Chapter 22

Was I worried about the fact that my entire circus was about to meet my boyfriend? Yes, but I was also excited because I knew they would love him.

I couldn't imagine anyone hating Tidun, and that was also why I was baffled by how hostile Aisha acted toward him. When I confronted her about it, she asked if I knew who he actually was.

She was a bit surprised to learn that he had, in fact, told me about him being a shifter and the man he was with the day we bumped into him. Yeah, it sucked that he was with someone else the night before, but I wasn't that petty of a person to hold that against him when we didn't even know each other then, and Aisha shouldn't hold that against him either.

When I texted her about getting lunch with us, she replied pretty quickly with an affirmative, so that was a good sign, right?

One down. Now just the rest of the circus to go.

I briefly mentioned to my parents that I was seeing someone last week when I kept disappearing after work. They were worried naturally, but didn't pry much. I knew it had to have taken all of Mom's willpower to not bombard me with questions or demand to meet the person in question.

It might be unfair that I was introducing Tidun to everyone else first, but I figured if good words were going around about Tidun, then it might make it easier for them to accept him when the time came.

Was it shady and a bit underhanded? Yes. But I didn't care if it meant it would increase the chance of them not objecting to this relationship. While I was an adult, their opinion meant a lot to me.

The purple mess tent was already bustling when we arrived, which wasn't surprising since Rhett's meals were to die for. What I wasn't expecting was the entire tent to go almost silent when Tidun and I entered.

All eyes were on us, and I felt like one of those main characters who had a complete makeover and became unrecognizable. I guessed me being with a guy was something new.

"Uh, hi, everyone. This is my boyfriend, Tidun. I hope it's okay I brought him to try the food," I said, trying to end the awkwardness as quickly as possible. The last question I aimed at our ringmaster, who was walking toward us with his mate.

Seven was a pretty easy-going guy, but his word was the final law at the circus. He looked Tidun up and down, then stared at him like he was seeing past him. It was pretty unnerving, but Seven did that a lot, so I didn't think too much about it.

"A friend of yours is always welcome. It's a pleasure to meet you," Seven finally said with a smile. I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief at our ringmaster's acceptance of him. That would make things a lot easier going forward.

His mate stepped forward and grinned. "It's nice to meet you again, officially this time."

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Tidun looked confused, which only had me giggling.

"He's Peanut, the black cat," I said when the other two only gave each other a knowing smile instead of explaining.

"Please, call me Indy."

Tidun's mouth hung open so comically that it had us all chuckling. It wasn't until another beat later that he finally regained his composure and exchanged greetings with him.

We spoke a few more words before I brought Tidun to the back of the tent where Rhett had the food on warmers for us. The mess tent operated buffet style.

Rhett was standing by the food warmers, an empty tray in hand and a huge grin on his face as he watched us walk over. "Made quite an entrance. And with a cutie too," he said with a wink to me.

A low rumbling came from the silent man standing behind Rhett. "Aww, babe, you know you'll always be my cute little ember. I'm just saying I'm happy Conall found a cutie for himself."

That seemed to appease the firedancer. A smile tugged at his lips as he looked at his boyfriend with so much love. Despite having known Coal for many years, I could probably count the number of times I'd seen him smile on two hands. That was all before he met Rhett, of course. He'd found someone who made life worth smiling for.

I snuck a glance at Tidun, who was watching the two with awe. It was a similar look he gave Seven and Indy. Nudging him in the stomach, I asked, "Everything okay?"

He shook himself out of the daze he was in and replied, "Yeah, I'm just not used to couples showing affection for each other so openly."

Rhett laughed, placed the tray in his hand down, and wrapped an arm around Coal's middle. "You'll have to get used to it if you're sticking around. PDA isn't uncommon here."

Tidun turned to me, staring me straight in my eyes as he said, "I guess I'll have to get used to it."

Arrow straight to my heart.

I loved his straightforwardness. He didn't leave me guessing if he actually wanted to be here with me or not. While the misunderstanding trope could be fun in movies, I much preferred the no-bullshit approach he took with our relationship.

We got our food and made our way to Aisha, who was sitting alone at a table in the corner. She had her head down, probably reading a novel on her phone. Her favorite pastime was crocheting while listening to an audiobook.

"Hi, Ai!" I said, taking a seat beside her. It wasn't until Tidun sat across from us that I'd realized I'd done it, but I always sat beside Aisha and that wasn't going to change just because I had a boyfriend now. Tidun didn't seem bothered by it and smiled at the both of us.

"Pleasure to see you again, Aisha," he said.

"Mmhmm," was all Aisha said in reply. I shot her my best puppy dog eyes, and she sighed before adding, "Good to see you."

She glanced at me and her frown deepened when she saw just how wide my smile was. I could tell she wanted to roll her eyes at me but was holding back.

"I heard you and Conall like to explore the cities you travel to?" Tidun asked, obviously trying to fill the silence.

Aisha paused for a beat before opening her mouth. I shot her a pleading look, begging her to play nice when I knew she was tempted to give one-word answers. Aisha was a very important part of my life, and a platonic soulmate that I couldn't live without, so I wanted, no, needed them to get along.

She must have seen the seriousness in my expression, because I could see the effort she was putting in as she replied, "Yeah, seeing new things is good for the soul. Do you, uh, like traveling?"

I was bouncing with excitement as I listened to them have an actual conversation about some of their favorite places they'd visited. Hell, Aisha even smiled—however small it was—once when Tidun told us about the little night market he came across during one of his business trips overseas.

Tidun must have seen Aisha's interest as he asked, "There's an underwater night market every Tuesday. It's not as big as the Goblin Market, but you can still find lots of interesting trinkets. I can take you two for a visit? We can make it an overnight trip, and I'll show you my favorite underwater spots."

That sounded like such a fun idea. I'd never been to the Goblin Market but heard how fun it was from some of the fae in the circus. It would be so cool to visit something similar, and by how bright Aisha's dark eyes shone, I could tell she felt the same.

There was just one thing...

"But we can't breathe underwater," I said with a slump of my shoulders. Maybe Tidun was around so many aquatic paranormals that he'd forgotten humans needed air to breathe. And as for lynx shifters? Maybe shifters had an ability that allowed them to hold their breaths for a really, really long time? I honestly didn't know since I'd never seen Aisha inside a large body of water.

Tidun chuckled. "Don't worry. We have magical tools that'll take care of that for you." He glanced at Aisha, a twinkle in his eyes as he added, "And you'll be completely dry too."

That sealed the deal, and Aisha was quick to agree with the plan. Her facial expression didn't change much, but she looked much more engaged in the conversation now. Her body was pressed up against the table as she leaned in and listened to Tidun describe the underwater market.

I smiled as I watched them engrossed in their conversation, knowing they'd be good friends in no time. Like I'd said, there was no way anyone could hate Tidun.