Page 12 of Nix
“Sure, bestie!” Nix trotted behind him. “Bye, Mandy! See you next time.”
“Good luck at your game,” she called back.
Evan pushed down the irritation he felt. She never wished him good luck. Leave it to Nix to already become someone that the neighborhood locals knew. Pushing the key fob, he unlocked the door before walking around to the driver’s side.
“Should you have left your car running?” Nix asked, settling in the passenger seat.
“I had the fob with me. No one could have taken it anywhere,” Evan assured him.
“Fancy.” Nix whistled.
Evan placed his cup in the holder then pulled on his seatbelt. Nix was already buckled in. He checked his mirrors before gliding the SUV into traffic safely. The arena was only six miles from the shop.
“Do you always stop there for coffee?’ Nix asked. “I was talking to Amanda about how they should make pumpkin an all the time flavor and not just seasonal but she seems to think people only want it in fall. She said it won’t be here once the Christmas flavors come out. That makes me so sad.”
“But you can get it now?” Evan asked. Not that he was curious or anything about why Nix was always bringing up pumpkins.
“I can! And I usually buy several bags of the pumpkin flavored coffee beans to freeze to get me through the year.”
“The year? You need that much?” Evan didn’t think anyone needed to freeze coffee beans when they could just buy it fresh.
“I don’t drink a ton of coffee,” Nix said. “It makes me wired.”
“Wired? Which is different than…”
Nix laughed. “That’s fair. But I don’t like to feel jittery. A treat is okay now and then. That’s why the bags get me through the year.”
“Good to know.” He was really struggling with all this conversation. Evan wasn’t used to it. He knew what he needed to about his teammates, the ones he’d been around when he’d played for the NHL, and that was enough for him.
“What’s your favorite food?” Nix asked. “Like your all-time, couldn’t live without it, food?
“I’m supposed to pick just one thing?”
“Yep! If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?” Nix questioned.
“I have no idea. I’ve never thought about it,” Mules replied honestly.
“Really? So, dragons don’t have a favorite like…what would dragons eat?”
How was this happening? He was close to the arena. They were almost there. Evan could make it.
“Goats, chickens, or…can dragons be vegetarians?”
“I’m sure they can be,” Evan replied. “It’s more of a matter of taste.”
“Well then, what tastes good to you?”
He would. Nix would probably be delicious. Evan’s mouth watered just thinking about tasting the little shifter. Not to eat but Evan would devour Nix if he gave in to the needs inside him.
They finally arrived at the arena and Evan pulled to the gate for employee parking.
Roger waved him through as the gate opened.
“Thanks for the ride! I don’t think that I thanked you and that is super rude. My mom would be so mad at me,” Nix said.
“You are welcome,” Evan replied. “And I promise not to tell her. I wouldn’t want her mad at you.”
“She seems all sweet and nice but if you cross her or one of her kids, she can turn into a real bear,” Nix said. “Not a real bear. She’s a fruit bat shifter like us.”
