The dragon whispered as Elouan passed by after paying for and retrieving his order, “You get tired of playing with humans, look me up.” He slipped a piece of paper into Elouan's hand. Elouan didn’t acknowledge the suggestion or the paper, which he discreetly tossed into the trash can with a growl at the disrespect shown to Jules.
He followed Jules out the door with a small white bag and coffee in hand to the table where he often spotted Jules sitting. How dare the man proposition Elouan with Jules there? Elouan inhaled deeply, exhaling tension along with the breath.
His dragon demanded he go back inside and confront the beta.He’s too young to know better.Also, a beta raised in the human world probably knew little about dragon etiquette. But Elouan had more important matters to deal with now, like not allowing anyone to interfere in this moment he’d wanted for so long—ever since he’d first glimpsed Jules at this very table. He glanced at his empty girder where he’d often taken breaks, wondering what someone watching now might think, him with the gorgeous Jules..
Probably, “Lucky bastard.”
“What’cha thinking?” Jules asked from across their two-seater table.
Might as well tell the truth. “How a man from up there wanted to be here, and now he is.”
Oh, those pretty blushes. Elouan could get used to them. Jules kept his eyes downcast while replying, “And I used to sit here wanting to be you.”
Well, then. What could Elouan say? Time to change the subject. “You’re a university student, right?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your field of study?” Elouan took a bite of Danish. Oh. Just as good as Jules suggested.
“Civil Engineering. This is my second year.” Jules practically glowed as he explained how to determine the strength and types of materials used in constructing a building like Elouan’s current job. He slapped his hand over his mouth. “I’m so sorry. I’m not letting you say a thing.”
Elouan lifted his crumb-covered hands. “Not wanting to. I love hearing from someone passionate about what they do. So many people drift through life without plans or goals and regret how little they accomplished.” He could listen to Jules’s soft tenor all day long, even if he only recited a grocery list.
Jules’s cheery demeanor fell. “That’s what I tell Moira, my…aunt. I’m wasting what some call the best years of my life, when I could be out living.”
Elouan wondered about Jules’s mysterious relatives. There must be an interesting story there. It made sense for him to stay with family while attending school, though. “What would you do if you could do anything you wanted?”
Jules answered incredibly quickly. “I’d go everywhere, see everything.”
Elouan laughed. “That’s pretty ambitious.”
“We go to a mountain cabin sometimes, but mostly I’m here in Asheville. There’s a whole big world to see, and I want to explore it all, see the ocean.”
“Which one?”
“All of them! A guy in one of my classes spends summers in France with his father. Maybe after I graduate, I can start taking trips.”
Elouan wouldn’t ask too many questions today, but if they kept seeing each other, he’d want to know more. He couldn’t give Jules the world, but he could offer some adventure. “Do you like motorcycles?”
“Sure, but I’ve never been on one.”
Cruising was the closest Elouan ever got to flying without leaving the ground. “Got free time on Saturday?”
***
Thursday morning Elouan brooded at his kitchen counter. What was he thinking? If he simply wanted a human to scratch a few itches, he didn’t need more than a willing partner, and certainly not one he planned to see more than once. Yet repeatedly over the past few days, Jules’s sweet face and blond curls filled his mind. He hadn’t obsessed over a man this way in…well…ever. Then again, usually when he hooked up, they both heard the timer counting down on any relationship, andhe’d never truly gotten to know the person. Which always suited him fine before.
He was approaching the situation backward this time, getting to know the guy a little before sex. And yes, he wanted sex, but he also liked how Jules seemed to see Elouan as a man, not a fuck or arm candy. Definitely not as a prince. They were two human men—well, one human, the other pretending, but if Elouan had indeed grown up here as Curtis had, he’d likely have dated and found several men at this point in his life whom he cared about.
Maybe the Goddess herself gave Elouan a need for a hamburger steak and french fries from Linda’s Diner after work that night, putting him in the right place at the right time to meet Jules. He couldn’t say “rescue,” as Jules had been holding his own.
“What’s got you all dreamy-eyed this morning?” Curtis placed a cup of coffee in front of Elouan at the kitchen counter. He’d traded in the normal sugar dish for one shaped like a jack-o'-lantern.
“What?” Elouan accepted the cup. Should he tell Curtis and jinx the relationship, as some of his more superstitious coworkers might say? Why not? Curtis was Elouan's closest friend in this world, and though he’d tried, Elouan never fully understood the context of a jinx. He’d have told Daire and Anrai if they’d been available, or maybe not, since they’d tease him unmercifully. “I met this guy, and I kinda like him.”
“Oh? Anyone I might know?” Curtis’s curiosity appeared genuine, as evidenced by an increased heart rate and laser focus.
Not likely for Curtis to have met Jules, since his and Elouan’s social lives seldom overlapped. Then again, Curtis attended the same school. “I don’t think so, but you might have classes with him or see him around campus.” At least Elouan reckoned they attended the same school.