“I don’t know,” he said, glancing around helplessly. “What day is it?”
Clearly, this poor boy was going through it. I sat on the bed and pulled him onto my lap, stroking along his back and taking care not to disturb his wings. I let him cry on my shoulder for a good long while and waited until he had somewhat recovered.
“I’m not normally like this,” he said, dabbing at his eyes with the hem of his (my) t-shirt.
“You’re hurting, huh?” I asked. He nodded, lower lip quivering and ducked his head again as if embarrassed. “How about you take a quick shower and then we’ll take a little walk?”
“Outside?” he asked, squinting at the closed curtains.
“A short walk, just to get some fresh air.”
“Okay.” He nodded and I helped him stand, steering him in the direction of the bathroom.
“I’m not usually this messy,” he said, glancing at the various makeup and hair products that covered the bathroom vanity.
“It’s okay if you are. I don’t mind a little mess.”
His wet, sparkling eyes glanced back at me, and he gave a watery smile. “I’m a whole lot of mess, Hiero.”
I nodded because I believed it. “But I’d bet you’re worth it.”
He sighed pitifully and turned back toward the shower. I closed the door behind him to give him some privacy and went about cleaning up the room, bagging the trash to be dealt with later and gathering up his clothes in a pile to be laundered. Some of his things looked quite… delicate, and I couldn’t resist simply brushing the silky fabric with my fingertips. But other than clothes and toiletries, there wasn’t much of Skylar in the room–no photographs or personal items at all, which made me wonder if the contents of the room were all that he had.
I found something that looked relatively clean and laid it out for him on the bed, then took the bag of trash outside to the dumpster nearby.
By the time I’d returned, Skylar was just coming out of the bathroom with his damp hair wrapped in a towel, wearing the same robe he'd worn when he left my apartment.
“I haven’t done laundry,” he said with a frown.
“This looked clean enough.” I motioned to the bed where I’d laid out his clothing. “I can borrow some things that fit you better while you get your clothes laundered.”
“Oh. Oh dear,” he said and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes.
“Cry if you need to. It’s never benefitted me holding it in.”
“You cry?” he asked as if stunned by my admission.
“Everyone cries, don’t they? I prefer to do it in the shower. Already wet.”
He nodded, took a moment to compose himself, then went back to the bathroom with his clean set of clothing. A few minutes later he emerged, looking a bit more refreshed.
“Thank you for cleaning my room. I don’t usually…” he drifted off with another long, miserable sigh.
“It’s fine, baby. I’m happy to do it. Now how about that walk?”
Chapter nine
Skylar
“Iknew from thebeginning we weren’t right for each other, but I kept making excuses,” I told Hiero regarding my relationship with Cedrych. “We even broke up once because he went on a ‘diplomatic mission,’ which was just an excuse to get some elvish ass. But he always managed to win me back with extravagant gifts or gestures. It helped that he paid for pretty much everything, and breaking up with him meant that I’d be out on the streets again, which I can assure you, is less than ideal…”
We were walking at a fast clip through a mountain trail, burning off some of my nervous energy as I rambled on about my shitty taste in men. It was springtime in the Dragonback Mountains and the daffodils and bluebells were in full bloom. They’d make a lovely arrangement, I decided, pausing to pick some from the trail’s edge. It occurred to me that Hiero probably didn’t want to hear the details of my failed relationship, though he had asked for the story. “I’m sorry. I’mdoing that thing where I talk about my ex,” I said to him as an afterthought.
“I work at a bar. I’ve heard it all. Please, continue.”
I tucked away the flowers and said, “Well, the last straw was when he got betrothed. He didn’t even tell me himself. I had to hear about it from theDaily Scrolls–”
“Wait a minute, this fucker got betrothed… to someone else? After being with you for two years?” Hiero asked with incredulity.
