Page 2 of The Goblin in the Sink Drain
“I hope I’m not intruding, but the door was open…” A large shadow fell across me seconds later. “Ana?”
“Goldie toasted marshmallows for hot cocoa.” I rolled onto my back. “That’s what you’re smelling.”
“Thank God.” Relief bowed his shoulders, leaving me no doubt she wasn’t meant to use her fire without an adult present. An adultdragon. A breeze rustled his hair, and he cast a sigh at the open window. “She bolted, huh?” He shook his head. “Probably ran straight to Fayne.”
The morning sun highlighted old scars sprinkling his rugged face. His chiseled jaw appeared leaner from this angle. Harder. A dark ridge of skin I had thought was a scab pulled his cheek down. His lips, the bottom uneven thanks to a faded injury, twitched in the promise of a smile, as if he couldn’t help his fondness warring with frustration when it came to Goldie.
His eyes, still wholly a brilliant white, did contain delineated pupils and irises, so faint it was easy to miss them. As I was admiring his profile, he cut his gaze to me, and I found somewhere else to look.
“I notice you’re the only one who calls her that.” I cleared my throat. “Fayne, I mean.”
“She wasGranuntil I ascended to magnus.” He crouched next to my shoulder. “I still slip up sometimes.”
“I’m going to shower,” Sloane announced loudly, climbing out of bed. “See you guys in a few.”
About as subtle as a brick to the face, but I couldn’t fault her for not knowing how to act around Rían when I had no idea what to do with him myself. “What’s a nice girl like you doing on a floor like this?”
Doh.
Everyone had asked me what I was doing on the floor. I had been trying to beat him to the punch, but the third time was definitely not the charm. So much for being clever. I was a tongue-tied mess under his amused gaze.
“I’m not a girl.” He cocked an eyebrow. “I’m willing to show you my?—”
Slamming the heels of my palms into my eyes, I yelped, “No thanks.”
“—birth certificate.”
“Oh.” Heat tingled in my cheeks as I lowered my hands. “Um.”
With a chuckle, he sat and looped his arms around his knees. “What did you think I was going to say?”
“Birth certificate,” I blurted, cheeks hot enough to fry eggs on.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Sloane kicked me out of bed,” I rambled, pushing into a seated position. “Literally. With her foot. That’s why I’m on the floor. This time.” His eyebrows twitched higher, but at least I hadn’t gender swapped anyone else. “She clotheslined me with her elbow, and I was just waking up, and I forgot where I was, and I rolled off the mattress on accident. The first time.”
Kill me now. Please. God? Are you there? Can you hear me?
“I see.” Those peculiar white eyes of his twinkled at me. “You’ve had an interesting morning.”
“I’m not usually so clumsy,” I mumbled, angling my face away from him.
“You slept in a strange bed, in a strange room, in a strange house, with a stranger down the hall.”
The reminder Sloane and I had taken him up on his offer of hospitality at his house left me fidgety.
“I wasn’t grateful last night, but I do appreciate you giving Sloane and me somewhere to stay.”
With Brentwood on lockdown, and the Walsh clan mid-relocation, pickings were sure to be slim when it came to available lodgings. By offering up his guest room for our use, ourtemporaryuse, I assured him, he made a night of horrible revelations a smidge less terrible.
“It’s nice. Taking care of you. I’ve waited a long time for the chance.” He tapped my hand when visible tension knotted my shoulders. “Hey, Ana, just because I’ve wanted this doesn’t make how I feel your problem. Remember that. No expectations, okay?”
Expectations? I never had any. It was safer that way.
No one had ever wanted me except as a bargaining chip for Dad’s favor. Even then, they always decided I wasn’t worth the trouble. They told themselves they could suck it up, refusing to accept how important a partner who could run with them, play with them, hunt with them, on four legs was to their happiness.
I had been hurt too many times to believe the Prince Charming act, but Rían put on a good show.
