Page 3 of A Dragon's Miracle (Fires of Fate)
Finn
Ihatedwhen Ryan left for the mainland. To know that he was leaving had always made me feel uneasy, even the first time when I'd only known him for a few weeks, but over time, this absolute feeling of dread that settled in my gut every time Ryan spoke about going home had only gotten worse. Something bad was going on where he was going, I knew it. But I had no proof.
I met up with my friend Zed later that day to distract myself, but his mate was out and he was busy taking care of their daughter. “You're imagining things,” he told me as I watched him change the little one's diaper.
“I'm not. Why would I make something like that up?” It wasn't like me. He had to know that. I didn't go around thinking the worst was going to happen.
“You don't like that he has a boyfriend, so you picture the guy as a bad person. It's only natural.” Zed stopped what he was doing for a moment to look at me. “We're dragons. We get possessive. Even when we know the things we want aren't ours. That doesn't matter to the beast inside you.”
I sighed. Maybe he had a point. I didn't like to think that Ryan wasn't mine. But that wasn't all of it. It couldn't be. My jealously didn't explain why Ryan's mood always dropped when he was about to make a trip home. Sometimes as soon as a week beforehand. Almost like he was... scared of something. That wasn't normal, right?
“What about that time he came back with a black eye?” That was when all the alarm bells in my head had really gone off.
Zed shook his head and closed the diaper over his daughter's belly. She looked at me with big dark eyes. Kind of like she thought I was silly too. “He told us how that happened,” Zed said, discarding my concerns.
“A door? C'mon. You can't tell me you believed that. It's the lamest excuse in the books.”
“Exactly why he wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true. If you were trying to fool people, you'd try to come up with something more convincing, right?”
I blinked. Was that so? “I don't know, man. I don't want to think he's lying, but I don't believe it either. I just don't.” I tugged at the hem of my shirt, wishing I had my guitar with me so I could give my fingers something to do. Burn off some nervous energy. Next time Ryan went home, I should just go with him. Check out what kind of people his parents were.
But that boyfriend of his probably wouldn't like that.
I growled low in my throat before I was even aware that I was making a sound.
“You know what you need to do?” Zed said, glancing at me as he lifted little Allory from the changing table.
“Huh?”
“Write him a love song.”
I snorted. “That's what I told you to do for Roger, and you didn't even follow my advice.”
“Yeah, I did.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. Then I pouted. “You never told.”
“You're not the one I wrote the song for.”
“Zeeed.” I spread my arms in a dramatic gesture. “You're breaking my heart.”
Allory looked at me, mouth wide open. Like she'd revised her earlier opinion of me and I'd fallen in rank from 'silly' to 'complete idiot.'
She was probably right too.
“You look just fine to me,” Zed said. “C'mon.” He led us back into the living room. “I do mean it, you know. It's painful watching you tiptoe around your attraction. You've been nursing this crush for how long now? Two years?”
“Two and a half,” I corrected him quietly. It was a bit embarrassing, even for me. At first I’d thought I’d be over it quickly enough, but for some reason, this crush was pretty persistent. That I saw him so often probably wasn’t helping.
“It’s been way too long.” Zed shot me a sympathetic look. “You need to do something about it.”
“You know I would, if things were different. It’s easy for you to talk, the dude you wanted was single.” And I was happy for my friend, I really was, he deserved it all, but my situation just wasn’t like his, and he needed to see that.
“I know but… it’s not like Ryan’s married,” Zed said in a soft voice as he rocked his baby girl to sleep.
“What are you saying? That I should steal him from his boyfriend?”
“I know you would never do anything like that. But you should let Ryan know that he has other options than whoever he’s with, especially if it is as you suspect and they don’t make him happy.”
