94- He is beautiful
“I could really go for Chinese,” Milan said softly.
“Chinese?” I echoed. I glanced out the window at the falling snow.
“Of course you don't have to actually get me Chinese,” he said quickly. “I don't even think there's a place nearby. I mean…” he hesitated.
I had a feeling he knew exactly where there was a Chinese place. “What's it called?” I asked.
He put his hands over his stomach and smiled weakly at me. “It's called Panda Palace…” He bowed his head and added. “And it's like an hour away…”
“Your favorite Chinese place is an hour away?” I said.
He shrugged. “Like I said, I don't expect you to actually go get it. It's just, it's the one I used to go to all the time. And they have this really weird sauce that they use on their lo mein, and it just sounds really, really good right now. But forget I said anything.”
I stood and crossed the room to him. “You're my omega.” I put a hand on his stomach. “And you're carrying my child. I absolutely am going to go get you whatever you desire. Which in this case is… Panda Palace lo mein with weird sauce?”
“You really don't have to, Eron,” he protested. “I insist.”
“It's snowing and it's an hour away. We missed my ultrasound last week because we were worried about snow on the roads, don’t go out just for some stupid food.”
I kissed him and returned to the coffee bar, where I had been working on a drink for him. “I was much more worried about the road conditions with my pregnant mate in the car. I’ll be fine. I have my phone, I'll just put it on my GPS, and drive carefully.” I returned to him with a mug. “And if you don't tell me what you want, I'm just going to order the lo mein and bring it back.”
Milan sighed in defeat. “Okay. I want the crab rangoon appetizer and the lo mein. Please.” “Anything else?”
He shook his head. “Thank you,” Milan said softly, patting his stomach. “I really hate to do this to you.”
“Nonsense. What's an alpha for? Besides, it's only a month and a half to go.”
“Halfway there.” The reminder made him smile. He sniffed at my latest concoction and took a sip. “It’s not… bad.”
I chuckled. “But not right either?” He smiled awkwardly. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ll find coffee you’ll love, one of these days.” I kissed him on the forehead. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said, flashing me a smile that melted my heart.
I threw on a jacket on the way out the door, and got into his car. I fiddled with the seat for a little bit, getting everything adjusted, and realized it had been quite a while since I drove anywhere. Fortunately, it was an SUV with all-wheel drive, and it felt well suited to the snow. I did a quick search for Panda Palace on my phone, and pulled up the address.
And then I hit the road, driving through the unfamiliar streets. Luckily, even in human form, my eyesight at night was more than keen enough to easily navigate the unfamiliar terrain. But after about
ten minutes on a lonely back road, I decided that maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to be on the phone with somebody. If anything did happen, they’d know right away. My first thought, of course, was to call Carrick. But then I decided that if I talked to Carrick, there was no way I would be able to explain what I was doing calling him so late, while I drove, without giving away the nature of my errand. And I really, really wanted to be able to see Carrick’s face when he found out about my mate.
He called me the morning after the last full moon, and I was able to play off being tired, but safe and sound, and get off the phone without him being suspicious. I told him I stayed in my hotel room, but the truth was Milan and I stayed in the café. There were a few things knocked over and rugs that looked like a couple of large cats had skidded on them, but that was it. I woke up when I changed into a human at sunrise and fell off the chair. Milan managed to stay on it as he turned back, but not very comfortably. The next time, we considered locking ourselves in the bedroom in the hopes of curling up together on the bed instead of in a small chair.
A wide smile spread across my face as I remembered it. I couldn’t remember ever waking up feeling better after a full moon. I wasn’t even sore or tired. I felt well rested and content. I hadn’t wanted to admit it to anyone, but full moons were getting harder and harder alone. I’d never have to worry about them again.
Assuming I didn’t die here on a slippery backroad.
Instead of Carrick’s, I punched in Hobie’s number, put my cellphone on speaker, and then set it next to me in the cup holder. After a couple of rings, my closest friend, who wasn’t a cousin, and right-hand man in my café, answered.“Eron?” he sounded quite surprised. “Is everything okay? Why are you calling so late?” “Everything's fine,” I said quickly. “I was just out, driving down a weird backroad, and it’s
snowing a little bit, so I figured I would give you a call.” “Snowing? Where are you anyway, up north?”
“Yeah,” I said vaguely. “Sorry I haven’t checked in more.” The last month and a half with Milan had just flown by. It was hard to remember I wasn’t keeping anyone back home in the loop.
“Hm. Up north, okay. How's your year away going?” “It's good,” I said. “It's… it's going really well.”
“If you don't mind my saying so, you really needed it.” “Yeah… I really wasn’t doing very well,” I said honestly.
“How is the full moon treating you? I know it's only been one since you left, but…”
“Oh, it was great.” I snorted at myself. No lone alpha had a great full moon. “I mean, you know, I'm a cat. Full moons aren’t that terrible anyway.”
“House cat,” the lynx shifter snorted. “And full moons are all terrible if you're a lonely alpha,” he added quietly.
“True.” I could hear the concern for me in his voice. I felt bad for making him, not to mention my family, worry. I hadn’t planned on going back to Half Moon until I got the café open, but I wasn’t sure how many moons I could stay away without it being unfair to them.
“I wasn’t alone,” I blurted. I couldn't help it. I had to tell someone, damn it. “You weren't alone?” Hobie demanded.
“Ask
me
where
I'm
going,”
I
chuckled.