Page 7 of The Nixie and the Frost Elf

I chew on my bottom lip, not missing the fact his gaze strays there when I do. Should I tell him about what I'm thinking? I have no real reason not to, especially when we're trying to rebuild the friendship we had. "I was thinking about you helping me with my panic attack," I admit. "And how it reminded me of how we used to be."

To my surprise, he seems to relax at my response. "I'm glad. I was worried about overstepping when I touched you."

"No. I mean, yes, maybe? But in a good way."

He chuckles. "All right..."

"It felt familiar. Like all the times we've touched before, and how comfortable that was. It reminded me how much you care."

"I do care, Lexi." His voice dips low, and he steps closer. "Not because of the mate bond. You were my best friend."

"And you were mine."

"I want that again."

My breath catches in my throat, and I realise that what he's saying is what I want to hear. "Me too."

"Then we know where to start," he responds. "And we can make that our reality."

"I thought we were trying to date?"

"We are," he agrees. "But we should also be friends."

It's hard to explain the feeling within me, though I suspect my reaction is mostly coming from how right it feels to be friends with Edur. He's always been someone I can rely on, and I look forward to having that back. More than that, I'm lucky to have it back when I'm the one who broke our friendship in the first place.

"Edur!" someone shouts across the room.

He glances over in that direction, a frustrated expression on his face.

"You should go," I respond. "We'll spend time with each other on our date." I flash him a smile that I hope he takes to mean what it does. That I'm okay being left because I know that it's not going to be the end of us.

"We're going to have a great time," he promises.

"I know." I smile, hoping that he sees on my face how much I believe that. I might be nervous about how the two of us are going to progress our relationship when sex is a potential issue, but I trust him, and I know that we're going to have fun. The rest will either fall into place, or it won't. I just have to trust myself.

Chapter 4

Lexi

There's a chill in the wind that reminds me of the upcoming winter, and it tears through my clothes, making me want to rush back inside and forget about coming for a swim, but I know this is going to be good for me. I need to clear my head, especially because I need to think about Edur and what it's going to mean for the two of us to go on a date together.

A huge part of me wants to go. We used to have so much fun together until I ran away. Getting that back would bring so much joy back into my life. And then there's the mate bond that I can feel tugging me towards him. Or maybe it's just giving a name to feelings I already had, but didn't want to face. All of that is complicated by the reality though. He might say that he's okay if we have a relationship without sex, but is that going to be true in a few weeks? A few months? Years?

I'm not even sure that I want that. I have no desire for sex, and I've not had the best experiences with it. But when I hear my friends talk about the intimacy and connection it brings, I find myself thinking that I might like to. Maybe that's something I can have with Edur. Though trying it and then saying never again is also an issue.

Tears prick at the corners of my eyes, but I blink them away. Now isn't the time.

I arrive at one of the changing stations and slip inside the cubicle by the side of the moat surrounding the academy. I don't know exactly how they made it happen, but the current runs as if it's a river, but it's restricted to the space surrounding the castle, removing a lot of the dangers that come from swimming in open water.

I press my hand against the magical lock, turning the light on the outside from green to red so that anyone else approaching will know that this changing station is taken. I strip off my clothes and put them in one of the lockers along with my other belongings, leaving me naked save for my necklace.

I reach up and touch it, running my fingers over the snowflake charm where it rests next to the water plant. Edur might have been out of my life, but he's never been out of my thoughts. Maybe the fact he bought the charms for me should have been some kind of indication that we were more than just friends beneath it all, even if neither of us had felt the mate bond yet. Though I suppose that is what they say about mating bonds, sometimes, it can take people a while to put the right name to it, and then one day, everything slips into place.

But all of that is immaterial, because now we both know that we both felt it, and there's no going back from that. We can choose to ignore it if we want to, but we can't unknow it.

Once I've put everything in the locker, I pull out the key and slip the attached band around my wrist before hitting the magical lock on the other side of the changing cubicle. This one starts a timer so that I can get into the water before the cubicle unlocks and can be used by someone else. Not that many people are going to be coming down to the water on a day like this.

The wind is even colder now I'm not wearing anything, and I have to force myself to take it slowly over the rocks that lead down to the moat. The last thing I want is to slip and hurt myself. It would be mortifying enough as it is, considering I'm a nixie and should be used to rocky shores, the fact I'm naked is another level to that.