I frowned at the almonds as I ate them. Cal put down three placemats and moved one chair out of the way so Ms. Jackson could join us. I didn’t get a head kiss.
 
 Ms. Jackson rubbed their cheek against my arm as they took their place. I grunted and finished my almonds.
 
 Cal set a plate with an omelet and a toasted English muffin in front of Ms. Jackson. He moved my empty almond bowl out of the way and put a plate of the same plus bacon in front of me.
 
 “Ms. Jackson wants to try some butter and jam. Would you put some on their muffin, please?”
 
 I grunted and reached for the jam. Cal gave me a head kiss before heading back to the kitchen. Maybe the head kisses weren’t so bad. I did like knowing Cal was thinking about me.
 
 I put a little jam and butter on the edge of Ms. Jackson’s plate so they could try them before I potentially ruined their muffin. Ms. Jackson lapped them up with their gigantic tongue and nodded, so I slathered more jam and butter on their muffin. I handed it to them, and they ate it in one bite.
 
 Cal sat down with his own plate, and I applied myself to eating my food. When I was almost done, it dawned on me that I couldn’t feel him through our bond. He’d been somehow blocking his emotions.
 
 I broke the silence. “How are you doing that? Blocking our bond, I mean.”
 
 Cal took a sip of his orange juice and winked. “I just have to concentrate on it a little. You were busy wallowing in your grouchiness, and I was trying to keep it from spoiling my mood.”
 
 I flushed. “Sorry,” I mumbled, toying with the last bit of my bacon.
 
 He patted my forearm. “It’s okay. I’ll teach you how to do it so you can block me when you need to.”
 
 I nodded, still looking down at my plate.
 
 Ms. Jackson let out a burp then stood up and went back to the living room to lie on the couch.
 
 Cal said, “Are you feeling better now?”
 
 I frowned. Well, shit. “I guess I am. Thanks. I’m sorry I freaked out this morning.” I felt my face getting hot. I could’ve handled my emotions so much better than sneaking away and crying.
 
 He gave me a sympathetic smile. “It’s understandable, even without the low blood sugar. You almost died.”
 
 I waved my hand. “That was never part of why I was freaking out. I didn’t want you to be unhappy being bonded to me, with all the mind-sharing and shit, for the rest of our lives.”
 
 Cal made ahmmmnoise. “Well, I already learned how to block the mind-sharing, and as for being unhappy....”
 
 He removed the block he’d put on our bond.
 
 I gasped, my eyes meeting his in awe. Cal’s feelings were a mix of affection, caring, humor, concern, and lust. As I stared at him, the lust grew stronger.
 
 “Fuck,” I breathed. I had to move my legs apart to give my dick room.
 
 One side of his mouth quirked up. “The way I see it, we’ve got another hour before people decide it’s late enough they can start bothering us.”
 
 I nodded. “Okay.”
 
 “And I think we really need to consummate our bonding the old-fashioned way, don’t you?” He grinned at me.
 
 I couldn’t help but grin back. “Hell, yeah.”
 
 ON THE TEXAS ADVENTURERS DISCORD SERVER
 
 SUNDAY, APRIL 2
 
 Cal_Central_TXApril 2 at 1:45pm
 
 @everyoneI know there’s been a lot of chatter about what happened last night. I want to counter some of the unconfirmed rumors going around, so here’s what we know so far:
 
 1) The creatures who’ve been killing Wonders are vampires