him.
He shifted a little, the movement causing him to sink down further into the decrepit old couch… and causing the couch cushion beneath Maisie to dip, sending her tumbling right into his chest.
“Whuh – huh?”
Rhys froze as Maisie sleepily groped at his chest for a moment, before opening her big blue eyes and staring up at him in confusion, hand still plastered to his chest.
Rhys stared back. He was aware that his mouth was hanging open, but he wasn’t sure if he could’ve closed it if his life had depended on it.
“Uh…”
