Page 12 of A Winter Crush
Taten mixed together some sort of stinky salve and slathered it on Sariah’s wrist before bandaging it. “Come back daily and I’ll reapply the salve and re-bandage the wound,” she said to Sariah as they left the doctor’s.
Despite her injury, Sariah looked incredibly pleased with herself.
“You can go home,” Wareth said to Ori. Sariah opened her mouth to protest, but Wareth cut her off. “I won’t be working today, so…” He took a breath. “We’ll start tomorrow. I’m going to see Sariah home.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ori smiled. Then he turned and walked away.
His straight silver hair—interspersed with plaits and decorated with dried berries, twigs, and brown, orange, and gold leaves—hung to just above his arse. Wareth couldn’t help but admire the firm, round cheeks, barely covered by the loincloth he wore. Annoyed with himself, he looked away to find Sariah watching him, an amused smirk on her face.
“What?” he muttered, looking down at the slush beneath his boots.
“Nothing,” she said. “I just think it will be good for you to work with Ori.”
She started walking in the direction of her home, and Wareth fell into step with her.
“How do you figure?”
“I know you’re fine, but…” She sighed. “I just think you could be more than fine. Perhaps if you opened yourself up and let yourself see what could be possible, you could be happy. That’s all. I just think this might get you out of your rut.”
He didn’t respond. So maybe he wasn’t happy, but it was better to be safe. Safe was better than thinking you were happy one day and being heartbroken and alone the next.
“Do you need anything?” he asked as they approached her cabin.
“No. My hand is fine, and Heroth will be home soon.”
“All right, I’ll come by to check on you later.”
She gave him a look. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I know,” he said.
“Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?”
“Can’t. Dinner with my parents.”
“Give them my best,” she said.
“Will do.” He turned and started walking away. “Bye.”
“Bye,” she called out as he strode towards his cabin.
He wanted to be mad at Sariah for putting him in this mess. But he knew she only wanted what was best for him. She was wrong, but he couldn’t be angry at her for caring. Still, he dreaded tomorrow. The idea of having Ori in his space, disturbing the calm he’d spent years building, terrified him. And tomorrow, Sariah wouldn’t even be there as a buffer.
It would just be him and Ori.
ChapterEight
Ori fiddled with a twig woven into his hair as he stepped through the freshly fallen snow. The door loomed before him. Reaching for the handle, he let out a breath, pulling back his shoulders as he prepared to enter.
He was nervous and should be. Whilst Sariah had been enthusiastic about Ori assisting in the studio, Wareth had been anything but. He felt mildly bad for offering to assist when Wareth obviously didn’t want him to, but Sariah had looked so upset. Ori just wanted to help.
Of course, that wasn’t the entire truth. Whilst he did want to help Sariah, it was more than that. He wanted the chance to know Wareth better. And give Wareth the chance to know him. Perhaps he would be less unhappy around Ori if he got to know him. And maybe, just maybe, something more could develop between them.
Ori gave a shake of his head. He needed to put his longing aside and focus on helping. It was clear that Wareth didn’t want him.
But after yesterday, Ori was even more infatuated with the potter. His care for Sariah and protectiveness had made Ori’s insides go all soft and gooey. He yearned to be cared for in such a way. For Wareth to be like that with him and make him feel all safe and protected.
Not that there was a chance of that happening anytime soon. Ori couldn’t quite understand why Wareth disliked him so much. No one had ever really disliked Ori before. But hopefully today he’d make progress. He’d try his best and make Wareth like him, or at least see him as useful.