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Laki snorted. “Oh right, yeah, of course. How silly of me.”
“It’s awesome,” Nuni told me, tilting his head back against the front of my shoulder to gaze up at me. “It’s designed to look like a natural shower coming between the rocks. Huge slab of crystal in there makes up one of the walls. I’ll show you later.”
“Sounds nice.” I rubbed his chest, resisting the intense desire to dip my head and kiss him.
With Laki here, watching, my earlier feelings of nervous anticipation over what this thing with Nuni could become, my soft contentment at getting to spend the day with him like this, like we were… a real couple, had morphed into something more unsettling. Now that someone—a member of his actual family—was here witnessing it, seeing Nuni’s casual affection toward me, it felt… scarily real.
And I was starting to realise I wanted it to be real. I did.
But did he?
Chapter Forty-One
Anita
L aki left after hanging out for an hour or so, and Nuni and I carried on watching the Team Lava Force movies curled up
together on the couch. Once we’d got through all of them, we put on a corny horror movie franchise from the same era about
a human serial killer who walked around in a demiurgus skin suit to murder his victims. He was called the Tiny Demin, seeing as he was far shorter than any real demiurgus would have been, and the films were definitely more funny than scary.
Late afternoon, Nuni complained of feeling a little restless, which I understood—I doubted he’d been this stationary for a whole day in years. We went for a walk through the nearby park, which had the Black River running through it and was busy with people enjoying the last of the warmth as the golden hour approached, having picnics, reading or walking their dogs.
I hated the fact that a part of me was a little anxious the entire time, wondering if Corva might happen to be here and see us. We weren’t holding hands or acting at all like a couple, just walking side by side and talking, but I still would’ve had to explain why I was with a client in a park on a Saturday afternoon.
When we got back to Nuni’s place, we once again settled on the couch, the setting sun’s golden rays streaming jewel-toned colours across the floorboards from the stained-glass windows. It was beautiful, and we were sitting in a little patch of sunlight on the couch, warming my legs as much as the bulk of Nuni’s body pressed against my side was.
I could’ve easily dozed off, but hints of unease began to creep in as Nuni yawned, his jaw cracking open wide, and gazed at the TV with sleepy eyes.
Did he want me to go?
This was what I hated about these kinds of situations, especially as this was outside our ‘norm’. Did he want me to leave but he was too polite to say it? Did he not want me to leave, and would me getting up and saying I was going home make him sad? He already seemed a little vulnerable today. Subdued, his usually unshakeable optimistic cheer somewhat fragile.
As if he’d been thinking about the exact same thing, Nuni suddenly cleared his throat and asked, “Are you going to the gym in the morning?”
I blinked at the abrupt question. “Yes, should be. Same time as always.”
He nodded, picking at the leg of his sweatpants. Then, without looking at me, he awkwardly said, “Well, I mean, you could just stay here tonight. To save time. It’s closer to the gym. So. Makes sense.”
I blinked again, trying not to look too shocked. Stay? As in stay the whole night?
A flurry of pleasant nerves exploded in my belly like a million butterflies, and in an instant, I realised how much I wanted that. To spend all night with Nuni, knowing even in sleep that he was right beside me. Waking up with him and getting dressed and walking to the gym together. I already knew he’d be one of those people who were wide awake and ready to get up the moment they opened their eyes. But that was okay—more than okay—because I was too.
“Okay,” I said quietly, my voice a little husky. “That’d be nice. Thanks.”
“Cool. Awesome.” Nuni drummed his claws along his thigh. “Um, want a drink?”
As he shot up from the couch in a rush, I glanced up and saw his ears fluttering wildly, which made me hide a tiny smile.
This was far, far too nice, and I was already worried that I was going to start craving it every weekend after getting to experience it once.
Nuni and I had eaten dinner together at his kitchen island. He must have had an incredible personal chef, because even though his pre-prepared meals looked like they’d be bland and flavourless, they tasted amazing.
Then we took a long shower together, which had been almost unbearably intimate in a completely non-sexual way, even though we’d barely touched. We’d just been sharing the same space, both of us bare and at our most vulnerable, but totally comfortable with each other.
Because that was the thing—I was so incredibly comfortable with Nuni. Even though he was far more talkative than me, I never felt the pressure to fill silences. Like most people, I had hang-ups about my own body, but I forgot about them when I was with him. He made it so glaringly obvious how attractive he found me, and he was one of the least deceptive people I’d ever met. I knew he’d never placate me or try and get something from me by saying what he thought I wanted to hear.
He just found me hot, and he wasn’t afraid to let me know it. And it wasn’t like I didn’t know I was attractive—I knew I was. There were some things about my body that, ideally, I’d change if I could, but at the same time, my body was fit and healthy and that was more important to me than anything. It was just a nice bonus to feel so desired, so wanted. Nuni made me feel more desired and wanted than anyone else ever had.
