Page 93 of Dark Embers

I shoved that thought out of my mind and made an attempt at humor. “But if your girlfriend burns Niko alive, I don’t think we can be friends anymore.”

Damn, that was stupid.

She snorted a laugh, and even though it was a pity laugh, I appreciated it. “He’s a dragon shifter. I’m sure he can handle a little heat.”

She hugged her arms as we walked, her breath vaporizing in the air as she exhaled.

“I guess the same can’t be said for mermaids, huh?” I teased, shrugging out of my coat and draping it over her shoulders.

She stared at me like there was a monkey dancing on my head for a moment before slipping her arms into the sleeves and tucking the coat around herself.

“Don’t seem so surprised,” I said. “I can be a gentleman on occasion.”

She frowned at that and looked ahead. “Thanks. You won’t be cold?”

I chuckled and shrugged. “I’m a dragon. I’ll be just fine. Besides, I did vow to protect you in front of the entire school. What kind of dragon would I be if I allowed you to freeze to death the next day?”

She rolled her eyes with a long-suffering expression that eventually turned into a smirk.

We stepped into the retro-styled diner filled with red seats on white-and-black checkerboard floors. The jukebox in the corner lit up the room with its bright neon pinks and yellows. The restaurant must have switched out their records for holidaytunes because a catchy song about a red-nosed reindeer filled the air.

This had been mine and Niko’s favorite restaurant since we started at the Dome, and I was slightly excited to see if Arya would like it as much as we did.

“This place is awesome!” she said as she looked around at all the classic car parts and aged license plates hanging from the walls and ceiling.

A smug smile of appreciation spread across my lips.

“Oh man, a jukebox!” Ashlyn gushed, excitement lighting her face. “I wanna pick a song. Come on!”

She grabbed Niko’s arm and tugged him to the brightly flashing fifties music player, leaving Arya and I to stand awkwardly in the middle of the diner.

I blew a breath out of my puckered lips. “Soooo, where do you want to sit? It’s open seating.”

We both looked around the diner, finding half of the booths unoccupied.

“Uh, I guess this one’s fine,” she said, taking off my coat and waving it in the direction of the booth in question.

I nodded and followed her, sliding in on the opposite side. We sat in uncomfortable silence for a long moment, our eyes meeting awkwardly now and then as we both tried to find other places to put them.

Finally, I plucked a menu from the stand against the wall, needing the visual barrier even though I already knew what I wanted.

Arya followed my lead, actually looking at the menu sinceshedidn’t know it by heart.

“So, what’s good here?” she asked without looking up at me.

“What isn’t good here,” I countered. “But the chili cheese fries are my favorite.”

“Cool,” she said with a nod. “Wanna split ’em?”

I want to feed them to you with my bare hands and let you suck the cheese off my fingers.

“Sure,” I said, mentally slapping myself.

Friend zone, dude. Friend zone.

Niko and Ashlyn came back, Ashlyn sliding beside Arya and Niko plopping down next to me. Niko and Ashlyn both had goofy grins on their faces, glancing back and forth from each other to me.

I narrowed my eyes at them in suspicion. “What are you two up to?”

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