A passing pixie heard Fiero’s words and let out a breathy little giggle when her jewel-like eyes settled on the satyr’s form.
I wasn’t sure what it was about the satyr race, but they were like sexual catnip to nearly every other supernatural creature.
Fiero turned and shot her a half-smirk. “Hey there, pretty thing, I was wondering whose cute laugh that was.”
Fiero had her hook, line, and sinker.
The pixie’s little gossamer wings fluttered with excitement as she stepped forward and whispered something into his ear. Then she tugged on his hand and Fiero shot us a grin as he let her lead him away.
Dallan shook his head as we watched the two disappear. “The man is a sexual Einstein, I swear.”
“We were supposed to play cards later,” Heath said, looking put out about losing his roommate’s company for the night.
Dallan chuckled, his tentacles curling in. “Sorry, pup, but even I would have ditched you for the chance at some pixie pussy.”
I snorted into my beer. Aside from a few flings here and there, Dallan hadn’t so much as sniffed another woman in a decade.
“On that note,” I said, standing from the table and leaving my drink still half-full. “I’m gonna call it a night.”
“But we just got here,” Dallan protested, frowning at me.
I shrugged, tossing down a couple of bills onto the table to tip the waitress for the plate of greasy nachos we’d shared upon our arrival. “I have to head to the gym and get back home to take care of the animals. Just like always.”
Truthfully, the animals could probably have waited a couple more hours. I knew it, and so did Dallan. But the same restless feeling I’d had since I walked into the shop this morning was nearly unbearable now. I needed a long run on the treadmill or else I was going to go insane.
Gold eyes narrowed as my oldest friend seemed to be trying to read my mind. Fortunately for me, the Cthulhu race had no psychic talents.
“Fine,” Dallan finally surrendered. “See you in the morning.”
I threw a wave over my shoulder before stepping out into the night.
The ocean chill that was usually chased away by the sun had settled onto the Wharf again. Damp fog clung to my skin as I made my way back to my truck.
My house was a fifteen-minute walk up the beach, so I probably could have walked to work every day, but I didn’t want my gym bag taking up any space in my tattoo suite.
The employee lot was still packed full, but it was easy enough to spot my truck. The 1954 vintage Chevy practically sparkled under the light from the overhead lamp posts, its baby blue finish still shining from the wash I’d given it this morning.
Humans definitely did something right when they invented automobiles. I’d bought this truck brand new nearly seventy years ago and had treated it like my baby ever since.
I had a newer truck at home to take care of the heavier duty things around the farm, but the Chevy would always be my favorite.
I smiled as I ran a hand over the smooth finish. I’d briefly considered changing the color when I got it repainted a few months ago, but it had been blue for so long that it felt wrong.
“Blue as the day you were born,” I murmured to it before opening the driver’s side door and grabbing my gym bag.
The gym I always went to was on Main street. The difference between the Wharf and the main street where tourists were was like night and day. The wharf was grittier and more colorful compared to the elegant cream faces of the shops I passed by on my way to the gym.
Mayor Arsenio had been trying to get us to clean up the Wharf for decades, but thankfully the Wharf Preservation society was a cantankerous old bunch of monsters that hated change. Some of them had even helped to build the Wharf in the twenties when it operated primarily as a place for fishermen.
But over the past few years Mayor Arsenio had been trying to buy up some of the shops to start making the changes he wanted through a legal loophole. Most of the shop owners had stayed strong so far, save for a few. Dallan had been the biggest thorn in Arsenio’s side, however, as the shop was in a prime place at the end of the dock.
Those shops Arseniohadmanaged to purchase on the Wharf now looked as clean and elegant as the rest of Main street. They sold mostly higher end items that most tourists avoided in favor of the more colorful merchandise being peddled by everyone else.
“Welcome!” the front desk assistant sang as I entered the gym. “Cash, how are you?”
I stared down at her, trying to remember her name. She’d been working at the gym for the past year, but I usually never paid that much attention to her. She wasn’t wearing a name tag like most of the gym employees did either.
Thankfully, Anders saved me before I had to admit that I didn’t even have an inkling of what her name was.
