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“Could you not? There’s not going to be anything left to bake!” I scold Kade as he shoves a glob of cookie dough into his mouth whilst smiling.
He chews slowly, savoring it. “I can’t help it. It’s so good,” he says through a full mouth.
I slap his shoulder playfully and put the last pan of cookies into the oven. I’m so distracted that my finger makes contact with the singeing rack for a brief second. I jerk my hand away and throw the oven door shut. Then I rush to the sink and run it under water. Kade is at my side in a mere instant shoving my finger into his mouth and sucking.
Taken aback, I just stare for a moment before realizing what’s going on. The pain radiating from my finger eases into nothing and he releases it from his mouth. I hold it up in front of my face. There is so no sign of a burn. For that I am thankful because burns are the absolute worst.
“You have magic spit?” I observe.
“It’s not as strong as my blood but it will heal small wounds,” he affirms, grimacing. “You should be more careful.”
“You distracted me,” I accuse him.
His lips press together in a fine line, one side slightly curled up, but I doubt he knows I’ve noticed.
“Can we get out of this house? I know it’s dangerous, but I’m in danger here as we’ve found out. It’s been almost two weeks since the last attack. Let’s go grocery shopping tonight or something,” I plead.
Kade chuckles. “If you could get out of the house to do one thing, it would be to grocery shop? How about we go for lunch.”
“But we’re running low on groceries,” I explain.
“Well, how about both then?” he decides and switches the song playing on the speaker from some rap song to a country music station.
“Sure. Country?” I’m not sure why his taste in music surprises me.
“I love country. If you don’t like it, I can change it,” he says meekly.
I shake my head. “I have no problem with it. I love this song.”
Kade joins one hand with mine and wraps the other around my waist, swirling me around to the music as if I weigh nothing. I’m not good at dancing but he is amazing. Our eyes meet and something I can’t explain passes between us that causes me to shiver and grin. I haven’t been as happy and content as I am now in this moment in years.
We dance in silence until the timer beeps and interrupts us. The cookies are ready.
After pulling out the cookies and leaving them on the stove top to cool, I head to the shower before warning Kade that if I come back and the cookies are all eaten, he’s going to be in major shit.
I am almost surprised when I return to the kitchen and see that he’s already put the cookies in a container and he sits on the couch ready to go, dressed in slacks and a dress shirt.
“I didn’t know we were dressing up,” I ramble, looking down at my sweats and t-shirt.
He chuckles. “You look perfect. Come on. We have a reservation downtown.”
I gape. “I can’t go in this. I thought when you said lunch you meant fast food or casual dining.”
He smirks. “You look fine. Come on. I’m driving.”
“What time is the reservation?” I ask in a panic. Do I have time to change? I’m not even wearing makeup. My hair is pulled up in a bun.
“Soon. Come on. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing,” he says enthusiastically.
I clench my teeth. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise. Come on we’re going to be late,” he insists.
I make a mental not to scold him later for not giving me notice but now is not the time. I follow him out the door and get into the passenger side of his car.
We’re both silent as we drive. He turns the radio onto none other than a country music station.
We drive by a large park and he parks the car in a parking space. I look around, looking for the restaurant.
“Where are we going?” I ask again.
“It’s a surprise,” he answers blandly and begins walking into the park.
Moments later he stops in front of a concession stand. “What would you like?” he asks.
I can’t help but burst out laughing. Here I was picturing some fancy restaurant. When I finally stop, the teenage boy running the cash register is looking at me as though I’ve lost my mind. “A hotdog please and a water.”
When we have our food and we’re looking for a spot on the ground to eat, I giggle again. “You said we had a reservation.”
“Are you disappointed?”
“No. I love hotdogs and sweat pants.”
Kade chooses a spot under a tall maple tree and sits down first. “Good. Me, too. I don’t take you for someone who wants six forks and eighteen courses of overpriced food for lunch.”
“Good, because I wouldn’t even know what to do with the forks. Why does everything need a different one?”
Kade shrugs. “That’s what I’ve always wondered.”
“Are you not some kind of Bryxx royalty? Shouldn’t you know these things?” I tease and take a bite of my hot dog.
He shrugs. “I was royalty but that doesn’t mean I agreed with everything that comes with that. I don’t know why there’s so many utensils. I know what they’re each for, but I don’t know why they have to be there. One fork is enough for me.”
“Me, too. Do you miss home yet?” I ask before I can stop myself.
He automatically shakes his head. “It wasn’t home. I feel far more at home here in Seattle with you than I ever did living with the Bryxx. I never fit in there.”
“On the drive to the airport, Daniel told me that you’re a really good fighter, well, and I’ve seen for myself. How’d you get to be so good?”
He bristles. “I was never taught to fight more than minor self-defense, but from my bedroom window I could see where other Bryxx trained. I watched for years until I decided to go for it. I asked my dad a thousand times, but he always said no, so when I made up my mind to go against him, I knew I’d be in trouble when he found out. I told him I would be taking extra tutoring in the new year and I’d be busy. He didn’t really notice me, so it took months for him to realize that I wasn’t being tutored in math or law, but instead I was out learning how to fight. My trainer kept it quiet and told one, just as I did. When my dad found out, he was so angry that he made me quit. A few weeks later there was an attack and all sorts of demons got into our house. If I hadn’t have been trained, both me and my father would’ve been dead along with our guards. I saved his life and in return he let me continue training in secret. Eventually, after years of training, I worked up the courage to leave my royal position and take a place as a guard. My father wasn’t happy and wanted me to be no longer be recognized as his son nor royalty, but the council voted in my favor. It was a close vote, but it did the trick. I couldn’t do quite the job I wanted, but at least I was allowed to do what I loved.”
“And you’ve worked as guard ever since?” I clarify.
“Sort of. A few years ago, there was an incident. After that I was stripped of my royalty and surprisingly allowed to stay within the Bryxx community. From that day on, I was placed under the direct supervision of one of the councilmen. I lived with him, worked wherever he wanted me that day. Since I was no longer recognized as royalty, I got to work the position I wasn’t allowed beforehand, so I can’t complain. The man who took on babysitting me treated me better than my own father ever did but all my Bryxx rights were stripped. I was treated by other Bryxx as a threat and less than dirt. Garret, as a human Bryxx, was far more respected than I was there. The whole murder accusation situation was bound to happen sooner or later with the lack of trust I had from the community. It was only a matter of time before they found an excuse to get rid of me.”
I want to ask about the incident that he has referred to a number of times, but the fact that he hasn’t expanded on it makes me think that he doesn’t want to talk about it. If he did, he’d have told me by now. “What are you planning to do with your life now that you’re not with the Bryxx?”
He tilts his head slightly to the left then slightly to the right while looking up at the cloudy sky. When his gaze flickers back to me, it’s expressionless. “To be honest I have no idea. You’re the only one I know that treats me like an actual person.”
“And you think that if you told me more about this incident that would change?” I take a leap.
I know I’ve hit the nail right on the head when he doesn’t answer and looks away from me, suddenly fascinated by the tree next to us.
“You’ve saved my life on multiple occasions. I trust you with my life. You’ve been here to help me digest all of this when my own brother just shot me back to Seattle with a new car. You’ve answered my questions and you’ve been patient and truthful with me, not hiding truths because they’re hard or sad. You treat me like a person, not a fragile little human like my brother. You’re a good friend. I respect you and anything you want to tell me that you want me to keep to myself, I will.”
His eyes come back to meet mine. “That means a lot. That’s probably one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said to me. You’ll understand, though, that I cannot risk ruining what we have because of something that happened before you were even born. It’s history and I want to move on from it. I’ve been given a chance to start over.”
I nod slowly. “Fine, but answer this: did the incident affect you negatively or positively as a person? Sometimes big events, though tragic and painful, can make us better people.”
“Are you a councilor?” he teases.
I giggle. “No, but I’ve seen enough of them that I could be certified.”
He nods, his lips slightly parted. “It was a negative experience, one that changed my life and how I viewed it. It was hard and still is hard, but it taught me just how cold the Bryxx are, how unaccepting of change and differences. It taught me to be a lot more open minded. I have come to appreciate the small things in life more.” He pulls a knee up to his chest and rests his arm on it.
I finish my hotdog and crumple up the paper plate it came on just as Kade does the same.
He stands and then holds out a hand to me. I take it firmly and he pulls me up in one easy movement. I’m not necessarily heavy, but I’m not light either. His strength is mind blowing. “Shall we go get groceries, m’lady?” he asks in gruff tone, pulling the hand he grasps in his up to his mouth and landing a soft kiss on the back of it.
“You’re such a dork,” I respond and let him lead me back to the car.
It doesn’t take long to get groceries. He insists on buying them, saying he’s not paying any rent and he eats the most. There is no arguing with him, so it isn’t log before I drop it and just let him pay.
When we get back to the apartment building, I begin to feel nauseous, probably food poisoning from the concession hot dog.
“You okay?” Kade asks while putting away a box of crackers.
I shake my head. “I feel lightheaded. Dizzy.”
His eyebrows pull together and he’s standing in front of me in an instant. He presses the back of his hand to my forehead. “You’re burning up. Are you getting ill?”
I shrug. “Maybe food poisoning. Do you get fevers from food poisoning?” I realize I don’t even know. Usually if I get food poisoning it only lasts a few hours, so I pray to god that that’s all it is, and I’m not coming down with the flu or something ugly.
“I wouldn’t know. I can’t get food poisoning. I don’t know much about human illness. Lie down. What can I get for you?”
I follow his instruction and lie on the couch. The room spins erratically like I’ve drank too much alcohol and I’m on the verge of either vomiting or blacking out. This isn’t good. I’m about to tell Kade that I need to go to the hospital, but before I can, everything goes black.