Dragon Soul

Chapter 13

13

The bus was already hurtling around the corner and I still hadn't made a decision. Was I staying in the city and going to Dragon Soul, or was I going to be a good daughter and head on home to Mum's latest vegetable medley.

When I put it like that, the decision was easy. And yet...the dutiful part of me rebelled against the very idea of being a rebel. I might play one online, but I knew that deep down I was a good dragon who'd stick to convention.

The last thought was the one that clinched it. Zara looked so happy and Marcus had seemed to be too from the short phone conversation and they didn't follow convention. So maybe I shouldn't either.

I checked my watch and cursed. Five to seven. I'd been on one of the later shifts and now only had a few minutes to get to Dragon Soul. Would Zara be angry I wasn't on time? She didn't seem like the type but with dragons it was sometimes hard to tell. Plus, I hadn't met enough water dragons to know what they were like for sure.

I spun on my heels and began to run, for once grateful Mum encouraged me to wear dowdy flat shoes. At least they didn't try and slip from my feet as I ran down the street and there was no chance of me tripping over them. I was amazed I'd remembered the way so easily but then, Earth Dragons had good senses of direction. For the most part anyway.

My pants grew more and more rapid and I had to stop to catch my breath. Wow, I hadn't realised how unfit I was until this moment. I checked my watch again. One minute to. I definitely wasn't going to make it in time. I didn't know why I was so worked up about getting there at that specific moment but something was telling me I should be. If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that I should trust my gut as much as I could. And my gut was screaming at me to get to the bar as quickly as I could.

Stupid Earth Dragon superstition. If I didn't have that then I wouldn't need to be so insistent on getting there.

Time almost passed like a ticking bomb in my head but I ignored it. I was trying my best to get there. Just one more corner to go and I'd only be five minutes late. It was impressive I'd even managed to get here in so little time. It had taken my twenty minutes last time.

The door to the bar loomed up in front of me and I rushed towards it, already reaching out to grab the handle. I glanced down at my watch even though I knew the time. In that one moment, I took my eyes off the door, which swung open and hit me in the face.

I stumbled backwards, losing my balance and collapsed on to my back. From the sting in my lip, I guessed I'd cut it but that was going to be the least of my worries.

Looking up, I saw the man who'd charged out the door and gasped.

"JJ." He crouched down at my side and began to fuss me. "Are you okay?"

"Porter?" I whispered, my voice coming out as something of a croak as I propped myself up on my elbows. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he ripped the bottom of his shirt and began dabbing it against my lips, mopping up the small trickle of blood I could feel running down my skin. His touch was surprisingly tender.

"I was waiting for you." His voice rumbled.

"How did you know I was coming?"

He glanced away.

"It was Zara, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

Anger should have welled up inside me and yet it wasn't. That didn't make any sense. She'd broken my trust and gone behind my back to tell him where I was, yet for the most part my inner-dragon seemed perfectly content with that.

"Why did you come?" I asked so softly I almost didn't think I'd spoken.

"I needed to see you. But can we do this inside?"

I did a weird half-shrug that surely looked odd as anything considering the position I was in but Porter didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

"Sure," I squeaked.

He rose to his feet before offering me his hand. I took it, the warmth flooding through me at the simple touch of his skin against mine. I had to ignore it. I just had to. There was no way I could linger on the way our hands felt against one another, or the strength in his arms as he pulled me to my feet.

We lingered there, his gaze flicking to my lips in a way that suggested he was certainly interested in something more than just mere gaming partners.

No, JJ. Don't go there.

I needed to stop having those kinds of thoughts. They'd only lead to heartbreak. And after my last meeting with Porter, I wasn’t ready for more.

He helped me inside of Dragon Soul and Zara greeted me happily from behind the bar.

“Hi, JJ!”

“Hello,” I muttered back, my busted lip tender from my encounter with the door.

“What happened to your face?” Zara shot Porter the stink eye. “You didn’t do this, did you?”

Before I could stop myself, I rose to his defense. “No, no. I was careless with the door.”

“If you’re sure.” She frowned. “Do you want another Tibetan Earthquake?”

I chuckled. Did she really think I’d already want to flee? “No, I’m okay for now. I’ll take another minty drink.”

“I’ll have a beer.” Porter pulled out his wallet, the sleek leather a stark contrast to his casual outfit.

“Coming right up.” Zara disappeared behind the bar and left me alone with my friend again. I studied him, partially amused he was wearing another green shirt. Just like last time.

“So…” I drew out a breath.

“So,” he repeated.

Our second meeting was possibly even more awkward than the first. Probably since I left him stranded without explanation.

“Listen, about last time—”

“It’s okay. I’m sure you had a good reason why you left.” He ran his hand along his stubble. “I’m sorry if I did something wrong.”

My heart sank. So that was why he hadn’t messaged. He thought he wronged me? How could I explain to him that it wasn’t something he did, but just my own silly emotions that had made me run for the hills?

Porter reached for my hand. “You’re important to me, JJ. I don’t really get along with people easily and I don’t want to lose you.”

His sincerity overwhelmed me. I didn’t exactly have a lot of friends either, apart from my online buddies. I didn’t want to ruin my friendship with Porter, but then how could I keep everything the same if I had feelings for him? Would I always have to keep my emotions hidden from him? That wasn’t very fair to him.

But the alternative was confessing my crush on him and embarrassing myself. If he felt it was weird, he might just stop every contact between us.

I held back a groan. Why did I always have such debacles with myself?

Zara appeared with our glasses. “Here are your drinks. Why don’t you find yourself a nice booth?”

“Sure…” I stared at Zara, wondering what she was playing at. I thought I was here to talk to her, but then she invited Porter along and was trying to get us to talk. Did she not know how Earth dragon mating worked or was she telling me not to care about it?

The wooden floor shrieked under my shoes as I followed Porter to the same table as last time. My green drink drew a water ring on the surface as I played with the straw. I wanted to talk to him, in the easy and casual way we always did, but I couldn’t figure out how.

I was ashamed of running out on him. What kind of person actually did that?

“How’s your lip?” Porter pointed at my face.

“Feeling a little better.”

He chuckled to himself. “Need another piece of my t-shirt?”

“What?”

“I’m kidding. I can’t believe I ripped my shirt.” He held up the torn bottom. “I must’ve looked like such an idiot.”

“A little,” I agreed, a laugh bubbling up from my gut. I appreciated him steering the conversation in a lighter direction. He always did know how to make me laugh. “I’d have gone for some tissue or toilet paper, but you had to look all macho by ripping your shirt,” I teased.

“Probably the only time someone called me macho,” Porter laughed. He flexed his arms jokingly, but I couldn’t unnotice how his muscles flexed and rippled under his shirt. He wasn’t overly sculpted, but I never particularly liked bodybuilders and fitness boys. Like the owner of Dragon Soul.

I stared at the hispanic man strutting across the floor. If I remembered it right, Zara called him Hector. He was clearly the type that liked to work out. The bulge of his chest, his tight shirt, he was clearly proud of his physique. It just didn’t do much for me.

Porter was more my type. But maybe I just thought that because I liked him. Which I shouldn’t.

I stared at the blonde man in front of me. “What did Zara tell you when she invited you over?”

“She said Hector wanted to talk more to me about Realms&Rebels. Him and his mates are setting up some sort of tournament and they wanted my input?”

“Oh.” He hadn’t come here for me? That was disappointing. “You didn’t know I’d be here?”

“No.” He scratched his stubble again. “But I hoped you would be.”

My heart skipped a beat. “You did?”

His ears reddened. “Yes. Is that bad?”

“No. No, not at all. Why, why would it be bad?” I stammered. Where did my words go?

He sipped from his drink, his Adam’s apple bobbing in a weirdly attractive way. Only I would find that nice to look at. Why did I have such weird thoughts? No wonder he didn’t share my feelings.

Maybe having an arranged marriage was a good thing, so my future husband didn’t actually have to like me and I wouldn’t be a crazy hamster lady for the rest of my life. Although, that didn’t sound like such a bad thing. Hamsters were cute and potentially preferable over a husband I didn’t get along with.

Then again, the Oracle did say my spouse would be my actual mate… Would he be even more perfect than Porter?

My parents were quite happy together. They were in love and did partially cancel out each others idiosyncrasies.

Was I just being deliberately difficult? If I just knew who my mate was, I could get to know him before our marriage. But would it make a difference? Whether I got to know him or not, I’d be stuck with him. He was my mate and the soulbond would tie us together, whether we were married or not. But what if it wasn’t perfect and amazing, like they said? What if this whole mating thing was absolute crap and they just made it up to play us?

Yeah. I’d rather take my chances with someone I knew I liked. But then, Porter didn’t feel the same way so it was all moot. I stared up at Porter, into his brown eyes. He smiled back, quite happily despite my silence.

I shouldn’t have come here. My feelings for him hadn’t changed a bit and I still didn’t know what to do about our friendship.