Page 10 of Siren in Love (In Love #1)
Corvin
Four months later.
M ike stood at the now familiar kitchen table in Corvin’s old apartment.
It had grown echoey over the course of the day as it had never been before.
The box in front of him was one of the last. Corvin had stressed that he didn’t want it squished.
When a librarian cataloged something, they did it properly, and on occasion, it turned out to be treasure.
Mike looked over his shoulder at the open door. He couldn’t hear Corvin in the stairwell yet, so he was probably still downstairs loading the rented moving van. Taking a break before going up again maybe. Mike turned his attention back to the box and lifted the lid.
“So these are your precious memories, huh?”
Over the course of the last four months, Mike had learned that Corvin was more of a romantic than he’d ever admit to being, but still, what his lover considered precious surprised Mike.
Sure, there was the strip of silly, cute photos they’d taken in one of the booths at the Old Church—one of a pair, this one with Corvin sitting on Mike’s lap and looking adorable in the best of ways.
It had been the night when he’d gotten his stitches out, when Doctor Morales had given them an approving nod, saying something about how she was glad to see the two of them were still a couple.
However, there was also the napkin Mike had folded for breakfast after their first night spent entangled in this very apartment.
Corvin’s taste in tableware was, to say the least, eclectic flea-market chic, and his napkins were superhero themed.
Mike had folded one of those into a flower to match the plates and cups.
“So this is why you wouldn’t use it, huh?” Mike chuckled as he carefully lifted the flower-shaped napkin out of the box. “Didn’t expect that.”
The menu with the handwritten cocktail voucher was also in the box, as well as the ticket stubs from an exhibit about witches that had run in the New Elvenswood Museum of Folklore and Local History.
That one had worried Mike, given New Elvenswood had plenty of witches, but luckily, they hadn’t run into any. The memory alone was enough to make guilt well up inside of Mike.
“I should tell him. I have to tell him. He’s about to move in with me, I should tell him why I can’t stop humming when he’s around.”
“What did you say?” Corvin asked from the doorway.
Mike dropped the museum stubs back in Corvin’s treasure box. “Hey! You snuck up those stairs.”
Corvin ran a hand through his hair. It wasn’t as shiny as it normally was, given that moving was a dusty job, but in Mike’s eyes, Corvin was as sparkling as ever.
“I did no such thing, Pineapple Mike. You were mumbling while going through my stuff. I told you it’s the ‘Don’t Touch, Important!’ Box.”
“Uh, well, I had to make sure.”
Corvin walked to one of the now empty shelves, leaned against it, and crossed his arms. “Make sure of what?”
“That you didn’t miss anything. We can put the other photos from the Old Church in there if you want.”
Corvin chuckled. “The ones for which I made you sit on my lap? The ones that look so damn good on your fridge? Keep dreaming.” Corvin cocked his head in that way that said he’d just had an idea then joined Mike, reached into the box, and picked up the photos.
“Actually, we can put these next to it. That way, I get to look at them every day. Now that we live together. After four months.”
Mike started humming and rubbed Corvin’s back. “We should thank your landlord for kicking you out. And not too long ago, we probably would have already been married after four months.”
Corvin snorted. “Not to each other. To our beards. And we’d be neighbors who fuck.”
Well, a siren would’ve taken you to a lonely island to keep you safe, and you’d be living there with other siren lovers, but that’s dark, maybe as dark as all the human heteronormative shit.
“Right. So you have to agree that this is much better. And I meant it when I said I’d happily put together a contract if you’d feel safer that way. ”
Corvin sighed, dropping his spiky verbal armor, and leaning against Mike. “No, we don’t need that.”
Mike glanced at the place where the bed had been. They’d sold it to a college kid who’d picked it up earlier that morning. Just one more reason to get this done and get you to my—to our bed.
“Okay, but if you change your mind about the contract—”
“Oh-em-gee, stop it. You’re one of the good ones, I know. Which is why you’ll agree with me that we should get going. It’s October. Why does it have to be so fucking cold in October?”
“I have no idea. It seems patently unfair.”
Corvin nodded and used the motion to rub his nose against Mike’s chest, inhaling his scent. “Exactly, that’s what I’m saying. I’m taking this box. Can you carry the books?”
There were a few more boxes full of them, but most were already in the van downstairs.
“Sure. Wouldn’t want to leave any part of your library behind, honey.”
Corvin snuggled against Mike. “Damn right you wouldn’t.”
Mike hugged Corvin close when he heard the note of sadness in his voice. Corvin had been to Mike’s place, and the lack of shelving hadn’t escaped him. That Mike had built a surprise around that was a secret he’d managed to keep from Corvin so far, one he was excited to reveal.
I can’t wait to hear his voice when he realizes what I did. “Do you want to stay a little longer?” Mike asked, wrapping his arms around Corvin.
“No.” Corvin hugged Mike back. “I love you. More than the books. It’s going to be okay.”
Mike leaned in and kissed the man who’d stolen his heart without warning. “Yeah, it is.”