Page 11 of Holiday Wishes and Tentacle Dreams
He stuck out his hand, and the warmth spread from Jake’s face to his neck and chest. He’d just been standing there drooling over the man, and hadn’t even introduced himself!
“I’m Jake. You’re also a very handsome man.” Why would he say that? The guy would think he was flirting, and that was the last thing he wanted. He was a disaster. Flirting led to dating, and dating would be a terrible idea.
Jake shook his hand, and Doren smiled, his blue eyes sparkling in the late morning sun, catching the shade of the ocean behind him. The subtle, salty scent of someone who’d just spent hours surfing wafted off him. It was delicious.
“Thank you. I don’t identify as a man, but I appreciate the compliment. I’m nonbinary. I use they/them pronouns.”
“Shit!” Jake had to fight the instinct to run back up to the house and lock the door forever. He couldn’t even have a simple conversation without screwing everything up. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to?—”
Doren waved him off. “It's not such a dire transgression. After all, I assumed your gender as well. I just happened to be correct.”
“Even so…” Jake stared at Doren’s face for a moment, waiting for a sharpness that never came. Their smile didn’t waver, and there was no sign of anger or offense. “Okay. It was nice to meet you, Doren.”
“It was a pleasure. Perhaps I’ll encounter you on the beach again some morning.”
Doren winked at Jake. Theywinked, and Jake thought he would pass out at how hot it was. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He’d already thrown away several years of hislife with a man who turned out to be an absolute dickhead. He couldn’t get a crush on a random surfer.
Even if theywereto get together, there were only two possible outcomes. Either Doren would turn out to be an asshole, or Jake would fuck everything up. Or a poisonous combo platter of the two.
No, he had to get away from this tempting blonde surfer.
“Maybe, but I won’t be out here much. I don’t like the beach. And it’s cold. And I don’t leave the house very often.”
Jake was babbling. The nonsense he was spouting was making him regret not snatching MP and running away the minute Doren had picked her up.
“Well, perhaps my luck will hold out and we’ll chance upon one another once more.” Doren’s speech was strangely mannered. It was odd, but Jake didn’t mind it at all. They also had a lovely, smooth tone to their voice, like a nature documentary narrator. He couldn’t help but imagine what that voice might sound like whispering in his ear during sex.
Nope. Don’t get trapped by their insane sex appeal. Justget out.
Jake attempted to say “Bye,” but what came out was more of a squeak than anything else. Then he turned and moved away at a pace just shy of running. He was trying his damndest not to look like he was fleeing the scene of a crime, but got the sense that he was failing. Hard.
Stealing a glance back over his shoulder, Jake instantly regretted it. Doren cut a striking figure against the glittering ocean, and Jake couldn’t help but yearn to run his hands over all that smooth skin. All that toned muscle. They were beautiful.
Please. Doren wasn’t interested in a chubby, bearded loser like Jake. They were only flirting because they were bored, and there were so few people left in town. Doren would meet some finance hottie on vacation next summer who’d whisk them awayinto a life of luxury and travel, going from beach to beach around the world so Doren could surf wherever they liked.
Jake could never provide anything like that. At this moment, Jake couldn’t provide anything. He had no money, no job, and no life. For six months he had a place to live, but then he’d be homeless again, assuming he hadn’t found a job.
He squeezed Miranda Priestly to his chest as he crossed the final distance back to his new abode. Being careful to close the door behind him, Jake entered and surveyed the space, letting MP down to do her own exploration.
At least it was furnished. Being a vacation rental, it had all the necessaries that Phil had spirited away when he left. Jake didn’t have to worry about bedsheets or cooking utensils or a coffeemaker.
Actually, nothing was particularly urgent. He grabbed MP’s litter box and the bag of litter and popped it into the spare bedroom. As long as Miranda Priestly had a place to poop, all was well.
It had been a long, exhausting drive to Maine, and a strange welcome, chasing MP across the beach and running into Doren. No one could blame Jake if he wanted to slide under the covers of the king-size bed and take a solid nap.
There was no one here to judge him at all, in fact. MP wouldn’t mind.
Once covered up, the warmth of the duvet resting atop him combined with the gentle ebb and flow of the sea against the beach, lulling him into a deep sleep.
Chapter Four
DOREN
Doren was late again. It’s not that their parents would be angry, but Doren hated when they worried, and they worried so often. It was Doren’s fault, but there was no helping it. The world of the surface called to them. They loved their human form, and they loved speaking with people. With humans.
They also loved peppermint lattes, but that wasn’t the top priority. Maybe third or fourth, but not the top.
It was the thought of their parents’ anxiety that propelled Doren so swiftly. Doren’s true form—the form they took outside of the suspicious gaze of human eyes—could move quickly through the water, although they were no speed demon. They were smooth and aerodynamic, shaped somewhat like a giant squid.