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If Stefan hadn’t already known about dragons, he would’ve thought we were some kind of cult…or worse.
“For the love of—” Before I could let the old fart have it, Stefan decided to save the old man’s wrinkly ass.
“Boyd has made sure I have a good starting knowledge of the local culture and we’re going to be working our way through local history. So there’s no need to worry.” Stefan’s subtle way of talking around the whole dragons and mages thing was impressive.
“I appreciate you wanting to watch out for me, but Boyd is doing a wonderful job.” Stefan took a breath and smiled, trying to look confident in the face of nosy chaos. “And I am not a book you get to purchase, Mr. Kennedy. I will get to know all of our wonderful citizens in time.”
I’d hoped that would settle the issue but I was stupid.
“Getting to know everyone is commendable, but I’m sure you understand that some of our citizens carry more…more knowledge than others.” Ms. Elizabeth, one of the women who came in to help out around the library, was doing her best to be subtle, but mages weren’t any better than dragons when it came to that kind of stuff. “There are just certain parts of our citizenry that are more…well, I’m sure you understand why knowing the right people is important.”
Mages were such dicks even when they didn’t have dicks. Book smarts didn’t count for everything, no matter what they thought.
I thought Mr. Kennedy was going to take a swing at her—they’d dated probably sixty years ago when they were both young and local gossip said it’d been a bad breakup.
She was fast when it came to causing problems and Mr. Kennedy always forgot that. Just last year he’d had to be rescued from the top of the flagpole in front of the post office because they’d started arguing about the price of stamps. But Stefan stepped in to save them both.
“As I said, I am not a book and I’ve gotten to know a lot of lovely people.” Stefan stood, giving Ms. Elizabeth a glare that said she wasn’t one of them. “However, if we’re discussing where my personal associations will be focused, I am dating Boyd.”
He managed to say that without blushing or looking worried, which I thought was because he was a bit pissed at her for calling the dragons stupid and basically the local version of white trash.
“Now, this is my lunch and I’m sure you remember the library closes early on Wednesday.” Giving everyone a stern glare that was sexy as hell, Stefan even crossed his arms. “My personal life is not up for debate or discussion. Thank you for visiting the library and come again when you want a book.”
They actually started leaving.
I was impressed.
There were a few stragglers who looked like they had questions, but they were smart enough to eventually head to the door. They weren’t in any hurry, though, and even Kenzie was frustrated with them by the time the last straggler made their way out the door.
“That was just rude. I’m going to go tell Daddy on them.” He threw up his hands. “All of them. Daddy is going to be very disappointed in them.”
He wasn’t wrong.
He was, however, a very good friend.
“Thank you for staying with Stefan.” My cutie collapsed into his chair, mumbling to himself as he scrubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. “I’m sure he could’ve handled the situation, but I’m glad he had you.”
Kenzie gave me a beaming smile and his little side popped out like one of those Whac-a-Mole games. “I was such a good boy. I’m going to go tell Daddy and get a reward.”
“Maybe he’ll make you lasagna. You like that.” Stefan seemed to like having something else to focus on besides the drama because he’d stopped mumbling to himself and actually lowered his hands. “And thank you for staying with me. It was slightly confusing.”
That was one way to describe it.
“They were naughty.” Kenzie’s was more accurate. “I’m gonna go tell.”
And as he actually skipped across the library and out the door, I finally chuckled. “He’s right. They were naughty.”
Stefan slowly nodded. “Yes, they might’ve started out with good intentions, though?”
He wasn’t sure about that, but as he relaxed in his chair, he didn’t look quite so stressed. “I don’t know what happened.”
Chaos had happened.
“Someone said there was an argument at the diner and then they just showed up.” Stefan frowned like the whole thing was still confusing. “But no one wanted to be the one to ask what I knew or what was going on, so they just kept wandering around and then Kenzie showed up.”
Throwing up his hands, he looked frustrated but not too worked up. “Kenzie didn’t want to leave me and he kept mumbling about siccing his Daddy on them.”
Before I could decide if I wanted to point out that he could’ve called me, Stefan sighed. “I thought about calling you, but I couldn’t decide if I’d sound insane or not.Come help me because there are people in the libraryjust sounded nuts.”
