Since you were gone, I went away on a trip of my own.
Really? Have fun?
Time for a bit of the truth.It was lonely. I wished you were there.
Oh, to hold Jules in his arms again, but what about those overbearing guardians? He typed:When are we going ridingagain?Based on the rapidly falling temperatures, next time they’d have to take Elouan’s truck.
Three dots appeared on the screen, flickering for several seconds before the message appeared:Saturday?
I can’t wait. Lunch tomorrow?
Sure!
See you then!Elouan pocketed his phone. Yes, he’d decided. No more thoughts about dragon omegas, no matter how lovely. Whether or not Jules proved to be Donovan’s elusive missing brother, Elouan’s heart and his dragon had decided.
But, damn, wouldn’t it be great if the two were one and the same?
Curtis came into the living room shirtless, sweatpants hanging low, shoveling the contents of a cereal bowl into his mouth. “How was your trip?” he asked around a mouthful.
“Fine. I saw more dragons on the first night but had the mountains to myself for the rest of the weekend.”
“It happens that way sometimes. Of course, Dad and I usually go with a group.” Curtis placed the bowl on the coffee table and scratched his hairless belly. “Want to go out with me and some friends this Saturday night?”
Elouan couldn’t keep the grin off his face. While he vowed to spend more time with Curtis, Curtis wouldn’t be alone. “I’m afraid I have a date.”
Curtis’s bright smile fell. “Oh. Jules again?”
The scowl wiped away Elouan’s good humor and the newfound goodwill toward his roommate. “Why not hang out with us one day, get to know him? He’s sweet, smart….”
“He’s just not for you. You need a suitable mate for a king when you go back.”
Elouan sighed. “We both know that’s not likely to happen. I’m tired of living for someday after waiting for three years. I want to live my life.”
Curtis said nothing, dropping onto the far end of the couch and picking up the TV remote. It was so unlike him to leave a dirty bowl on the coffee table. Was he jealous or something? Why? Curtis never lacked for lovers, and he’d never shown signs of attraction to Elouan, which would’ve been awkward.
No amount of strange behavior could ruin Elouan’s good mood. “I’m going to bed.” Without waiting for a reply, Elouan climbed the stairs to his room and closed the door.
Curtis took him in when Elouan first arrived, but the urge to move might come from more than Elouan’s own desires. Had there been subtle hints for him to move on? Maybe he and Curtis would work better as friends than as roommates.
Then again, maybe he was simply trying to justify buying a house without Curtis knowing, even if his original intention had been to modernize the house to sell at a profit.
Yeah, Elouan could slowly cash in his gold, claiming an inheritance or something. He’d need to ask Leon. If anyone knew how to turn a hoard into cash, he would, having been in the human world for nearly thirty years.
Visions popped into Elouan’s head of his own place. The castle would have been his home for life had he stayed in Adrakus.
Suddenly, the little house he hoped to close on soon took on new life, as it would look after remodeling.
Complete with Jules inside.
The broad grin on Jules’s face, the way he bounced from his seat for a heartfelt hug, made the ribbing Elouan took from his coworkers worth every embarrassing innuendo. At least no one was on the girder watching him.
He let the hug continue longer than many people might deem appropriate, but to hell with what others thought. Elouan soaked in the comfort.
Bright pink flushed Jules’s face once he pulled away. “I’ve missed you. Did you have a good trip?”
“Yeah, it was nice. Beautiful country.” How surprising that nice was all it had been, not the rejuvenating experience Elouan had envisioned. “A small cabin in the middle of nowhere that a coworker arranged. How was your weekend?” He watched closely for any action that might give away a touch of duplicity.
Some unnamed emotion flickered across Jules’s face, gone in an instant. “Relaxing. I got to enjoy the great outdoors.” He wrinkled his nose in a far too cute gesture. “The city can be so…confining.”
