Page 31 of Misbehaving With Minotaurs (Haven Ever After #8)

CHAPTER TWENTY

MANORIN

C atherine’s been quiet since we returned to Ever.

I don’t know if she and Annabelle have talked, but even Annabelle seems quiet to me.

Cath was busy all afternoon and evening catching up with the Hector triplets, who wanted to know all about our trip.

It was hard dancing around the obvious misery in her manner.

She was slammed with guests all evening, but once they were taken care of, I pulled her into the kitchen and sat her on a barstool. After grabbing a water from the fridge, I set it in front of her. “Drink, Sunshine. You’ve been on your feet all day.”

Her smile’s half-hearted as she uncaps the bottle and sips delicately. I lean over the counter as the kitty cat timer flips head over tail and joins us, meowing softly. I pet the tiny cat on the head as I look at my Sunshine.

“The kitchen ain’t the right place for this conversation, Cath, but we need to talk. I can’t have you feeling some kind of way about this,” I glance around to make sure nobody is nearby, “Punishers news.”

She shrugs. “I honestly think I need to just sit with it a day. That trip was a little more than I was planning for.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to suggest we go to her room and talk there, but she beats me to action.

“Can we talk in the morning, Nor? I’m exhausted from getting caught up, and I need to get my thoughts together. I’m scattered at the moment.”

I’m simultaneously frustrated not to have the important conversation and worried I don’t have a good answer for her.

Part of me feels uncertain, too. Back home, I said I was ready to drop everything for her—and I would, in a heartbeat—but I don’t know if she feels pressured that I told her that.

There’s a lot of uncertainty, and I don’t care for that.

She stands, water bottle in hand, and rounds the island. Popping onto her tiptoes, she kisses my muzzle inside the ring. I close my eyes to bask in the sensation of her so close, but before I can wrap an arm around her, she turns and heads for the archway toward the front of the inn.

When she’s gone, I stand there for a while, considering what the right thing to do here is. Instinct tells me to go to her, but it also tells me not to push an important conversation when she’s exhausted.

The timer mewls at me, nudging me with her tiny face.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” I murmur, brushing her head with my fingertips. “I’m in a pickle with my Sunshine. Got any ideas about how to fix that?”

On cue, a cupboard flies open, and an unopened pack of sandpaper gets thrown out, landing on the countertop in front of me.

Laughing, I pick it up and shake it at the timer. “Shutters, hmm?”

The cat meows her assent as Annabelle rapid-fire opens and shuts the kitchen windows.

“I got you, sweet girl.” This I can do to help Catherine. If I can take things off her to-do list, that’s a start .

Heading for the front entry, I use my multitool to remove the closest shutter.

Annabelle, helpful girl that she is, swings the second-floor shutters down for me.

Placing each shutter on the white railing, I sand diligently until the shutters are ready for painting.

It’s awkward without a sawhorse to prop them on, but I do my best, and Annabelle creaks and groans the entire time.

It’s like she’s having an entire conversation with me, and somehow, I understand the vibes. She missed Catherine, and so she’s nattering away like an excited child after a parent returns from a trip.

I chatter back to her about nothing in particular until I’ve got all the shutters sanded and primed. Patting Annabelle’s siding, I laugh when she shimmies as if it tickles. The kitty cat timer sits on the railing and dings when I finish priming the last slat.

Exhaustion hits me as I drop my hand by my side. “I’m gonna hit the hay, Annabelle. You need anything else, pretty girl?”

She says nothing, but swings the front doors slowly open for me, inviting me back inside. The timer hops onto my open hand and rolls up my arm to my shoulder, tucking herself under my ear.

I head into the house and pause in the kitchen, setting the timer down on the countertop.

Making my way to my room, I read for hours, eventually falling into a fitful sleep in my chair.

By the time I wake in the morning, I’m desperate to see my Sunshine.

Glancing at my watch, I realize she’ll be up shortly.

A quick shower and fresh outfit later, I’m in the kitchen, stirring her coffee as I wait for her to show up.

The timer’s busy trying to toss sugar cubes in my mug when Catherine appears by my side. She tsks as she grabs the cup of sugar cubes and shoves it to the far end of the counter .

“Annabelle, stop that, please. You already know how Nor like his coffee.”

Sweet girl tosses a final sugar cube at me, but it bounces off my muzzle and lands on the counter. Picking it up, I toss it in my mouth as I wink at Catherine.

“Didn’t say I hate sugar,” I say, “just don’t think the coffee needs it.”

Catherine smiles up at me. “We had originally planned breakfast at the diner. Are you still down for that?”

I nod. “You wanna talk there?”

She shrugs. “There’s a nice little booth to the back where we should have plenty of privacy, and I’m starving.”

I put my hand on her arm, rubbing her soft skin as I admire the frilly sleeves of her form-fitting shirt.

She sinks closer to me, pressing her body to mine as she gazes up into my eyes.

Pulling her flush with my chest, I sink a hand into her hair and hold her, her heartbeat steadying me.

I’ve got a busy day ahead, but she centers me.

Around us, Annabelle creaks and groans, but it sounds happy to me.

The kitty cat timer pops up onto my shoulder and tucks herself under my ear with a tinny purr against my fur.

The moment stretches into long minutes where I simply hold her, this woman who’s captured me so completely in mere days.

Eventually, the timer lets off a small ding next to my ear.

I reach up and grab her, setting her back down onto the counter. “Thank you, sweet thing. You’re right, we’ve got a breakfast date.”

Cath sighs as she pulls away from me and poofs her gray waves. I lean against the counter and stare, because I will never, ever get enough of looking at her.

“Mine,” I whisper, my voice ragged as I move to pull her back into my arms .

Catherine’s eyes flash golden for a moment, but she dances out of my reach. “Nor, you’ve got a jam-packed schedule today, and my stomach is rumbling.”

“You know how to get me moving,” I grouse. She knows her comfort is always top of mind for me. Can’t do a thing until she’s fed and full. Everything else comes after that.

I blow the kitty cat timer a kiss and tickle one of the cabinet doors on the way out. We pause by the front door and Catherine takes in the shutters, staring for a long moment before looking up at me.

“I can’t believe she actually let you tackle this project. I’ve been trying for ages and she just wouldn’t let me take the shutters down.”

I wink. “She needed a man’s touch, Sunshine. Like any good woman, sometimes she just wants that masculine energy. I’m sure you can empathize…”

Catherine loops her hand through my arm with a laugh as we head up Sycamore toward Main Street and the Galloping Green Bean.

As we near the diner doors, a deep voice shouts my name. Expecting one of the leadership monsters, or maybe a fan, I turn with a smile.

A gigantic green troll wearing aviator sunglasses jogs across Main Street toward us, wearing a big ole shit-eating smile. I refuse to lose the smile as he reaches out to shake my hand.

“Longhorn, good to see ya; it’s been a while.” Gil Stoneswallow’s amber brows rise mischievously. “Think last time we met was that game in Brazil where I crushed the Hellions, right?”

I resist the urge to ask him what the fuck he’s doing in Ever when I still have another two weeks of my trial period. There wasn’t supposed to be overlap between us.

He removes his glasses, amber eyes dropping lasciviously down Catherine’s lush figure. “I was coming to chat with Manorin, but who might you be? ”

I’m about to verbally bitch-slap him for being rude when Arkan trots toward us and claps the troll on the back, interrupting what’s about to be a tirade from me.

“Gil, you’re here early.” He glances at Catherine and me. “We weren’t expecting your trial to start for another two weeks.”

I glance at Catherine, who has a frown on her beautiful features. “Cath, this is Gil Stoneswallow from the Sao Paulo Silents.”

She forces half a smile but doesn’t reach for his hand. Instead, she glances at the big troll. “We weren’t expecting you, Coach Stoneswallow. But I’m on the decision committee, so I’m sure we’ll be meeting soon.”

Stoneswallow’s eyes drop to her hand tucked into the crook of my arm, and I do grin for real at that.

Looking to Arkan, I decide to let him handle this.

It was his plan to bring Gil here, and he can deal with the brash, assholish young troll.

“Keeper, this shouldn’t change our schedule for today, but I assume you and Gil need to catch up.

I’m taking Cath to breakfast, but let me know if you need me to amend any of the schedule for the next week. ”

Arkan nods, but he looks irritated as hells. Gil starts talking as I turn Catherine and grab the Green Bean’s front door, pulling it open for her.

I’m a quietly seething mass until we’re seated in a booth inside the Galloping Green Bean. Alba seats us and waits expectantly, and Cath looks up at her with a half smile.

“Give us five, friend?”

As Alba clip-clops away, I rub both hands over my eyes and down my snout in irritation, tugging at my nose ring. The pull centers me when I need to think. After a moment, I glance at Catherine.

“That was awkward,” she says. “We were purposeful in not overlapping the two of you. How’s that going to work with the exhibition game? ”

“I don’t know, but the nerve to show up early and unannounced.

That kid’s such an asshole,” I hiss. “I hate him for Ever, and I hate the idea of him trying to build something here. He wouldn’t know a good program from a hole in the damn ground.

” My nostrils flare. “Not to mention I was about to deck him for looking at you that way when Arkan trotted up.”

“You’d have had to deck him after I did,” she says with a wry laugh. “Arkan saved him by appearing.”

We sit in uncomfortable silence for a moment. I lay a big arm along the back of the booth, looking across the table at her. “He staying with us?”

She shakes her head. “Thankfully, no. He opted for the wraith motel, last I heard. Although, I suppose his plans could change.”

“The gods are smiling on us if he doesn’t,” I say. “The idea of him under Annabelle’s roof makes me want to rip something in half.”

She pokes at the menu on the tabletop. “Annabelle has strong opinions. If I don’t like someone, or if she doesn’t, she runs them off.”

Manorin laughs, crimson eyes going wide. “Really? I’m surprised that’s allowed to happen.”

Cath shrugs, leaning over the booth to grin at me. “Well, she and I are in lockstep, and I’d rather a bad review than deal with a shit customer.”

“Heard.” I glance around, sucking at my teeth before returning to her with a frustrated look. Reaching across the table, I pull both of her hands into mine. “Why does it feel like everything suddenly got a lot harder? I’m sorry for that, Sunshine.”

“We’ll figure it out,” she says. “It’ll work out one way or another.”

I sit back and cock my head to the side, staring quietly at her. “That belief in something working out is a very minotaur-like approach, Sunshine. I was serious last night and this morning when I shared my feelings. That hasn’t changed.”

She strokes my palm with the fingers of one hand. “I know. Me too. I just don’t want you giving things up, Nor. Never.” Her expression goes fierce. “Never, ever.”