30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Winnie

Telke puts the paper bags on the coffee table as we situate ourselves in my living room. He has a wide grin on his naughty face...

I swear he is going to comment about...

He points at my books on the coffee table, which have been there since last night and before, which I didn't have time to hide. "It's your books. They are still here."

"Well, yeah... I read, duh."

He reaches for one of those. I grab his hand, but his other hand reaches for another book. I try to slap that hand but yet another snags a book, this time successfully.

He chuckles as he flips the book open. "You'll need more hands and skills to stop me."

I roll my eyes. "Fine. This is just unfair."

He flips the pages. "Hm... Words."

"What else are you expecting? Pictures? Porn?"

He laughs and puts the book down. "Not really. I just wondered what's under the cover."

"You didn't even read a word."

"Yeah, I don't know the language."

My eyes light up and I let out a breath. Right, there are languages that are more native to different species and some common ones everyone knows. "Good."

He narrows his eyes on me. "Now, are you planning how to hide things from me? You know that I can read it with my phone."

I pat his chest when his shoulders are a bit too high up there for me to reach without standing on my tip-toe. "I know you can, and you probably talk perfect Kot'oll-ean, or something you call your language. I'm just finding it funny. It's okay. I run into that a lot in the library too."

He huffs. "Now you make me wonder what the books are about."

My cheeks heat up. I'm not going to tell him about that... My romance books are fine, and he doesn't need to know that much.

He winks. "Is it about human females finding their strong mate?"

"Stop staring at my book!" I take the whole pile and head to my office room. He is just here to annoy me.

"Hey, you are the one inviting me over. You're also the one putting the books on the table."

"No, I'm just the one who didn't put the books away!" I shout at him as I put my books back onto the shelf.

"Haha, there's no need to be ashamed, though." He is standing at the door, peeking in with his hands on the door frame.

"Now you remind me of a monster peeking through my door."

"Hey, that's not nice, I'm not a monster."

I roll my eyes at him. "You are a creepy monster."

I go up to him after settling the last book. Standing close to him reminds me of another reason why he annoys me. He is a bit too tall, and I can't make myself intimidating in front of him. It's hard to be concerned about a being that's only his chest's height.

I poke his chest. "Stop making fun of my books."

He spreads his arms to the side. "Hey, I didn't. I'm just curious. Speaking of which, we should get started with the tacos first."

"Are you trying to bribe me with those?"

He winks. "Maybe."

We head to the coffee table. He unwraps the tacos. "Here, you have to try this. The restaurant may not look very enticing, but I promise they do great tacos."

I take a bite. This restaurant used a kind of spice that I can't name, but it mixes the gamey meat and something else that's spicy together, mashing them well together. There is something crunchy too, it doesn't feel like lettuce, but I like it regardless. They even put in melted cheese, which is my favorite. The tortilla is still warm, making the taco a nice and comfy hug for the stomach.

Telke watches me with eager eyes. I'm not sure whether he's waiting for my comment on the taco or waiting for me to give him my taco, which isn't going to happen.

I swallow my food, still enjoying the tasty taco lingering. "It's great."

"Just great?"

"Amazingly great."

"Good, you have fine taste." He picks up his taco with a grin, munching it down.

I like to watch him eat. He looks so happy. Maybe the restaurant is creepy, but he enjoys that place. The environment... may fit the adventurous type, which is as far away as I can be.

Ossa meows and hops onto the couch, seemingly asking for some tacos. I shake my head at him. "No, you can't eat this."

He meows again and invites himself onto my lap.

Telke chuckles. "Is he hungry?"

"No way, I fed him in the morning. Not to mention the auto feeder is on. He is fine. He's just..." I lift my taco to dodge from Ossa's paw. "He's just here to make sure I won't get anything done too easily. You know? Like an orange cat."

"You must love him." Telke pats Ossa when he is still enjoying his taco. Maybe I want more hands just for that purpose. Then I can keep Ossa away from my workplace while still working.

Ossa meows and finds his way over to Telke's lap.

"Whoa!"

I laugh, almost spilling my food. "Right, be careful of your balls. Ossa hasn't learned to be mindful of that with me."

"Yes, I can see that." Telke carefully keeps Ossa sitting further away from his stomach and his crotch. "I can understand that. How did you end up with this cat?"

I finish my mouthful of food before I choke. I pick up the soda water and gulp down on it. "I... He's been here for quite some time already."

He blinks. I know I'm not answering the question, but he can't blame me for that. If it's up to me, I don't want to mention that, and I don't want a reminder of my past; our past.

I take another bite of my taco. "If you don't want your taco, I'll finish it for you."

"No way." He takes another bite, but... He is thinking about that now...

I don't want to keep hiding things from him, but there are things I don't want to remember. It is fine not to tell him everything. He's not telling me everything about his life anyway.

The tacos disappear soon enough. I'm full from the serving size. The last bit is quite some, but the taco is so great that it's not much of a stretch to finish it.

"Telke, are you full?"

"Yes." He pats his stomach with a grin. "I love that restaurant, but it's designed for bigger beings. Your feet probably won't touch the floor if we sit at the bar tables."

"Are you mocking my height?"

"You mocked my arms and how I'm a monster too."

I huff and roll my eyes. "That's different."

"Right, you're just envious of the things I can do with my arms." He flexes and turns to me.

Ossa shudders and hops off Telke's lap, probably finding something strange is going on. Ossa goes to the kitchen where the auto feeder is located.

I get off the couch. The autofeeder should be out of cat food by now. I'll have to refill it.

He grunts. "So, both of you are leaving, huh?"

I laugh. "I'm feeding the cat. Don't worry, you aren't that influential."

"Haha." He sits back with his arms folded, putting up a failed grumpy face when a smile lingers on his face. He can try to mess with me, but he won't succeed.

I open the cupboard for the bag of cat food when a shadow hovers over me. I duck to the side in case that's Ossa trying to hop onto the counter, only...

"Be careful."

I run into Telke's arms...

"Maybe you're the one who should be careful. Geez... You walk like a ghost."

"Now, I'm not a monster but a ghost."

"Yeah, you scared me. Showing up without a noise, huh?"

"I want to help you."

I roll my eyes. He is standing a bit too close. It's a bit too tempting to let him hold me with those arms. My cheeks are heating up and that's not helping anyone. "The cat food is on the top shelf.

"Sure." He opens the cupboard and takes the bag. "Why do you store it this high up? Is Ossa going to steal it otherwise?"

"He hasn't managed that, and I hope he won't."

Ossa meows, seemingly complaining.

Telke chuckles. "That's a grumpy cat."

"A hungry and grumpy cat."

I pour cat food for Ossa while setting up the auto feeder for tomorrow.

Telke is a mere step behind me. Still a bit too close. His heat almost torches me even though we aren't touching.

"If you don't stand to the side, I'm going to bump into you."

"Oh, sorry."

I straighten and give him the bag of cat food. Ossa is already munching on his food, not paying attention to us anymore.

Telke takes the bag and puts it back.

My heart skips a beat. This almost feels natural. If I were with Telke, we'd be doing this together on a daily basis.

He heads to the living room and doesn't seem to be giving any other thoughts.

I follow him back to the couch. He sits and stares at the television ahead. I join his side, but keep my distance from him.

I can't. We shouldn't.

Silence lingers. Do I tell him to leave? Is that rude?

But I want him to stay around. Yet...

Maybe he wants to leave.

Do I ask him?

He clears his throat before I can put the words together. "How was the floatball practice today? Did you enjoy it? It's okay if you still don't like floatball."

"It's fine. I scored a point, so that's pretty good."

"Except you almost smacked someone else on the head. You also almost got smacked in the face by the floatball."

"We should have helmets for that."

"Not really. No one is getting smacked by the ball. In terms of average speed, floatball isn't even fast. Usually, only kids use them."

"You just love to mess with me." I smack his shoulder and he wraps his arms around me.

I suck in a breath and freeze in my spot. He gives warm hugs that are a bit too hard to resist and...

He lets go of me. "I'm sorry."

I lean onto him, not wanting to think about the consequences. How bad can it be anyway? I don't have to fall for him. "It's okay."

He wraps an arm across my back and holds me to his side. "You know what? I really hope you'd feel safe to tell me what's in your head, someday."

"So, you're saying that I'm keeping things from you."

"Yes. I understand, though. Maybe we aren't that close." He lets out a soft sigh, it is so soft that I almost missed it.

I snuggle with him, enjoying his warmth. I can't find the right words to tell him what I think. He doesn't seem to be in a hurry, and I'm surely not complaining about his presence.

It is a soft and comfortable silence. My eyelids grow heavier and heavier. I'm always sleepy after meals, and this isn't an exception.

His hand on me seems to get heavy too. Maybe he is also tired.

It will be silly for us to fall asleep on the couch together, but I don't want to disturb what we have.

"Winnie..."

Do I reply?

"Are you asleep?" He strokes my side and I like that.

He waits for another second before he sighs. "I hope... I hope I'm not too dumb to be your mate. I'm... never the smartest male in the room."

Oh, I don't care about that. Who needs to be the smartest anyway? I just want someone who will love me and take care of me.

Well... I can take care of myself, but I want to have someone who will be there for me when I need him.

And... Someone who won't lie to me and take my things.

I just want to be fine.

He shifts and holds me closer. "Winnie..."

Maybe he is checking to make sure I'm asleep.

I guess he really isn't the brightest if he thinks I'd stay asleep when he keeps talking. He lowered his voice, and he wasn't loud, but I could wake up regardless, and that was if I were even asleep to begin with.

He lets out another sigh without saying another word. Maybe he figured it out. Or he got bored talking into thin air.

He murmurs. "I think we'd be perfect for each other."

He moves some more, seemingly getting comfortable on the couch.

I want him... But I shouldn't.

I...

"Winnie... You woke up?"

Is he testing me?

He nudges me and I pretend to be awake.

"Huh?"

He grins as I turn to him. "You fell asleep."

I rub my eyes. "I guess I did. How about you? Are you also tired?"

He still has that tempting smile on his face. "I'm tired, but not too tired to be here with you."

I pat his stomach. "Are you too hungry to fall asleep? Or... Are you feeling well from..."

"How long was that? I'm fine. The accident feels like a lifetime ago already." He leans closer with his eyes sparkling with fire. "Are you looking for an excuse to give me another check-up?"

I huff and smack his shoulder. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Well, I'm thinking about check-ups, you're the one thinking about something else."

"I guess you aren't that smart after all."

"Hey!" He scowls at me. "I'm not that bad."

Did he realize I heard him? No?

I shrug. "I... Believe me, you don't want to be with me and my past hook-ups."

"No way. You can't scare me." He holds my cheek in his big hands. He also holds my waist with his other big hands. "Tell me about that."

"So... Do you run a stupid business somewhere?"

He shakes his head. "I'm a floatball coach and sports teacher who works with you in the school. What are you talking about?" He glances at the coffee table. "Do humans get drunk on soda water? That's weird."

I snort a laugh. He is crazy in the room for sure. "No, I'm not drunk."

"I don't have a business to the side. Come on..."

"Do you gamble?"

"Haha, no. Even though I love floatball, I don't bet on anything. I'm just going to lose my money. Never tried that."

Um...

He says, "But that's about me. That's not something about you that'll stop me from wanting you. I don't even understand that myself, but I just know."

"Know what?"

He winks. "That we're good for each other."

I tilt my head to the side. "I'm not going to trust you."

Compared to my ex who scammed me of everything, Telke seems to be such straightforward and... not that decorative with his words and everything.

"What's not to trust me with?" He surely looks innocent enough. He narrows his eyes on me. "Did something happen in the past? Did someone hurt you? Someone lied to you?"

He grunts and moves, but he remembers I'm cuddling with him soon enough that he stops getting off the couch. He flexes his arms. "Where's that guy? I'm going to punch him for you. No one gets to hurt you and—"

"Stop."

He stares at me and blinks, stopping almost immediately.

I shrug. "I don't want to talk about that."

"Oh... Okay... But... I don't know what happened, but I'm not the one hurting you. I'm never going to hurt you."

Maybe he won't, yet...

I point at the kitchen, where Ossa's probably in. " Are you going to sell the cat?'

"Huh? Sell the what?"

I'm going to say something more, but I can't. My throat is tight as if I'm thrust into water and drowning.

"Winnie! Hey!"