Page 120 of Galen

“Be selfish for once.”

Alastair’s words settled deep in my heart. And I knew I’d made my choice.

“I love you, Simon,” I whispered against his lips. “I fucking love you.”

He traced the line of my jaw, smiling. “I know.”

“You do?”

“You’ve always said more with actions than words. I learned to read you. Even though you didn’t say it back when I said I loved you, I saw the truth in your eyes. Felt it in your kiss.” Simon pushed his forehead to mine. “It’s still amazing to hear you say it though. Say it again?”

I’d say it as many times as he wanted. “I love you.”

“I love you too, you big grumpy marshmallow.”

“Grumpy marshmallow?” I caught his chin and forced his eyes up to me. He fought a smile as his lips twitched. “Only with you.”

“Only with me,” he said. That smile finally surfaced, full and bright.

My heart fucking melted.

I’d wait to ask him about the binding ritual. For now, I just wanted to get lost in him for a while.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Simon

“I’m still me,” Kyo said as he caught me looking at him for the thousandth time. He placed a collection of weirdly shaped jars on a shelf. “I just happen to also be a dragon.”

“Araredragon,” I added, going over to help him with the new inventory. “I heard water dragons were almost extinct or something.”

“Yeah, it was bad for a while.” Kyo swept a hand through his black hair, and I inwardly chided myself for looking—again—for signs of claws. “My father challenged the ice king, and a huge war broke out. Our clan was hunted even after he was killed because all water dragons were seen as traitors. Those of us left learned to hide ourselves.”

“How many are left?”

Galen made a sound behind me, and I turned to him. He arched a brow but kept his trap shut. I knew he wanted to spout off about me asking a million questions. The jerk.

“Our numbers have definitely gone up over the years,” Kyo answered. “But my brother, who is the king of our clan, ordered us to keep a low profile.”

“Why did you want to work at an antique shop?” I asked.

“Because this is cool shit.” Kyo touched a crystal ball that had come with the same shipment of items from the circus. I didn’t know if the fortune teller’s all-seeing crystal ball was actually magic or not, but it was over a hundred years old and looked awesome. He turned to me. “I’m sorry I didn’t know those demons were after you. I could’ve protected you that night.”

“You went to the underworld for me. Pretty sure that makes up for it.”

“I’d do it again too.”

The weirdness of the past few days since returning from the underworld had brought Kyo and me even closer as friends. Maybe because I didn’t have to hide shit from him anymore.

“So. Um.” Kyo chewed the corner of his lip. “How’s Red doing?”

“Red? Oh. Castor. He’s okay. Still healing.”

Kyo nodded.

“Why?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.

“Just a question. I was the one who first found him in the fighting pit that night. He was in bad shape.”