Page 54 of Eat My Moon Dust
Reha attempted a wink, her gill-like nose scrunching up from the effort, then ran off, mane bouncing as she jogged away.
“Sneaky spat,” I tsked, shaking my head. Hunar licked his teeth, staring down at my hand.
“She’s had a hard time fitting in, but she likes you a lot,” he gruffed.
“Yeah, I like her too.”
The implications of that hung heavy between us.
“Are you done decorating? I could walk you home.”
The levicart hovered behind us as we strolled back to the home towers, hissentirunning up and down my spine, teasing the hem and collar of my shirt.
“Zufi invited us all to dinner on the weekend,” I told him. “The mightyBaha Bootsaid yes.”
Troubled spirals framed Hunar’s face and he admitted, “He’s been visiting the hangar.”
I nodded. “It’s a test. If I start coming for lunch again, would that be okay?”
Hunar closed his eyes and sighed. “Please. And I could use another… gift.” Asking pained him, I could tell. He hit his fob against the lobby doors, and they whooshed open onBaby It’s Cold Outside.
“Come up to my floor. I’ll grab some for you.” I gave him an easy smile, calling the lift, humming along to the music like I normally would. This was just a normal conversation. No big deal. We weren’t talking about panties or standing alone in a little metal box.
We took opposite corners, facing each other with uncertainty.
“Do I worry you?” he asked. “Is that why you stopped coming?”
I chewed my lip. Busted. “The opposite actually. I thought I might make you uncomfortable.”
“What makes me uncomfortable is distance,” he gritted. “It’s suspicious too, which doesn’t help the anxiety.”
“What would make you comfortable then?”
Hunar’ssentirolled. “Clothing, objects, tasks that help you… Touching.”
“I can do that.”
Swallowing my nerves, I pushed off the corner and wrapped my arms around his middle in a timid hug. The lift doors opened, and rather than let go, he squeezed my shoulders and lifted my toes off the floor enough to move us out of the lift. Then he collapsed back on the wall, mane rumbling with relief. His tendrils curled into my hair and stole my antlers.
“I want those back,” I said into his chest.
“No.”
Not real, not real, not real.
“We need a plan for Zufi,” I said, pulling my face away. “Lunch every day, and we’ll walk home together. Keep bringing me coffee too.”
Hunar nodded, unwinding from around my hair and shoulders. He knocked his head back against the wall and swallowed, throat bobbing. “Can I touch you in front of other people?”
“Of course. Fake dating isn’t believable otherwise, right?” I said, breathless. I pushed my hair back and motioned to my door. “You wanna come in?”
A husky chuckle accompanied Hunar’s smirk as I opened my unit and a rush of cold air billowed out. “If you invite me in, I won’t want to leave, Tinsley.”
Then don’t.
“Good point,” I joked half-heartedly, wishing he weren’t the shilpakaari version of love drunk.
Or maybe I just wasn’t brave enough to face the possibility of rejection.
