Still, maybe he just liked being out in nature. Hedidseem the type.
She resolved not to overthink it. He’d agreed to meet her for breakfast. That was the important thing.
“No problem,” she said, smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring way, and he seemed to relax in response.
There’s a mystery here that I’m going to get to the bottom of. Don’t think I’ll forget about this, mister!
Calvin moved over to his monstrously large backpack, which Diana now realized probably contained a tent and everything else Calvin had brought up the mountain with him.
He bent down to pick it up –good lifting technique, she thought approvingly, as his shorts stretched a little over his buttocks,notthat she was looking – and brushed against the window air conditioning unit as he stood.
The background hum of the A/C came to a sudden, groaning halt.
Calvin froze, backpack dangling forgotten from his hands.
His eyes widened.
Quietly – so quietly that Diana almost doubted she heard it – he whispered, “Oh,crap.”
Chapter 5
Shit. I can’t believe I just did that.
His wyvern glared at him, eyes burning with fiery rage.Well,Icertainly can. Your oafishness knows no bounds. This annihilation of our mate’s cooling contraption has ensured that we will be alone for all eternity, and deservedly so.
Calvin fought the urge to rub at his temples. Heknewthat his wyvern knew what an air conditioner was, but now was not the time to delve into the mysteries of why it acted the way it acted.
Because, as irritating as it was being, it wasright. He had definitely, one hundred percent, destroyed his mate’s air conditioning unit in the middle of a heatwave.
He didn’t believe in curses… but, he conceded, he was going to have to believe in this one. He liked to think of himself as a logical person, but sometimes there came a point where the less logical option became the more logical one.
So. The magical glowing lady in the forest – whatever she was – has actually cursed me, because I didn’t bring her a tribute or solve her riddle. Fantastic. Great. Just what I needed.
Still, coming to this conclusion didn’t help him with his immediate problem.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Diana said, coming up next to him and giving the unit a gentle whack.
She sighed, then turned to him with a smile. “Ha, it’s like you’re cursed or something! ‘Breaker of Hearts and Electronics.’”
She paused, and Calvin could almostseeher berating herself internally.
Breaker of hearts? Me? Well, I certainly won’t complain if that’s how she feels. Though I’d hope I’d be doing the opposite of breaking it.
It was a relief, at least, that she wasn’t angry – not that he thought she would be the type to get upset with him. But then again, she didn’t know that he was the reason for it.
And what if this curse permanently broke whatever he touched? He’d buy her a new A/C if he had to, of course, but he also knew that she wouldn’t let him pay a single dime. It could be that he’d just saddled her with a huge expense.
I can’t believe I was so careless. I was so close to making it out the door.
As he stood and stared at the broken unit in dismay, Diana blithely went on, “Well, we’d definitely better make sure to get you to the B&B. Hell, I’m starting to think that maybe Ash and I should have a campout in the back yard tonight ourselves. It’d probably be cooler than staying in here.”
She was right – the house was already starting to warm up again.
Calvin stared blankly at the A/C unit, desperately racking his brains.
Think, Calvin. Think. There must besomethingyou can do.
His wyvern sniffed, its contempt clear.Thereissomething… but, as always, you are too dunderheaded to recognize what is directly in front of your inferior human eyes.
