Page 19 of Lila

We stay like that until Ann comes back carrying a tray full of drinks smiling at me. “He likes you,” she mouths.

Looks like I passed the test. Maybe he won’t try to use his powers on me like the others.

“Here you go, baby,” Ann says as she passes Gray his drink.

He turns his head and his little face lights up. Wiggling around until he’s comfortable, he settles with his back against my chest and takes the drink from his mom. I wrap one arm around him to make sure he doesn’t fall as I take my drink from Ann.

There’s a straw sticking out of the whipped cream and I take a sip as a penguin slides down. Mmmm. White hot chocolate. My favorite.

“So what do you think?” Ann asks, gnawing on her lip. “Would you mind watching him now and then?”

“Of course not. Grayson and I are best buds already. Aren’t we little dude?” He smiles at me and I take that as an affirmative. “See?” I chuckle.

“Great! Thank you so much! I can’t believe he actually seems to like you! No offense. He just doesn’t like new people.”

“None taken. It can take a while to warm up to people. And some people there’s just no warming up to. But I’m glad he warmed up to me fast. I’ll give you my number and you can call me whenever you need me to watch him.”

“Oh, I’ll definitely be calling soon,” she predicts.

Chapter 14

Lila

It’sbeenaweeksince I ran out on Luca, and I still can’t stop thinking about him. I may even be starting to buy into the whole mate thing, but Fate hasn’t brought us back together yet, so maybe I was right. Reading this book about an eagle shifter finding her fated mates isn’t exactly helping. The guys are talking about how they’re going to tell her-hopefully better than how Luca told me- when my phone rings. I smile when I see Ann’s name flash across my screen.

“Hey, Ann! What’s up?” I greet.

“Lila! Thank god! Are you busy? A patient just called. She’s in labor. I gotta get over therenowand Luca’s not back from his training yet.”

“Of course! I’ll be right down.”

“Thank you, thank you! See you soon,” she rushes out before ending the call.

I’ve watched Grayson a few times this week after school, so I know where I’m going. They live on the floor below us but on the same side. The supe side. It was interesting the first time I went to their apartment. It’s set up completely different than Lav’s. Ann has a bigger kitchen and it became clear she’s much more skilled in that area than Lav is. So it makes sense for her to have a nicer kitchen. She actually uses it.

The living room has built-in bookshelves on almost every wall and there are books in all of them. They’re not full, so they can buy more, but it’sa lotof books. Grayson has his own wall and I was surprised by the type of books he has. But I found he loves books as much as he does video games.

When I knock on the door four minutes later, Gray opens it.

“Hey, buddy. You excited to hang out with me today?”

He smiles big and nods his head before grabbing my hand and dragging me in. Laughing as I stumble inside, I manage to kick the door shut as he guides me to the living room and pushes me down on the couch.

“Grayson! You can’t push people around like that. She could have gotten hurt,” Ann admonishes.

“It’s okay. I’m fine. What’s the hurry?” I ask Gray with a chuckle.

He bounces on the couch before leaning over and picking up an envelope from the table, handing it to me excitedly.

Laughing, I dutifully open the envelope, pulling out a card. There’s a picture of a penguin and it says:Congrats! You are now the proud parent of Penelope the penguin. Come see your new pet at the newly opened Silver Springs aquarium.

“You got a penguin?! That’s awesome, dude!”

“Daddy,” the mechanical voice of his communication device says.

“Ohhh. Your dad got it for you? That’s cool.”

“Go. Today. Now. Go.” he says.

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