Hug

I reached for Alicia’s hand. Forget being all formal. He was my mate and wasn’t that a big part of the reason we had this visitor in the first place? Being traditional wasn’t going to do any of us any good.

We went through the rest of the den, Waylon asking questions about our agreement with the university and how we got our renters and even about the way we managed the plumbing so far out from what he considered a “city.” He seemed genuinely interested in all of it and more than once, he and Grant got off topic and started to talk history. Nothing about this visit made sense, and yet in a way, it all did.

The tour ended where everything began, the rental Clarissa had first booked. Waylon had glanced at our hands multiple times since we joined them, but now he stared at them.

“Now these rentals… how far out are they booked?” Waylon directed his question to no one in particular.

Aspen answered, and instead of asking a follow up question, Waylon fixed his attention on us.

“You love each