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THIRTY ONE

Olivia

I’m surprised when Noah asks me to meet him at University Park.

I expected him to choose the beach or a restaurant, not the local park.

He waves at me from across the street as I approach, with a light backpack slung over his shoulder and wearing a short-sleeved button-down shirt with a loud floral design.

The shirt makes me laugh and his big smile warms me up from the inside.

When I cross the street, he takes my bag as well. “Thank you for coming.”

I lean up for a kiss, but instead of meeting my lips as I expect, he brushes his against my cheek. “I hope you’re ready. We’re learning to paint today.”

“Oh really? That sounds like fun.”

I continue to be amazed as we join a small group of people already standing in the park in a shady spot with easels and brushes at the ready. “Wow, Noah, this is really lovely. How did you find out about this?”

He just smiles, looking very pleased with himself, and I turn my attention for a while to the teacher. I do my best to follow her directions, but it’s not easy, and pretty soon my canvas looks like a paint factory exploded on it.

I look across to Noah’s to find him scowling at it. “This would be easier if I was shifted,” he complains.

I giggle. I can’t help myself. We’ve been painting the landscape and Noah has chosen to focus on the university building in the background, but his building is very lopsided and a long smudge of green tarnishes one wall. “What happened there?” I point.

“It’s harder than it looks, OK?”

“Oh I know. Look at mine.”

He does. Then looks back at his. “Mine’s worse.”

“It just needs a little…” Reaching across, I try to paint a brown branch under the smudge of green to make it look like the leafy branch of a tree is cutting across the foreground. That only makes things worse.

Noah’s mouth drops open in a look of mock outrage. “Oh, is that right?”

“Maybe.” I give him my best sorry not sorry look.

All of a sudden, he swipes across my painting with bright red. Then yellow and orange and the paint explosion turns into a paint-nami. We’re both giggling, and somehow I end up with paint on my cheek and Noah has a splodge on his nose.

The teacher gives us strange looks at the end of the lesson, and I hope she’s not too offended.

I’m sure having two adults giggling through the session like a couple of school kids was not her idea of a pleasant Saturday morning, but she thanks us for coming and asks if we want to take our art home.

We glance at each other. “Uh, no. You can keep them. Thank you again for a great lesson. Sorry we were terrible students.”

Afterward, we sit on the edge of the fountain and eat the lunch Noah packed for us.

He takes only a few bites of his sandwich and sets it aside, whereas I polish off the whole thing and lick my fingers. Like everything Noah makes, it’s delicious.

I look around at him. “You’re not hungry?”

“Did I mess this up already? I didn’t mean to make the lesson into a joke. It’s just been a long time since I tried to date anyone.”

I reach over and take his hand. “You didn’t mess it up. This is perfect.”

“Well don’t worry. There’s still time.”

I can’t decide whether it’s adorable or frustrating to see this side of him. The vulnerable, wounded side that won’t allow him to believe things will work out the way he wants. And, really, can I blame him?

An idea pops into my head, and I act on impulse. “You can’t spoil it if I already have!” I give him a huge shove into the fountain and watch as his eyes widen and he topples backward.

He shifts as soon as he hits the water and there’s a gasp from a passerby, but they don’t stop and no one shouts. People around here are used to seeing monsters, especially on campus.

I’m still laughing at his outraged look when he rises on his tentacles, water pouring from his body and down the ruin of his shorts. Then I see the look in his eye and realize I might have miscalculated.

I squeal as he launches himself toward the edge. I don’t stop to wait for him to vault the side of the fountain. I’m already running, breathless with laughter, excitement and just a little bit of fear making my legs pump faster than usual.

It makes no difference.

A moment later, wet arms catch me and I’m hauled over his shoulder. “Don’t start something you aren’t prepared to finish, Zeston.”

I’m squealing with laughter as he marches me back to the fountain and tosses me in. By this point, I’ve forgotten about who is watching. I’ve forgotten about the park and the failed painting lesson and everything except the hungry look in his eyes.

Noah helps me to my feet, not releasing me even when there’s no longer any risk of my slipping again. My hair is wet and plastered to my face. My clothes are dripping.

I don’t care.

When he slips his hand around the back of my neck, I have already longed for his kiss for what feels like an eternity.

I missed this. I miss it every moment his lips aren’t on mine. I love his taste, the firm feel of his mouth and the sensuous movement of his tongue. For a guy who spent so many years doggedly refusing to kiss anyone, he sure kisses like he’s had a lot of practice.

I’m caught up in it just the way I always am when we’re together. Only this time it doesn’t feel like hanging over a precipice. This time it feels like coming home.

Eventually, he pulls away and rests his forehead against mine. “I’m going to stop now before I do something in public you’ll regret.”

I giggle. “Who said anything about regret?”

“Liv!” The word is growled like a warning, but it only sends a shiver of excitement through me imagining what he’d like to do to me. I guess it’s probably best that we stop now. Even though I don’t want to.

The tip of a tentacle brushes against my cheek and I smile. “I do love seeing you like this. Do all kraken glow so beautifully when they shift?”

His eyes flick away from mine, and I wonder for a moment if I’ve said the wrong thing. “There’s um…there’s something I should have probably told you about that. Only it never seemed like the right time.”

“There is?”

He sighs. “Look, I held off because I didn’t want this to change your decision. I want you to choose me because you want me. Not because you think you should or because of fate.”

“Fate?” I echo.

“I glow when I’m around you and only you. The rest of the time my tentacles are as dull as the next male.”

“You… wait. What does it mean?”

“It means you’re my fated mate. Or that’s the legend anyway. I never believed it. Not until I met you and everything kind of fell into place.”

I’m glad my cheeks are still wet from the fountain, because it helps hide the fact that suddenly I’m crying in public. Though I guess by now we’ve made such a spectacle of ourselves a little crying won’t matter.

“Shit.” Noah scowls. “See, I knew I’d mess this up.”

I reach up to caress his face and his scowl softens. “Noah, don’t you see? I’ve been looking for a reason to believe you. To understand why you would chase me halfway across the world. To trust.”

He shakes his head. “This isn’t it. Liv, I can do better. I want to do better.”

“Shhh.” I cover his mouth with my hand. “I know and you will. But I can see from the way you didn’t tell me that you mean to. Now, are you going to take me back to your hotel so we can dry off and then get wet all over again?”

The frown breaks into a grin and he lifts me and carries me toward the edge of the fountain and our things. “Fuck yes. You just say the word, and I’ll take you wherever you want. But please consider asking me to take you home with me to Australia.”