20. Kadia

Kaida stepped out of the bedroom to find Arlo staring at her from down the hall. She could sense him there before his earthly scent wafted into her nose. She turned to face him, noticing that the plant toward the end of the hall was vibrant and practically dancing in the presence of Arlo.

"Hi, Arlo," she said before turning back toward the stairs.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

Kaida’s stomach immediately turned to knots. After discussing with Beckett about her having multiple mates, she didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Even a day to let it sink in would have sufficed before she ran into Arlo or Esen.

I should have known I wouldn’t have been granted that since I live in the same house as them.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

Really, Kaida? You ask that of all things? You know exactly what he wants to talk about.

Arlo put his hands in his pockets and rocked himself as he looked down at the ground. "Did Beckett talk to you?"

"Yes," she responded, her voice sounding sharper than intended.

Arlo grimaced at her voice. There was a chance that Kaida hurt him by sounding so crass at his question.

"So, I guess you aren’t really open to the information about having multiple mates?"

Kaida heard someone step inside the house. It could be Esen or Blaze since Beckett was still in the shower. The idea of Blaze overhearing the conversation that the two of them were having in the hall made her shift her weight from one foot to the next. She almost jumped back inside her room just to avoid Blaze if it was him.

"We can step into my room if that would make you more comfortable," Arlo offered.

"Sounds awesome," Kaida said as she dashed down the hall and stepped into Arlo’s room before he could say anything else.

Once inside, Kaida sucked in a breath. Arlo’s room was absolutely stunning. The walls were painted a soft green that felt inviting. There were plants all around the room and a few vines climbed all across the ceiling. There were flowers in bloom that could touch the stream of light that came through the window. Even his bed felt inviting. It was a pale golden brown wood with what looked to be carvings embedded in it. His comforter was a deeper brown than the wood, but it was puffed up to look as if sitting upon it would feel like sitting on a cloud.

"So... are you?"

Kaida turned to him, realizing that she had stepped further into the room than Arlo did as she scanned it. He still had his hands in his pockets and nervously rocked himself as he waited for her answer.

"Oh, sorry. I kind of got caught up in how beautiful your room is." Kaida straightened herself to give herself a second to regain some confidence. "I’m not going to lie to you. This is a bit overwhelming. First I was rejected and plopped on this island like trash. Then I was given a new mate and went through all of that with Beckett. It happened so fast that I couldn’t really get a chance to take a breath and revel in the fact that I had a new mate. Now I am being told I have multiple? It’s just so much to absorb."

Arlo nodded and continued to look at the ground. She could sense him feeling the possibility of her rejecting him. Kaida did not even want to give the illusion that she planned to reject him.

"Look, Arlo. I am open to having multiple mates. I can feel it inside of my soul like I feel Beckett’s. There is something there. It’s not like Beckett’s, where I can feel where he is in the house and feel his emotions. It’s more like...a feeling that someone is there. That you are there, standing next to us, waiting for it to open up so we can nourish it, like the sun and water do a plant."

Kaida was trying to make her words come out into a metaphor with plants, but it wasn’t working. As the words left her mouth, Kaida made a face, and her cheeks felt warm.

Arlo laughed and tried to cover his face to hide the fact he did. Kaida’s heart skipped a beat at the sound. She had never heard Arlo laugh before. It felt like it came from his belly, sounding joyous, and Kaida couldn’t help but to laugh back. It was infectious.

Arlo waved his hand in front of his face, still trying to cover up that he laughed, "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh."

"It’s okay! It came out all wrong. I hope you got what I meant, though."

"You can feel the bond there?"

Kaida nodded, her cheeks were still warm, so she dropped her gaze. "Yeah. I can. I just need some time to get used to the idea. Well...more like...time to get to know you. It’s not like I have a lot of pleasant memories with you."

Kaida sighed, that didn’t come out how I meant either. JEEZ! Why was I given more than one guy to handle? I suck at this.

"That’s fair. I was an idiot and just followed instead of making my own decisions. I get it. You need time to get to know me, trust me even."

"Yeah, exactly."

"Can I take you out tonight, then? Nothing major. Just dinner."

Kaida smiled at him. His asking her out made her stomach flip. He still wouldn’t meet her gaze, so she closed the distance between them and kissed his cheek before she chickened out.

"I’d love that."

This time, Arlo blushed. He told her that they could walk down to town together, and he would take her to one of his favorite restaurants. Kaida walked out of his room and felt Blaze before she saw him. He was staring at her from the staircase that led to Esen’s and Blaze’s rooms on the third floor. She did her best to pay him no mind as she walked down the hallway. The growl that she heard from behind her almost made her stop in her tracks. Thankfully, her dragon took a little control and made her legs continue walking.

You don’t need to respond. Arlo will handle it.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Kaida heard Arlo begin to tell Blaze to knock his shit off. As much as she wanted to listen, Kaida continued her way to the kitchen. Even though Arlo planned to take her to dinner, her afternoon session with Beckett left her famished.

The muffled conversation between Arlo and Blaze from where she was in the house was distracting. Kaida did not want to hear any of it, so she hummed a song that her mother used to sing to her. It did its job, and she was able to eat a small sandwich she threw together. Within a minute, the whole sandwich was gone. Kaida didn’t taste the turkey and cheese because she practically swallowed it. Her stomach made a growl that could give her dragon a run for her money when Arlo stepped into the kitchen.

"You sure you don’t want to go now? Sounds like you could use some food."

There was some stomping down the stairs, and Kaida didn’t need for the person to come into view to know who it was.

"Sounds good to me."

"Go through that door," Arlo said, pointing to a door off to the refrigerator’s side. Kaida wasted no time opening it and stepping through it. Arlo was right behind her, closing the door behind him as he came out, and she heard the weirdest sound that caught her attention. When she looked back, Arlo had used his Terrain magic to wrap a vine around the door handle. There was a small wiggle from the doorknob, and Kaida felt Blaze’s presence on the other side.

"Care to join me on a small flight?" Kaida asked, pushing on her wings to pop out of her back, and took off just in time to hear the door break down. Arlo was beside her, and his deep green wings spanned out to catch the wind to soar down toward town. There was some shouting from down below, and Kaida glanced back to see if Blaze was tailing them. Much to her surprise, he wasn’t.

"Why isn’t he coming after us? He sounded mad," Kaida shouted over the whooshing breeze.

Arlo smiled smugly. "I might have asked the vines to keep him on the ground."

Kaida cackled and followed Arlo to the restaurant where he wanted to take her. The air temperature had dropped to a cooler one while she was in the house. It was welcomed after being on edge all day. Before she knew it, Arlo dipped down toward the ground, signaling Kaida to do the same. When they landed, Kaida recognized where she was and smiled. Azulia’s shop wasn’t far down the road. That gave Kaida a small amount of confidence that she didn’t have before. This meant that, if this date would go south, she could just run to Azulia’s shop.

The restaurant had yellow stones and green accents and an awning above the door. There was no sign to tell her what the place was called, which Kaida remembered, in her own town, that meant this place should have the best food. It was more of a "hole in the wall" kind of place, somewhere where the food was beyond delicious, and the atmosphere would be perfect to forget the troubles that made the day terrible.

"This is one of the best places on the island. The owner makes everything from scratch, and a lot of it is local. He has his own place on a smaller island off the coast, raises his own animals, grows his own ingredients outside of the ones he buys from Azulia, and won’t use much from the mainland. I think only a few ingredients are even from the mainland."

How Arlo talked about the food made her mouth water. She knew exactly what he meant because the place she loved from back home was the same way. Her heart ached when thinking about her home. Images of her mom and dad popped into her mind. She mentally cursed at the person who created this island as her heart pined for her father’s jokes and her mother’s hugs.

The inside of the restaurant mimicked the outside. The owner seemed to be a minimalist and allowed the stone that was on the walls to shine with only a little decor. A plant that was in Arlo’s room was in the corner, and the vines grew up the wall. Only a small amount of it had reached the ceiling, but there were tiny blue flowers growing on the vines. The smells of onion, garlic, and butter filled the air, along with other spices and peppers mixed in. Kaida’s mouth salivated to the point of nearly dribbling out of her mouth.

Arlo must have noticed the drool because she heard him laugh simultaneously, feeling his eyes on her.

"What?"

"It’s like looking in the mirror any time I come here. I normally carry a napkin to ensure I don’t drool on the floor."

"Good to know I am not the only one who has had this reaction."

The waiter was an older dragon with light brown hair and honey-brown eyes. The man’s nose was a little crooked, and so was his smile when greeting them. His scent was smokey, telling her he was an Ember Dragon. Kaida shivered at the idea of being around another Ember, but Arlo put his hand on the small of her back to guide her to their seats, instantly calming her. Once they were at their table, Kaida was exposed to a beautiful view through the window next to them that showed a stunning garden with a fountain in the backyard of the restaurant. There were posts all around it where Kaida noticed some black chords wrapped around them. Arlo followed her gaze and made a sound that told her that he knew what they were.

"Garden lights. The owner has them all strung up to make the garden magical," Arlo mentioned before he took a sip of water, which the host had filled the glasses on the table with before departing.

Kaida lifted her eyebrows in response. "This is where you take all your dates, then?"

Arlo nearly choked on the water. "What?"

"This is where you take all of your dates when you want to make a good impression, right?"

Kaida attempted to hide her smirk. Poking fun at the boys about the possibility of them being with other girls seemed to get them all nervous. It was cute seeing Arlo try to produce the words to answer her question.

"I, uh... wouldn’t say that."

"Oh. So just the dates you really want to get into their pants."

Arlo turned a shade of red that reminded her of a tomato. Kaida giggled behind her glass before taking a sip of the water. Arlo opened his mouth and closed it several times before Kaida glanced at the menu. After another minute of Arlo stumbling over himself to attempt to answer the question, Kaida knew it was time to throw him a life raft.

"Arlo, I’m kidding. Nor do I care. Just like I don’t think you care that I am with Beckett; otherwise, we wouldn’t be here. The past is the past."

Arlo growled and leaned in a little. The heat in his eyes made Kaida rub her legs together as she felt the need to have him look at her like that when they were alone.

"That wasn’t very nice. I should warn you if you get too naughty, I’ll have to punish you."

No one had ever said anything like that to her in her life. The intensity of Arlo’s gaze made her shift in her seat as she tried not to climb over the table to sit on his lap.

Hmm, maybe I should test that out.