Home > Dragon Dad's Mate (Dragon Dads Love Chronicles)(9)

Dragon Dad's Mate (Dragon Dads Love Chronicles)(9)
Author: Amelia Wilson

Of course not. There was no reason he should.

“Okay,” she said, looking down at the floor. “Um, all of his stuff is together, it just needs to be put into a bag.”

Cain nodded his head, and she left quickly, tying not to look into his eyes again in case she got caught up in them and was stuck there forever. Although, she wasn’t quite sure why that would be a problem.

 

 

Chapter 6 – Nora

 

 

When Nora woke up the following morning, she didn’t feel as if she had rested at all. She felt fatigued, and wished she could cancel the bagel date with June, but they had not exchanged numbers. She was going to look messy, but it wasn’t as if her students hadn’t already seen her, with a flopping bun and a sweater dress that hung loose in every area where it should have been snug.

The little bagel place where Nora was meeting June was Nora’s favorite place to grab a quick breakfast. She went there at least three times a week, sometimes every morning. The sesame bagels and blueberry coffee were her favorites.

Maybe she could bring Cain there sometime. She laughed at the idea of his growling personality in the quaint building, but Ashton would love it.

“Nora?” A meek voice said. Nora looked up from the table she had chosen in the corner, and saw June standing awkwardly to the side.

“June, please sit. Did you order?” Nora felt something squirm in her stomach, something she tried to quench with a smile and positive memories about June as a student.

“Not yet,” June said.

“Oh! Then let’s order.” Nora wrapped her arm around June’s and dragged her to the counter.

Nora recommended several items, but all June did was bite her lip. “Before, you had said you liked the blueberry coffee? I’ll try that, and an apple bagel with cinnamon crème cheese.”

“That’s sounds delightful,” Nora chirped.

Nora was nervous about sitting and talking with June, although she didn’t know why. She loved reconnecting with old students, but she and June had never had much of a student-teacher relationship before. June was always quiet, kept to herself, and did so well in school she rarely needed Nora’s help for anything.

If Ashton could be considered the poster child for bad students, then June was the opposite. She was the student that ever teacher wanted, and Nora had been able to boast about having June in her class. Now she didn’t really know what to say to June.

At first, neither of them said anything. They both took small nibbles from their bagels and sipped their coffee. Nora wondered if all June needed was a person she could sit with silently, to pause the world around her for a moment.

The world could get heavy, and needing a place to release that weight was something Nora understood all too well. Thinking about it then, she realized she felt that release with Cain, and suddenly all she wanted was to be sitting at his dining room table eating with him. She didn’t want to be in the quaint shop or have to go to school.

These thoughts were somersaulting through her mind when June coughed as a way to interrupt Nora’s thoughts. “So you really haven’t received my letters?”

“I’m sorry, but I looked all over for them last night, and I didn’t have one from you anywhere.” Nora shook her head. She had tried to look, but she lied about looking every where.

Last night Nora couldn’t get her thoughts away from Cain. She wanted to find the letter so badly, to be able to be a better friend at breakfast, but when she realized she would keep distracting herself, she gave up.

Even her dreams were flooded with fantasies of Cain. At first they were cute dreams that had her smiling in her sleep: dreams of picnics and candle-lit dates. however, as the night wore on, she found her self squirming in her sheets as the dreams shifted to Cain’s voice whispering in her ear. Her mind had begun to twist ideas of all the things his hands could do. She woke up in the middle of the night with a start, awoken by her own moan.

Nora had never felt more embarrassed. She was embarrassed now as she made excuses to June for not finding her letters.

“That’s all right. I’ll give you one now, then.” June slid across the table a square envelope. It was plain and dull.

Nora slid it right off the table into her bag. “Thank you. I’ll look at it later.”

June nodded her head. “Sure.”

“So how have you been?” Nora asked. She hadn’t connected with June when she was her student, so now was a good time to start.

“Not too bad I guess,” June said. “It could be better, but I guess it’s not the worst it could be.” She talked as if she saw the glass half-full, but somewhere there was a crack in her glass: light positivity dripping with sadness.

All the suspicion that Nora held washed away under compassion. She wanted to hold this girl’s burdens and carry them for her. For as much sweetness as June was known to carry with her, she didn’t deserve any of the pain the world often had to offer.

Nora reached across the table to cover June’s hand with her own. “Life does get better bit by bit. It can also get worse bit by bit, but there is always something better than the worse, and as long as you continue to strive to see that little bit of better, life will never be as bad as it can possibly get.”

June held tightly to Nora’s hand, allowing tears to roll clumsily down her cheeks. She squeezed Nora’s hand rather than reach up to wipe her tears away. “Thank you,” she said.

They fell silent, shortly after that. Both of them seemed emotionally exhausted, and neither really wanted to stand to leave. Nora thought they both could have sat for the whole day, but both of them had other things that needed to be done, and so life called them away.

The thought of school brought Nora’s shoulders down further. All she could manage was the thought of the end of the day when she would fall into bed and be able to go back to sleep. There was a slight twinge in her heart when she realized she had no plans with Cain.

She kicked herself for the thought. Two dinners in a row with the man and already she wanted to eat with him every night. But, it was true.

Nora wanted one more drink from his eyes before she officially called it quits on this whole thing. Actually, now that she knew them better, she could probably find a better tutor for Ashton than herself. June would be a good fit.

She would recommend June to Ashton and Cain that night, which would imply she would get to see them again. Her heart pain lessened, and she breathed a little easier.

At the end of the day, before she could say anything, Ashton was already in front of her, talking.

“Dad said it’s your turn to cook dinner, and that I’m supposed to help you no matter what, because he’s been in meeting’s all day and will be late tonight.”

Nora reached out and ruffled Ashton’s hair. He looked so much like his dad; the same hair and narrow chin. About the only feature that set Ashton apart from his dad were the eyes.

Cain had teardrop eyes that were filled to the brim with sapphire. Ashton’s eyes were flat and pulled back the barest amount. They were hazel with blue flecks; Nora assumed they were a fair mixture of his mom and dad.

“I guess we’re off to the grocery store then,” Nora said.

The two of them made an adventure out of the grocery trip. Ashton asked for several different things, and Nora couldn’t refuse him one. Chocolate milk, peanut butter cups, and cupcakes ended up on the menu with the spaghetti dinner.

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