Page 58 of Misbehaving With Minotaurs
A slow smile spreads over his face, lips curling to reveal his twin front fangs. “Cath, I…” His voice trails off as the grin grows wild and big. He slides both hands up my back and presses me to his chest. “Guess all that romancin’ did you in, huh?”
I’m too worried about the Punishers job to say anything else.
When I remain quiet, he strokes my hair. “Nothing’s set in stone, Cath, and I don’t want to put expectations on you when we’ve been dating all of a week, but?—”
“The Punishers is your dream job,” I say miserably. “You’ve wanted to come back here your entire life. We can’t ignore that.”
“Yeah, and I’ve wantedyoufor just as long, you might remember.”
“I don’t want you to have to pick.”
He grips the back of my neck. “You worried I won’t pick you?”
I scoff. “No, I’m worried you’ll pick me and be miserable because you could have been here…”
He sighs. “What’d I tell you about my priorities when we arrived, Sunshine?”
“I don’t remember the order.”
His low chuckle tells me he knows I’m lying. He lifts a finger. “You first. Extended family next. Job after that. I make my decisions based on that list of priorities.”
“I’m trying to think about how I’d feel if you asked me to leave Annabelle,” I admit. “Because I feel like that’s what you’d be doing if you get the Punishers job and don’t take it. You’regiving up a centuries-long dream, Nor. It’s not okay of me to ask you to do that.”
He pulls me to his chest, wrapping his big arms around my entire body in a tight hug. His heart pounds loud and low, and I center on that, even as misery fills me. Maybe it’s not misery. Maybe it’s pure dread, knowing he’ll be torn. I don’t want that for him. He deserves the best ofeverything.
I don’t feel any better by the time we get back home to Ever. Everything seems dim and muted under the weight of his impending offer. If I know anything it’s that there isn’t a better coach in the business. If Rip gave him a heads up, Nor’s gonna get offered that job. I don’t doubt it for a second.
When I broke things off with him all those years ago, I knew it was right at the time. But I’ve thought about him a lot since then. And now that we started up this no strings attached thing that immediately turned into feelings, I can’t help but feel like us parting a second time just isn’tright.
Not even Annabelle’s friendly welcoming creaks and groans lift my spirits.
Manorin does his best to act normal, but I’m crushed regardless. He was right to tell me, I know that. But after last night, I was feeling sogood,and now I feel like I’ve lost something I didn’t know I had to have.
CHAPTER TWENTY
MANORIN
Catherine’s been quiet since we returned to Ever. I don’t know if she and Annabelle have talked, but even Annabelle seems quiet to me. Cath was busy all afternoon and evening catching up with the Hector triplets, who wanted to know all about our trip. It was hard dancing around the obvious misery in her manner.
She was slammed with guests all evening, but once they were taken care of, I pulled her into the kitchen and sat her on a barstool. After grabbing a water from the fridge, I set it in front of her. “Drink, Sunshine. You’ve been on your feet all day.”
Her smile’s half-hearted as she uncaps the bottle and sips delicately. I lean over the counter as the kitty cat timer flips head over tail and joins us, meowing softly. I pet the tiny cat on the head as I look at my Sunshine.
“The kitchen ain’t the right place for this conversation, Cath, but we need to talk. I can’t have you feeling some kind of way about this,” I glance around to make sure nobody is nearby, “Punishers news.”
She shrugs. “I honestly think I need to just sit with it a day.That trip was a little more than I was planning for.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to suggest we go to her room and talk there, but she beats me to action. “Can we talk in the morning, Nor? I’m exhausted from getting caught up, and I need to get my thoughts together. I’m scattered at the moment.”
I’m simultaneously frustrated not to have the important conversation and worried I don’t have a good answer for her. Part of me feels uncertain, too. Back home, I said I was ready to drop everything for her—and I would, in a heartbeat—but I don’t know if she feels pressured that I told her that. There’s a lot of uncertainty, and I don’t care for that.
She stands, water bottle in hand, and rounds the island. Popping onto her tiptoes, she kisses my muzzle inside the ring. I close my eyes to bask in the sensation of her so close, but before I can wrap an arm around her, she turns and heads for the archway toward the front of the inn.
When she’s gone, I stand there for a while, considering what the right thing to do here is. Instinct tells me to go to her, but it also tells me not to push an important conversation when she’s exhausted.
The timer mewls at me, nudging me with her tiny face.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” I murmur, brushing her head with my fingertips. “I’m in a pickle with my Sunshine. Got any ideas about how to fix that?”
On cue, a cupboard flies open, and an unopened pack of sandpaper gets thrown out, landing on the countertop in front of me.
