Page 21

As Sam locked the cabin door, the boat rocked. Sam turned to see Goldilocks had lifted himself onto the side again. He looked right at Sam, and Sam hesitated before leaving, still feeling guilty for the abandonment.

“My cousin is at Sally’s pub.” He gestured towards it. “I’ll see you later?” Sam asked. Should he be making plans with Goldilocks, or would the merman simply show up whenever Sam visited the sea? “I’ll come by before I go home. I had meals prepped for my dad for the day anyway, so technically I could spend the night out again if I wanted. Which I might.” Last night was the best Sam had slept in weeks. Usually, even if he went to bed late, he woke up at 6 a.m. on the dot regardless, and not well past lunchtime. He didn’t even care that he’d missed his classes.

Goldilocks nodded.

Sam pressed his lips together, not knowing if that was a simple acknowledgement, if Goldilocks was pleased that Sam would be coming later, or if he was pissed off that Sam didn’t reciprocate earlier. His face was back to that indifferent expression, and given that Sam had seen what happiness looks like on Goldilocks last night, it was a safe bet to assume Goldilocks wasn’t pleased.

Sam couldn’t let Goldilocks monopolise all of his time, even though he rather enjoyed what that entailed. Other things needed his attention too, like letting Mary see his face so she wouldn’t work herself up in a flurry of worry. “See you later,” Sam said.

He shouldered his schoolbag and walked across the wharf to the bar, finding Mary out back with their cousin Abby. It was warm enough that they had the umbrella opened to use as shade, not needing the sunshine to battle chills.

“Got you here.” Mary tapped the spot next to her.

She didn’t even look at him as he sat down, too busy glaring over his shoulder. Sam turned to see what had her attention, and a familiar face at a high table caught his eye. Gary.

Sam hardly spared Gary a glance, distracted instead by the silver-haired young man standing next to him. Austin scrunched his nose as if he didn’t like whatever Gary was saying to him. Dressed in a plain fleece, not unlike the one Sam had tried to offer Austin yesterday, and a plain pair of black trousers, Austin somehow looked like he’d just come from a catalogue shoot for a clothing brand.

“Has he been bothering Austin?” Sam asked, not taking his eyes off the pair.

“Austin is the guy he’s talking to?” Mary asked. Abby also peered over, though she looked more curious than concerned.

“Why is he so familiar?” Abby wondered.

“He was in the news a while back,” Sam answered absently. “Does he seem bothered to you?” he checked. Not that Sam ever noticed Austin looking anything but unhappy. His harsh words to Sam yesterday echoed in his head, and Austin’s stung expression as they were mirrored back at him bounced around Sam’s head too. What if Austin unleashed that caustic tongue on Gary? Someone who’d displayed violent behaviour in the past? Austin could end up getting himself into serious trouble.

“Not particularly,” Abby said. “And I think he was the one that approached Gary. Gary is the guy who punched you? Mary was telling me. You guys have beef?”

“No,” Sam answered.

“Why does he hate you then?”

Sam looked away from the pair. “You’d have to ask him,” he said. “I’ve never even talked to him before.”

Sam watched as Gary broke away from Austin. He went to the doorway leading inside, his eyes lingering on Sam before he disappeared indoors.

A chair was set next to Sam, squeezing into the space between him and Mary.

“Here, I’ll move…?” Sam scooted over and trailed off when he looked at the guy who’d placed the chair.

Goldilocks dropped into the seat next to Sam.

“There is room,” Goldilocks said.

Sam stared, caught off guard. Goldilocks, mercifully, wasn’t naked. He wore the clothes he had on the day he’d brought Sam through The Tear. A loose white shirt with golden embroidered sleeves and hems. Dark leather trousers. Feet tucked into soft-leather black boots. His curls were slightly damp and fell to hide pointed ear tips. His gills looked like pink scars.

And he was just sitting there. At the table. With them.

Sam had seen Adonis in the bar several times now, but something about Goldilocks being there was so incredibly jarring that it rendered him mute.

Goldilocks studied Abby, then he focused on Mary. “You are Sam’s sister?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said.

At the same time, Sam corrected, “Cousin.”

Mary openly stared at Goldilocks, and Sam realised Abby was doing the same thing. Sam bit the inside of his cheek. People from other tables stared too. Including a silver-eyed Austin sitting alone at the outdoor bar. His piercing gaze fixed on Goldilocks, and Sam frowned as he tried to read his expression. Sam remembered Austin asking about Goldilocks at the docks.

“I can arrange a prosperous match for you,” Goldilocks told Mary.

Sam choked on air, forgetting all about Austin.

Mary opened her mouth, and Sam readied himself for a throw down.

“A match?” Mary repeated. She sounded dazed.

Goldilocks nodded. “Red hair is uncommon back home. It will draw much interest. There are many wealthy merchants who would be eager to marry you.”

Sam propped his elbow on the table, hiding his face as it bloomed bright red.

“I see?” Mary said. “And who are you?”

Goldilocks frowned. His attention moved to Sam. “You have not told your family about me?”

Everyone looked at Sam. “I was just about to bring you up,” he lied, voice choking in embarrassment.

Mary’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. Are you two dating? Like, you’re together? Dating?”

“Yes,” Goldilocks said before Sam could even think about how to answer that question.

Goldilocks tilted his head, eyes sharpening on Sam. He must have seen that Sam wasn’t about to answer the same way.

“Wow.” Mary leaned back, crossing her arms. “So the reason you keep ditching me, and are unavailable all hours of the day, is because you’re off with” – she gestured to Goldilocks – “a supermodel?”

Her tone was incredulous, but she didn’t actually seem angry. Sam still had his face buried in his hand and only peeked out sideways. Abby leaned back and murmured under her breath to herself, not taking her eyes off Goldilocks.

“What’s your name?” Mary asked.

“Go—”

“It’s Roan,” Sam talked over Goldilocks.

A hand was abruptly on his thigh, squeezing.

“It’s Goldilocks,” Goldilocks said.

“Goldilocks is a nickname,” Sam explained quickly.

Mary and Abby repeated, “Goldilocks?”

Mary was staring at Sam. He was preoccupied with trying to bury his face in his hands, mortified.

“I mean,” Abby said, “it does suit you.” She looked at his hair as she spoke. His perfect golden curls. “Would you like a drink, Goldilocks? I’m buying something for Sam.”

“Yes. I will have Sam’s preferred drink.”

Mary was burning a hole through Sam’s hands with her stare. He dropped them, and he angled away from her. “Is Laurence working?” he asked, desperate to divert attention away from the merman sitting at his side.

“He isn’t,” Mary said. “Tell me about these wealthy merchants, Goldilocks?”

“Mary,” Sam objected. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

Don’t make fun of him. But…Sam peeked at Goldilocks’s face. He wasn’t someone easy to mock, was he? He wouldn’t stand for it, and he wasn’t slow, so it wouldn’t take him long to catch on either.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Sam said. He was aware of Mary’s eyes, the shape of them hinting at merriment rather than anger. “It was new. It is new. And you scare people off,” he deflected.

“It’s my fault that you’ve been running around keeping secrets?” Mary said at the same time Goldilocks huffed, “You think she could scare me?”

Mary leaned in, forearms resting on the table. She stared right into Goldilocks eyes, not backing down. Not one inch. “I promise I can be scary when I want. And I also promise that if you upset Sam, I will drown you in the ocean.”

Sam shut his eyes with a groan. “He’s a much better swimmer than you.”

“I can tie chains to his legs and throw him overboard.”

“He’s bigger and stronger.”

“I’ll bring some muscle with me then!”

Goldilocks huffed again. At least he found the threats amusing enough that he didn’t feel the need to respond to them. “I will inquire with the Northerners. They like fiery women.”

“Liking and being able to handle are two different things,” Sam muttered. He opened his eyes as Abby rejoined them with drinks.

“Okay. Look.” Sam set his hands flat on the table. He knew he was piping red. He also knew there was nothing he could do about it. “Mary, this is my boyfriend. His name is Roan, but he insists on being called Goldilocks. Please be nice to him. And Goldilocks, please don’t set Mary up with anyone unless she asks.”

They both looked at Sam. Goldilocks inclined his head first. “Very well.”

Sam met Mary’s eyes, pleading with his own.

Mary tilted her head, regarding him calmly. “Two days,” she said.

“Two days, what?”

“You’ll let me take care of your dad for two days of the week.”

Sam pressed his lips together, biting back his objection. His gaze darted between her and Goldilocks, conflicted feelings rising within him. Whispering in the back of his head, steadily rising in volume, was Austin’s sharp voice: That isn’t what patience and love look like . “One day seems like enough?” Sam’s voice wavered, his conviction that he was doing what was best for his dad crumbling right before his eyes.

Mary turned her calm look on Goldilocks. “That’s an interesting shirt. Where—”

“Two days,” Sam said.

“Monday and Tuesday,” she bargained.

Sam bowed his head, defeated. “Fine.”

“I’ll come too,” Abby said with a smile. “I’m a much better cook than Mary.”

Mary, having won, eased up the intense stare she had fixed on Goldilocks. And when she did, she gave Sam a look. It was one that let him know she knew something about Goldilocks was strange. Not that it wasn’t obvious to anyone with eyes.

Goldilocks set his hand on Sam’s thigh, resting it there, as he drank with his free hand. And he tilted his head, listening with interest to Abby and Mary as they talked. Sam breathed a sigh of relief when they didn’t immediately turn and force an interrogation on the two of them. Whenever Sam spoke up, Goldilocks focused his full attention on him.

Sam took out his books to study, but he simply glanced over the incomprehensible words and ended up doodling columns instead.

Sam’s two drinks were gone before he rose. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Mary and Abby exchanged a conspiratorial look. It had warning bells ringing loud and clear in Sam’s mind. “Come on, Goldilocks,” he said.

“You need an escort?” Mary raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not stupid,” he said back. And God knew what Goldilocks would say if he left them all alone together.

Goldilocks rose with Sam, following him inside. Sally waved from behind the bar as he passed, and Goldilocks examined the interior with interest. Gary was sitting in the corner, and his dark eyes tracked Sam across the room. Goldilocks turned his gaze on him, and his expression changed from mild interest to something focused and pointed. His shoulders tightened, his chin lifted, and a mounting air of challenge filled his gaze. One second , Sam thought. It took one second for Goldilocks to react to Gary when he hadn’t so much as given Fionn a second glance when they were out on the water.

Sam gripped Goldilocks’s wrist and pulled him into the hall leading to the bathrooms.

“Don’t bother with him,” Sam said.

“I do not like the way he watches you.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Sam muttered. Sam decided against telling Goldilocks he was the one who’d punched him. If he was willing to fight Adonis over an accident, then Sam didn’t want to risk an altercation with Gary.

“Wait here. I’ll just be one second.” Sam hesitated in the doorway to the bathroom, staring at Goldilocks. “Don’t cause any trouble, okay?”

“I will do as I like.”

Sam’s eyebrows rose. Goldilocks didn’t make any particular face as he said it, but his voice was firm. “Alright?” Sam blinked. “In that case, I’ll be quick.”

Sam was quick, but by the time he was leaving the bathroom, he heard voices and winced. “Please let them be too drunk to notice anything,” he muttered to himself. How did Connor bring Adonis around and not stress out about it?

Sam pushed open the door and immediately drew up in surprise.

Goldilocks stood in the exact spot where Sam had left him. Austin was there. Standing in his space with a hand on Goldilocks’s chest. Sam’s gaze stuck on Austin’s hand; the ties of Goldilocks’s hem were wound around a delicate finger.

“I promise I’m a lot of fun,” Austin said, his voice low and gentle. Almost sultry, if not for the fact that the cadence of his voice rang distinctly hollow to Sam. Austin was little more than a teenager; was he eighteen? Nineteen? Sam felt like he was watching a child trying to play an adult, and it felt so incredibly wrong. Goldilocks was too old for Austin.

As Sam stood there, frozen with indecision on how to react, Austin raised his other hand and ran it up Goldilocks’s chest.

Goldilocks’s top lip curled up, his canines flashing as anger filled his gaze. His eyes lost their humanness. The whites darkened, and the muted gold became a brilliant shining colour.

Goldilocks sneered. “You are repulsive.”

Austin’s back was to Sam, and he saw how his slim shoulders rose. As if burned, Austin jerked his hands away from Goldilocks. Sam’s heart squeezed.

Austin stumbled back a step. “I’m not repulsive,” he snapped. There was a tremble in his voice.

“You are a mongrel,” Goldilocks insulted, eyes glowing. “Do not presume to approach me. Do not insult me by thinking I would ever consider you of interest.”

Austin stumbled back another step, and another, until his back struck Sam’s chest. Sam caught his shoulders.

Austin whirled, his eyes flashing violence as they jerked up to meet Sam’s. Hurt shone within them. And something that looked like despair.

“Austin,” Sam said. He didn’t know what to say next, but his heart hurt for the guy. Austin saw the sympathy, and Sam saw plain as day how much he despised it. Austin shouldered past him, shoving open the emergency exit and storming off.

Sam stared after him. His stomach clenched in tension, and he found he couldn’t look away from the door even when it swung shut. Because turning would mean looking at Goldilocks. Sam swallowed hard. The time he’d spent with Goldilocks flashed in his mind. His own words to him, and the words he’d heard back, finally. Goldilocks had always been vicious. Hissing and growling to get his way. Bossy and dominant.

But this was the first time Sam had seen cruelty in him.

“Why did you do that?” Sam asked.

“Do what?”

Sam shut his eyes. There was no repentance in Goldilocks’s tone. No hint that he was aware of any misdeed. Sam swallowed as discomfort flashed to anger within him. Bitter disappointment bloomed, engulfing his senses until he was furious. Furious with Goldilocks. Furious with his words, his actions. And so bitterly disappointed that he’d finally given someone a chance, and this was what it led to. He opened his eyes.

“That was cruel.” Sam finally turned his head. Looked at Goldilocks, who seemed completely unbothered.

Goldilocks said nothing. Sam gritted his teeth.

“I’m not attracted to needless cruelty,” Sam said. Goldilocks’s dark gaze remained focused on him, but his expression was utterly, totally, unreadable. Sam straightened his spine, though part of him shivered to be standing up to so powerful a creature. “You could have turned him down a thousand different ways. But that? That was unnecessary.”

Goldilocks’s head tilted to the side. “I showed you favour—”

“Do not use me to justify that!” Sam snapped, the hurt in Austin’s eyes flashing in his mind. “I know he’s mean, but he’s young. He’s vulnerable. He’s alone. You could have turned him down nicely or in a way that didn’t shatter his confidence.”

Goldilocks bristled. “You wish me to be nice? I am not nice.”

Sam withdrew, disappointment burning his lungs as he breathed in. “You don’t need to tell me. I saw it pretty damn clearly just now.”

“You pursued the young monarch,” Goldilocks said, voice deceptively calm, though the tension in his body betrayed his agitation. “And there has never been a kind monarch, now or ever. He is not kind.”

Young monarch? Sam didn’t know what that meant, but he instinctively knew that Goldilocks was talking about Connor. There was nobody else it could have been.

“You pursued him. He is not nice.” Something about Goldilocks’s voice sang hypocrite .

The song in the bar changed, and a chorus of approving voices rose to sing it. Sam breathed in deeply, fighting for calm. Fighting the prickling sensation stabbing at his insides.

Back when he and Connor had gone out, Connor had one hell of a sharp tongue. His defences were a towering fortress that let nobody in. And Sam had gotten hurt. Badly. His heart turned to a mincemeat of shame and hurt, and until very recently, he would still feel the ache of those badly healed bruises.

“He’s never done that,” Sam muttered. “He’s not nice, but he’s…” Connor was a lot of things.

Sam stared at Goldilocks. This fantastic creature that was interested in him, pursued him, was willing to put him first in the way he’d always wanted someone to. And Sam knew he would be wrecked if he did this. Engaged. Got involved.

He would come out the other side worse off than he had with Connor. And he already knew that it was too late not to be affected by him. He wasn’t emotionally detached anymore; he was involved. Which was why the blatant cruelty stung so damn much.

Sam tilted his head away, needing to break eye contact. He turned and walked toward the door Austin had stormed out of. “Do you think comparing yourself to a monarch is the best way to attract a mate?”

Goldilocks drew in a sharp breath, clearly stung by the remark. “You find me lacking?”

Sam stopped by the door, the handle clenched in his fist. ‘Lacking’ was not the right word. “I hate the way people can treat each other. I hate the casual cruelty that is just part of people’s lives. And just because, this once, I wasn’t the one being subjected to it doesn’t mean I like it any better. I have no interest in being with a partner who goes out of their way to cut someone down like that for no good reason. And do not say it was to show me favour. I refuse to be used as an excuse for that bullshit.”

Sam left Goldilocks behind, storming outside onto the docks. He stopped long enough to look around, but there was no sign of Austin’s silver hair anywhere. He sighed and picked a direction at random, intent on finding the spurned teenager to try and gentle the words that had just been cruelly thrown at him.