Page 52 of Incubus
Nathan took a moment to process that, looked down to see how high up on Sasha’s thigh his hand happened to be right now, and couldn’t move it fast enough.
Maybe there was a downside.
Nathan could feel Jim’s eyes on him, half in horror while the other half probably felt like laughing. Nathan could feel Sasha’s eyes on him too, but he didn’t meet gazes with either of them. He picked up his menu.
“Twenty-four hours?”
“At least,” Sasha said.
“Awesome. So who wants pancakes?”
Nathansplashedanotherwaveof cold water on his face. He felt feverish. Hot. His hands were shaking, and the longer he stayed close to Sasha, the worse it seemed to get. His body had declared mutiny against him because of the pheromones and was no longer listening to reason.
Looking up at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, Nathan had to grimace. He doubted he would look much better even without the toll the pheromones were taking on him, considering he had had very little sleep the night before and then a large as life incubus had tried to turn him into an afternoon snack. Still, Nathan could do without the bags under his eyes.
He pulled his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket and put them on. If Jim or Sasha wanted to comment, he knew just where to tell them to shove it.
“Nathan,” Walter spoke, which made Nathan jump since the only visible figure in the mirror was him. “The pheromones are very…presentaround you. It would be best if you secluded yourself in the hotel for today. They are far more potent than normal. You may not be entirely in control of your actions.”
“Yeah, Walt, I…sort of got that,” Nathan said, and turned around to see Walter looking as guilty as if he was somehow responsible for Nathan's predicament. “I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m going to jump Sasha in the middle of the diner.”
“I would hope not, but…” Walter’s large brown eyes were swimming.
“Don’t worry so much,” Nathan said, meaning to pat Walter on the shoulder but unbalancing when his hand went through the man like empty air. “Sorry. But don’t worry, okay? They’re just pheromones. I got this.”
Nathan moved to leave the bathroom feeling marginally better. The water had helped clear his head and he felt fairly certain that he could handle the pheromones until tomorrow when they would thankfully wear off.
Then their table came back into view and Nathan nearly tripped over his feet. Sasha and Jim were talking casually over the tabletop. There was a crooked half-smile on Sasha’s face that made Nathan’s knees lock and his breath catch somewhere at the back of his throat.
Sasha was so fucking beautiful.
Nathan could have screamed as that thought flashed through his mind. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Sasha’s genuine attractiveness. Nathan could admit Sasha was attractive. Straight men recognized the attractiveness of other men all the time, if for nothing else than to size up competition.So Nathancould admit that Sasha was a good looking guy, kind of pretty, actually, and Nathan really did like the red hair. Sasha also had a significantly nicer body than the average guy, but that didn’t…mean…
Nathan bit the side of his cheek—hard. Rationalizing clearly wasn’t helping.
“Nathan?”
“I got this, Walter. I...totally got this."
Once Nathan reached the table, he decided to forego his previous seat next to Sasha and climbed in beside Jim. Their food had yet to arrive, so Nathan took solace in another cup of coffee.
“What?” Nathan said, once he realized that Sasha and Jim were staring at him. “I’m looking out for both our benefits here.” He glanced across the table at Sasha, who looked so heartbroken, Nathan almost switched seats immediately. “Damn it. Did you two brood behind my back, because Iwillkick both your asses if I have to.”
“Nathan…” Jim started.
But Sasha broke in. “We’re sorry, Nate, but a lot happened this morning and we can’t just brush it off.”
“I know a lot happened,” Nathan said. “I’m the one most of thatlothappened to. And look. I’m fine. Pheromone poisoning notwithstanding.”
There was a barely contained chuckle from Jim, and since the last thing Nathan would ever consider his situation wasfunny, he reached over and smacked the back of his brother’s head with the flat of his hand.
“Hey!”
“You started it.”
Jim stared back at Nathan icily before lashing out to get in a good hit of his own. Nathan blocked the attempt, but was equally thwarted when he tried to hit back. They ended up swatting ateach other like little boys, and were both laughing by the time Nathan boxed Jim into the wall of the booth to declare victory.
A few of the other patrons in the diner were staring at them, but Nathan didn't care about making a spectacle. Jim gave one more half-hearted shove at Nathan as they settled back in their seats, and Nathan jabbed Jim in the side for good measure.
