Page 7 of Naughty Elf: Alfie
“I don’t even know if monster fudgingisfun!” Another breath stopping grin has me staring at Alfie.
“Same, well, real monsters. I’m quite fond of my tentacle dildo.” I slam a hand over my mouth, my eyes go wide. “Why did I tell you that?”
“Dunno, but I like knowing.”
The way he’s looking at me has my slick trickle from my hole and I try to will my body from reacting.
“Okay okay.” I hold up my hands. “We’re fated, but I can’t—won’t—fall into bed immediately.” Omegas have too much at stake when they sleep with alphas.
“Oh! No! Never.” Alfie shakes his head so hard it’s comical.
“Alfie.”
His breath hitches. “Pisces.”
I give him the smallest of smiles. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“We should be friends. I’ve never had a real friend before. Can we try that?” Alfie looks so hopeful.
“We can try it.” My words come out as more of a whisper. “I’ve never really had friends before, either. Except for my cat Harold.”
“Delightful! I love cats.” Alfie grabs my hand and that sizzles goes up my spine. “Show me the cat.” He waves to the door.
I snort. “Hold up.”
“But… cat?” Alfie pleads with his eyes.
“Harold isn’t really friendly to many people.” Besides, can I really take this alpha back to my apartment? It’s absurd! But…“Do you have someplace to stay?” I probably shouldn’t even be asking.
“No, but Santa gave me a bunch of money.” He digs into his pocket and pulls out a huge wad of cash. “I can pay.”
“No. No.” I push his hand back and that zing runs through me. “Keep it. You might need it for something else later. I have a two-bedroom apartment. You can stay with me for now.”
“Is this what friends do?” Alfie tips his head as he studies me.
“Sometimes, I think. Yes.” I nod and turn on my heel. What am I doing? I don’t know, but my planned new year’s resolution is to be more outgoing. What’s more outgoing than inviting a strange yet endearing alpha to live in my apartment with me?My fated.I’m inviting my fated to live with me so we can be friends. Nothing more. At least not until we know each other. “It’s just a short walk.”
He hums beside me as he follows my lead.
“So, the North Pole?” I say.
“Yep! All my life. And you?”
“Same. Well,herenot the North Pole.” I wave my hand out in front of me. “Low cost of living.” As if I need to explain why I’m still in the same city as my birth, with no reason to stay. “And I love my little shop. I just wish…” I sigh. “I wish it’d take off. It’s been my dream for Pieces of Pisces to be much more profitable than it is. I barely make enough to live off of.”
“Why’d you start the biz?”
We cross the quiet street to get to the sidewalk on the other side. We’ll get to the apartment in about five minutes. The crossing gives me time to formulate my answer. Not that I needed the time, just how to word it.
“I love crystals and helping people feel better and teaching classes on crystals and—” I stop because Alfie grabs my hand.
I’m not sure I’ll get used to the shock every time we touch, but I don’t think I want to either. His palm is callused and warm andso bigcompared to mine.
“You sound pretty passionate about this.”
“I am. But…” My shoulders drop. “I discovered early on that my enthusiasm can annoy people, so I rein myself in. It’s exhausting. Some days I just want to word vomit everything. I get a lot of older clientele that just want tarot readings. Of course they’re nice, but I wish I could draw in patrons that like me for me. Where we get lost in conversations about rose quartz and moss agate.”
“Then maybe you need to start acting like your true self, not this fake version of you. That’s the lesson Santa says I need to learn. Maybe we can learn the lesson together.” Alfie squeezes my hand. “We can do this.”
