His blue eyes lifted, no longer frantic, but calm.
“Don’t worry, it’s not sprained.” His tone was
icy, but he gently rubbed my ankle. He’d been
kneeling on the ground for fifteen minutes,
working on my foot.
“Thanks…” I said, testing my ankle. It felt fine. I
was grateful.
<
“Thanks…” I said, testing my ankle. It felt fine. I
was grateful.
He got up to leave.
“Wait!” I grabbed his sleeve. He turned, glaring
at me, all grumpy and aloof.
Even dressed like a homeless dude, he still had
the presence of a king.
Maybe I was just trying to make up for the past.
I bit my lip. “Um… wanna come home with
me?”
He stared at me with those blue eyes, then
gave a short, bitter laugh. “Come home with
you? You already have a shifter.”
I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “We ended our
bond.”
He blinked, looked down, and muttered an
く
emotionless “Oh.”
I thought he didn’t care and was just full of
myself. I let go of his sleeve.
Then he swooped down and picked me up.
“Which way to your place?”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. He still had
a stone face, but his eyes were dancing.
I laughed and pointed.
Shaw knew I was in the city. He’d been sending
me gifts, especially my favorite chocolate cake
and mango mousse.
He also had amazing cooking skills.
The next day, Shaw brought me lunch, and a
coworker saw him.
“Oh? You know Shaw?” she asked. “He’s a
12:49
<
drifter. ‘
11
83
It’s hard for shifters to get adopted after being
dumped, so he’d been on his own.
Some people had wanted to take him in, but he
was too moody and kept everyone at arm’s
length.
“But he’s a hard worker. He has a bunch of jobs
to support other abandoned shifters.”
She was full of praise. No wonder he was so
different from before. He worked all day, every
day.
If I hadn’t interfered all those years ago, Shaw
would be better off. My guilt was overwhelming.
After work, he picked me up as usual, taking my
bag. He was so handsome that everyone stared.
At home, the table was set with a candlelit
<
I looked at him, wanting to say something, but
choking on the words. Did I deserve this?
I stared at his face, my heart pounding.
The meal ended in silence. Shaw seemed
troubled, too. After doing the dishes, he took off his apron and said, “I’m leaving. I won’t bother you anymore.”
“What? Why? You’re not bothering me!”
He looked down. “You couldn’t even tell me to
my face.”
He gave a sad smile. “This time, I’ll leave on my
own.”
His eyes were red. I remembered his face
pressed against the car window, and I reached
out and touched his ear.
Win
norked in
ཁཕཅཕཟཨ པཕལཔ ལཕཤཤ་ ་བ
1+
<
His ear perked up, rubbing against my hand. It
felt incredible… my first time touching a
shifter’s ear.
