Page 65 of Always Say Yes to a Dragon

My stomach did a somersault as I recalled all the ways that could fuck up my life. No money of my own, no say in my own life. Could I trust Az not to do that to me? I didn’t like to test people, but keeping my job felt like an important one. Would Az let it go even though it bothered him, or would he act like Dwayne did a few months into every one of Mama’s jobs, finding small thing after small thing to complain about until he’d worn her down enough that she either quit or got fired?

When I looked around, I noticed Cal pointedly ignoring me as well. Maya and I had our differences, but Cal and I had always been friendly. What the hell?

During a lull, I sought him out. Maya’s hostility, I kind of understood. She and I had always butted heads, and she’d made her disdain for all the changes the dragons brought clear over the last few months.

“Cal?”

He gave me a flat look but didn’t respond.

“You got something you want to say to me?” I kept my tone soft, my stance open. A question, not a challenge.

Cal crossed his arms. “Me? No. I always knew you were closed-mouthed, but I didn’t think you’d be running around with a local celebrity and let us all find out from our phones. You didn’t have shit to say to me, so no, I don’t think I’ve got a thing to say to you.”

Fuck. “I wasn’t keeping secrets, I was just…” Keeping it quiet? That was the same thing. I huffed out a sigh. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t like that. I just don’t like people gossiping about me.”

He snorted. “Good luck with that.”

Right. I’d kind of signed up for it, hadn’t I? I went to run my fingers through my hair, only to encounter the messy bun I’d thrown it in earlier. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would happen like that.”

“Sure. Whatever. Jen just sat someone in my section, so…” He turned and walked away.

“Drinks later?” Jen asked when I passed her.

“On me.” I wanted to do something nice, something to counter the way my stomach sank every time one of my coworkers refused to make eye contact with me.

Jen’s eyebrows drew together. “I can still pay for my own drinks. I’m not that hard up.”

I pinched my nose between my fingers. “Let me treat you, damn. You were so patient with me when I was first learning the ropes here, and I want to repay the favor.”

She scrutinized me. “Fine.”

The rest of my shift was uncomfortable as hell. Customers looked at me like I was on display, while my coworkers, except Jen, alternated between snide comments and ignoring me.

That night at drinks, Jen relaxed back in her seat. “Don’t take Maya and them too seriously. They’d do the same thing you are; they’re just jealous because they saw your pictures online.”

I groaned. “Ihaven’t even seen those damn pictures yet.” I’d been a little too afraid to look.

She pulled up her phone and showed me her social media.

He looked sharp in his expensive, tailored suit. Next to him, I looked like a mess. A bobby pin stuck out of the back of my updo, and frizz haloed the top of my head. The lines of my dress were creased.

Stupidly, I scrolled down and read the comments.

Looks like Az’zael is slumming it.

@summergurl26 be nice. She’s probably never had to go to one of these before. I don’t think Kilinis was even a real city until a couple dragons moved in.

Of course Kilinis was a real city. We just weren’t doing that great before the dragons rolled into town.

She couldn’t even get her highlights touched up for this!

I didn’thavehighlights.

Below that was another picture. Some brave idiot had snapped Az and Tika right before he scolded her. They both looked like they were on the verge of attacking, while Udar smirked in the background.

Uh oh. Looks like she got in over her empty blonde head. Wonder if the red one caught her skanky ass flirting with the bronze one?

I swallowed back the hurt. Their speculation was wildly inaccurate, but I’d seen enough internet pile-ons to know that wading into one would make it ten times worse.

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