“Sorry about the mess. Fergus and I aren’t the neatest guys.” Wait, what am I talking about? He’s been inmy apartment before as Buddy and then again in human form.
I have a time-traveling Viking werewolf in my apartment.
What the fuck do I even do with that? With him?
“Want something to drink? Tea, coffee?” Booze, I want to suggest. I feel like I need it after all the craziness of tonight.
“Coffee,” he says immediately.
A curious smile tugs at my mouth. “Do you even have coffee where you’re from?”
“Not before my twin’s mate Jamie started coming to visit us. He brings us coffee from his cafe. It’s delicious.”
I trip over my own feet. “Jamie? As in your brother’s boyfriend?”
Holy shit. Of course! Anders and Jamie planned all of this. They were setting me up with Lyall from the moment I met him!
Lyall has the look of a dog who crapped on the carpet. “Me and my mouth.” He sighs. “Yes, Anders is from the past. He moved to the present when he met Jamie.”
So, people can travel to and from different timelines as easily as getting on a bus, apparently. “I’m going to have a word with those two… Why did they set us up? Why make me believe you were a wolf-dog of all things?”
“Anders and Jamie have graciously helped me adjust to this timeline. They’ve driven me places and Anders loanedme his phone, just to name a few things they’ve done. Anders knows how long I’ve been searching for you. He only wanted to help introduce us properly.”
“But we’d already met.”
He nods. “Aye, but it didn’t go at all to plan. The night we met, I realized you had no recollection of me. I knew then if I wanted to be with you, I would have to do things differently.”
“So Anders and Jamie asked me to show you around the city.” I have to say, it’s not a bad plan. “But that still doesn’t explain why Jamie asked me to pet sit you.” I choke back a laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
Lyall’s cheeks redden. “That was Jamie’s idea, not mine!” He hangs his head sheepishly. “After you… rejected me, I lost hope that we could reconnect. I knew you felt the same pull, but you were holding back. I hoped if I knew why, I’d be able to prove that all your fears and doubts were misplaced. That I’d never hurt you the way those other men had.”
My cheeks warm, and I want to hide under the counter. I can’t believe I told him all that. “But wait a second. Even after I told you, you still stuck around as Buddy. Why?”
Lyall looks confused. “To be with you. Why else?”
My mouth slips open. “But… you had to eat kibble, you couldn’t talk, I made you go on walks! And you never even went to the bathroom on those walks!”
Lyall laughs. “I held it in and went to my brother’s place to take care of business. Didn’t want you cleaning up after me.”
I can’t stop myself from laughing with him. “Well, thanks for that. That would have been a bit too intimate for me. Still, how can any of that have been enjoyable for you?”
“It had its difficulties compared to being in my human form.” He smiles. “But it was worth it.”
My heart does a flip in my chest. This guy’s tenderness and sincerity keep catching me off guard. Despite everything, I trust Lyall, I’m attracted to him, and it’s dangerous. Just when I’ve decided I’m giving up on love and relationships, this man from the past—my past?—bursts into my life and throws everything on its head.
The kettle beeps, telling me it’s done heating the water. Once the coffee has been filtered, I hand him a mug. “Milk, sugar?”
Lyall shakes his head and takes a sip, humming his approval. “You wished to talk?”
I squeeze the mug in my hands, fingers shaking as I take a cautious sip from the steaming cup. One thing at a time.
There’s so much I want to know about him, about us.
“Why are you here?”
He frowns. “Because you invited me.”
Somehow I manage a huff of laughter. Lyall grins, dimples popping in his cheeks. It’s the cutest thing. “I guess I did, didn’t I? I meant why are youhere,in the present day.”
