I looked away, feeling a little exposed. “I mean, I have attractive traits, sure. My blue eyes, my curls, my lips, but I wouldn’t say I’m anything special.”

My mom would tell me I was too pretty, too good, but that was a typical mom thing, right? Sure, I’d gotten plenty of offers in my life, very few I had accepted, but I’d gradually come to the realization that they’d seen me as naive, and thus easier to manipulate.

Until Cair.

Only he had ever made me feel genuinely wanted.

Cair tipped my head up with a finger crooked under my chin. “I wish I could gut whoever made you feel that way.”

I snorted a laugh, imagining Cair killing my childhood bullies, and my ex, just for the crime of whittling away my self-esteem. I mean, fair, but also unnecessary. “Don’t let it get to you,” I said with a smile. “You treat me like I’m the most beautiful guy in the world, and that’s all that matters.”

He wanted to disagree, I could tell by the pinch of his brows, but I cupped his face in my hand, placating him. “Truly, I’m not worried. How can I be in a place like this? I can barely muster a single negative thought right now.”

“Alright.” He finally leaned in to kiss me as he had planned to before we were interrupted. “Though we may have to invest in a claiming trinket or badge of some sort. It seems my scent inside you is not enough of a deterrent.”

I laughed against his lips. “I’m pretty sure every monster we cross knows I’m yours, and they give us a wide berth. She was just bold, and wanted in on the action.”

“Can’t say I blame her,” he said. “But I don’t share.”

With that excitement over, we moved further into the shade. Cair lay in the grass, one arm under his head, and the other around my back as I tucked myself into his side, leg flung over his thighs. It was comfy, and after barely half an hour, I felt myself drifting off. My eyes closed, rocked by the gentle rise and fall of Cair’s chest, comforted by the lull of his heartbeat. Everything was slowing down, a dream flickering at the corners of my vision, and⁠—

A piercing screech.

A splash.

My eyes flew open and I shot upright. Gary had fallen into the shallow end of the pool, and was face down in the water. Panicking.

“I can’t swim,” he squawked when he surfaced, flailing and stumbling. He switched from green, to pink, to blue: all the colors of the rainbow. A concerned-looking mermaid reached out to help him find his footing—considering all he had to do was stand up—but had to swerve out of the way so she wouldn’t be clocked in the jaw.