Page 60 of Horn in My Side
“I’ll stay.You shouldn’t—”
“It’s fine.You can stay tomorrow if you want.”
“I—Okay.”She didn’t have the strength to argue.“I’ll help you close up.”
Heading to the counter, she turned the lights low and was about to lower the volume of the music when she paused.It was one of her favorite songs by a sixties girl group, a sentimental and corny love ballad.On a whim, she turned up the volume, humming along as she began to arrange the counter and clean up the receipts and other clutter on top.
“All done,” Mal said as he approached her.“I also found the sleeping bag.”
“Thanks, Mal.Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?”Rounding the counter, she went over to his side.
“Yeah, I’ll be good.I’ve slept in worse places.”
She shot him a skeptical look.“Really?”
“I once had to share a bunkhouse with bunch of ogres after a ten-hour day.They served wildebeest and bean stew at the mess hall for dinner.”
“That doesn’t sound pleasant at all,” she said with a grimace.
“A sleeping bag on the floor isn’t so bad.You go on ahead home and get some rest.”
“All right.We also have some pillows.Let me go scrounge them up.They should be in the hatching room.”Before he could protest, she ran upstairs, returning moments later with a pillow under each arm.
Mal was spreading out the sleeping bag right by Clawdia’s pen.“Thanks,” he said as she handed him the pillows.
“Yeah.”She glanced down at the sleeping dragon through the slats of the pen.“Actually, Mal, I’m not leaving.”
“No,” he grunted.“I told you—I’ll stay here and you can go home.”
“Why can’t we both stay here tonight?”Her hand waved at the spread-out sleeping bag.“There’s more than enough space.”Mal’s face had such a comical deer-in-headlights look, she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.“We’re just sleeping together.”Jasmine discovered that it was possible to blush even when one had green skin.“I mean, sleepingnextto each other.”Clucking her tongue, she grabbed the pillows back and placed them side by side, a respectable space between them.“See?”
“Sleeping on the floor isn’t comfortable,” he pointed out.
She rolled her eyes.“Mal, I used to sleep on the floor in my grandmother’s house for my afternoon naps as a kid.”On hotafternoons, her lolawould place handwoven palm leaf mats on the cool floor of their veranda where she and her cousins would lie down for their siestas.It was one of her fondest childhood memories.“I’ll be fine.”Before he could protest further, she kicked off her shoes and sat down on the sleeping bag, crossing her arms over her chest, as if daring him to haul her off.“I’m tired and it’s been a long day.Can you please turn off the lights and turn down the music so we can sleep?”
“Fine,” he grumbled, then lumbered to the wall with the light switch.
Jasmine plopped her head on the pillow with a big sigh, then turned to her side, facing away from where Mal would be sleeping.The room plunged into complete darkness, but only for a moment, as the glow from the remaining carbuncle kit a few pens away provided some illumination.The music grew quieter and the familiar clunk of boots drew closer, then the sleeping bag tugged and shifted as Mal lay down next to her.
Though adrenaline drained from her body, Jasmine’s mind refused to let her sleep.Also, while she did treasure those memories from her childhood, lying on the floor as an adult who was used to sleeping on a bed for the last twenty years was a different matter.Had she known she would be camping out on the shop floor tonight, she wouldn’t have worn a romper.She grumbled to herself as she tugged at the fabric riding up her butt.
Rolling onto her back, she glanced over at Mal.With his eyes closed and breath steady, he was seemingly fast asleep, much to her envy and annoyance.She held her hands up, scrutinizing them in the blue light of the carbuncle’s glow.
I have magic.
It was strange to think it; she probably wouldn’t even be able to say it aloud.Should she call her father and tell him the news?Or would that make him resent her further?While she was excited at the prospect of learning about her newfound abilities,she didn’t want to risk making that black cloud over their relationship grow larger.
She took another peek at Mal, sighing inwardly.Today had been an emotional rollercoaster, mostly because of him.But he was also the reason she’d discovered her magical affinity.He was such a contradiction, and she would never figure him out.
Not that she would ever get that chance, seeing as he was leaving.
Turning back on her side, she hugged herself, ignoring that twisting in her gut.Mal would be gone in a few months.Forever.The time would come when she would see him walk out the door for the last time.
Pushing those thoughts away, she closed her eyes and allowed her exhaustion to take her into a deep sleep.
The light behind her eyelids slowly brought Jasmine back into a state of wakefulness.As her eyes fluttered open, the first thing that came into view was the big green blur in front of her eyes.She blinked away the bleariness until Mal’s face materialized clearly.
Apparently, he slept like a rock because he was still in the same position as last night.She smiled to herself as her gaze traced the features of his face—the strong chin, his full lips, his pointy mouth tusks, and the arch of his dark brows.A lock of hair had fallen between his eyes, and before she knew it, she was reaching out so she could tuck it away—
