Page 60 of Steve's Barmaid
“Well, I’m sorry, you barged into my room before the sun was even warm,” she said petulantly.
I turned to Reykr. “He’s going to need you. He’s headed back to your rooms now.”
Reykr nodded. “How much time did you ask for?”
“Two days.”
Giving me another nod, Reykr stood, wrapping his waist with a blanket, and headed to the washroom. By this time, Joey had pulled on a tunic and pants and was assessing me, face scrunched up in disapproval.
“You told him you needed two days?” she asked, shocked.
“How long do you think a normal person needs to decide whether to commit to an irreversible soul bond?” I snapped.
“Jeez, alright, alright,” she said, grabbing her boots.
I was irritated that I had to explain it to her and Reykr instead of having this conversation with Joey alone. I was also hurt that I didn’t know how fast things were going between them. Reykr came out of the washroom, dressed in his clothes from yesterday. He nodded to Joey and me before slipping out the door and closing it behind him.
As soon as I was sure that he was out of earshot, I hissed, “And when were you going to tell me about that? Hmm? You know all the details about me and Steve.”
“Well, up until last night, I thought it was a one-way street!” Joey spit back. “He was so quiet. I had no idea that he was interested. We were both high on adrenaline after we deposited Tyr and Berit in their rooms, with strict instructions not to leave until we came for them in the morning. We shut the door, andwithout a word, he scooped me up and took me back to my room. I don’t think we even said a word to each other. I have no idea what is going on. And you robbed me of my chance to have that conversation by bounding in here with an Elska mark down your spine.”
Oof, I had made a mess of this. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t even stop to think you might have someone in your room. I should have waited.”
“If I had walked into your room 20 minutes ago, would I have found a similar scene?” she asked smugly.
“Mmm, yep.” I blushed. “Maybe we need to start keeping a sock on the door?” I joked.
“I’d rather not let all the women know about my situation with Reykr, especially since I don’t even know my situation with Reykr.” She threw her hands in the air.
“Okay, okay, that’s fair. I won’t tell a soul about Reykr. Will you keep the Elska thing on the DL for now?” I asked.
I really didn’t need all of the other women knowing about it. And I felt my stomach churn at the idea of people finding out before I’d made up my mind.
“So you found out you are soul mates and told him you needed time todecide? What kind of bitch ass move is that? You know you want him,” She glared at me, pressing her palms onto the small table in her room.
“I do want him. But we’ve beendatingor whatever for like two weeks. Doesn’t that feel a bit soon to make a forever commitment? And you know my past! I’ve never had someone interested in forever with me. What if he gets bored of me? Or irritated that I snack in bed? Or that I take over an hour to do my stupid hair?”
“Billie, are you blind?!” she yelled. “He looks at you like you hung the moon. I have never seen a man—orc—more in love.”
“That doesn’t mean it will last forever,” I crossed my arms, ready to dig in my heels. I wasn’t ready to believe a weird tattoo on my back would mean someone wanted to be withmeuntil they died.
“Actually, that is exactly what the Elska bond means. Come on.” She grabbed my arm.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“We’re going to see the only person who can make you understand,” she said, dragging me to the door. “We are going to see Piper.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
STEVE
Iwas pacing our room when Reykr finally walked in.
“Where the hell have you been?” I demanded.
“I could ask you the same thing.” He looked me up and down, as I was obviously in my clothes from the day before.
That’s when I noticed he was also in his prior day’s clothes.
