“Beryl.” He buried his face between my breasts, a long arm curling around me and a knee pushing between my calves. After kissing the top of his head, I kept my nose there to breathe in the scent of his sweat-damp hair.
“You were perfect,” I murmured, and felt him shiver against me before he burrowed even closer. “You’re perfect, Greid,” I added quietly.
Because he was.
Chapter Forty-Six
Beryl
“Hey, buddy.” Mani appeared beside me at the register, waiting to ring up the glass of wine she’d just placed in front of the demiurgus lady sitting alone at the end of the bar. “How was your weekend off? Get up to much?”
Ron had been the manager on duty during my shift the day before so Mani could have a rare day off now that the previously flu-struck employees were trickling back to work.
“Hey.” I held out the card machine to my waiting customer with a smile so he could tap his phone to it. “It was great, thanks. I went out for drinks with my friend Corva on Saturday.”
“Here?” Mani asked. “I was working. I didn’t see you.”
I gave her a sheepish look as I stepped aside so she could get to the register. “Afraid not. We went to Carnelians down the street.”
“Traitor.” She gave me a good-natured nudge with her elbow. “Glad you made good use of your weekend.”
“I did. Greid and I went to the artisan market at Dropclay on Sunday. It’s really cool. He told me he used to have a stall there when he first started his business.”
“Oh, nice. Yeah, Ron and I go to Dropclay Market sometimes. There’s a great taco truck there. What’s Greid’s business?”
“He makes jewellery.”
Mani grabbed the card machine and turned to give me an appraising look. “You have a hot boyfriend who makes jewellery for a living, and yet here you are without a single piece of bling.” She tutted, turning to walk back to her customer. “Gotta get on that, Beryl.”
I chuckled, glancing at the customer she was approaching, and going still when I realised the woman was staring at me. We locked eyes for a second before I quickly looked away, not sure what her deal was.
After paying for her drink, she stayed in her seat at the bar. Thanks to that weird look, I was more aware of her than normal as I served other customers and unloaded the dishwasher. I wondered if she was waiting for someone, but no one else ever showed up.
A little while had passed when I noticed her glass was empty, but she still wasn’t leaving. Glancing around, I saw that Mani had disappeared to the back office, and Gavin and Kayr were busy serving other customers. Feeling a little uncomfortable, I approached her and fixed a smile on my face.
“Can I get you another?” I asked in a cheerful voice.
She was staring at me again, her gaze oddly curious, like I was a bug trapped under a glass. After a second, she gave me a cool nod. “Please. The souterraine.”
“Good choice.” I took the glass from her and put it by the sink, then grabbed a clean one off the shelf. I could feel her eyes on the back of my head as I poured her wine, and my smile was a little more strained as I turned to place it in front of her. “Can I get you anything else?”
“No. Thanks,” she added belatedly.
Once again, her eyes burned a hole in the back of my head as I went to the register and grabbed the card machine. What was her problem? She didn’t like a human working here?
She’d barely spoken to me, but I couldn’t wait to get away from her as I took the card machine over and held it out. She didn’t say anything as she tapped her phone to it, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned to walk away.
But then she spoke. “Excuse me.”
I turned back to face her with some semblance of a smile. “Mm?”
“I—” Her eyes darted behind me for a second. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but did I hear you say you’re dating Greid? As in Greid var Rorik, the jeweller who lives around here?”
My gut hollowed out as I stared at her. The way she’d said his name implied a level of familiarity. I quickly swept my gaze over her tall, willowy frame. The delicate chiffon shirt. The smooth, lustrous hair and elegantly shaped, beige-painted claws.
Oh fuck. Oh no. There was no way—
“It’s just that I used to date him.” She let out a tinkling laugh as she swept her long, perfect, amethyst-streaked hair back over her shoulder. “I actually used to live with him.”
Fucking fuck fuck. This was Agma. This had to be Agma.
And I was in the one place where I couldn’t punch her in the face like I wanted to.
“I am.” I was definitely just baring my teeth at her now, the expression on my face no longer even remotely resembling a smile.
She raised a brow and picked up her wine glass. “Wow.”
My hands clenched tighter around the card machine.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean that offensively.” She shook her head and had a sip of wine. “It’s just… Greid dating a human. Never would have expected that. How long have you been together?”
I really wanted to tell her that it was none of her fucking business, but just then Mani walked past me with a brief smile, heading for the register behind me.
“A while.”
“Hmm.” She cocked her head, expression telling me that she wasn’t convinced by my vague answer.
Don’t get into a pissing match. Do not get into a pissing match—
“We actually live together, so.” I shrugged. She definitely did not need to know the details of how that had happened. All she needed to know was that Greid was happy. With me. “It’s going well. Really well.”
Her mouth pursed, but she quickly schooled her expression. “Well. It must be then. Best wishes to you both.” She gave me a tight smile. “Tell Greid I said hello.”
Unable to stop myself, I gave her a saccharine smile back. “I don’t know who you are.”
That made her nostrils flare, and I allowed myself a mental victory punch into the air.
“Agma.” She chuckled. “I’ve probably come up. I’m sure he has some of my silly little sculptures still in his house.”
He did, but he’d told me it was only because he liked them, not because she’d made them. I wasn’t going to let her know that.
“I haven’t noticed any sculptures, but yeah. He’s mentioned you.”
A hint of smugness shone in her sultry yellow eyes before she smoothed her face out again. “Well anyway, sorry again for intruding. I just thought, what a small world, huh?”
“Yeah,” I managed. “Small world.”
Which she’d already known when she told all her friends private things about Greid. Knowing how shy he was. Knowing about his social anxiety. Knowing how she’d made him feel when he’d told her things he wanted and she’d made him feel like crap for them.
My anger was boiling over. I glanced back to see that Mani had disappeared down to the other end of the bar and was chatting to Gavin. Kayr was restocking one of the fridges down that end too. There were no other customers waiting near us.
“Can I say something?” I put the card machine down on the bar and stepped closer. “Agma?”
She blinked, taking another sip of wine before setting her glass neatly on the coaster. “Sure.”