“There aren’t many hybrids like us.”
“Indeed. I found a few while traveling along the Alorya continent. I’m not familiar with the mentalities outside this continent, but here, hybrids are still seen as aberrations.”
“Only because they fear that we can become stronger than them. They fear peace more than war. It’s illogical.”
Noah reached across the table and held her left hand.
Grace sucked in a breath.
His voice was softer than velvet. “Let’s talk about something else. I don’t want us to be sad tonight.”
She nodded and let her shoulders sag.
***
Grace woke up to someone screaming.
“Get out! What are you doing here?”
She sat up with her eyes closed and tried to understand where the screaming was coming from. It sounded like Lori, her roommate, but too far to be in their bedroom.
“What’s going on?” Grace mumbled and yawned.
“Looks like your roommate is up,” Noah answered.
Grace snapped her eyes open. “What?”
Noah was leaning beside her with ruffled hair and a sleepy face. “Go back to bed. Whatever it is, they can handle it.”
Shaking her head, the memories of their arrival came to her mind. They had fun, and when they came back, Lori had a sock hanging on the doorknob, so Grace couldn’t go in there. She had no place to sleep. Not that Lori bothered to remember that. Now, she was screaming downstairs at the dude she had brought home.
“She’s lucky Vincent isn’t here, or she would be in a lot of trouble,” Grace said to Noah.
He grinned and sat on the bed next to her. He had been kind enough to sleep on the couch and let her occupy his bed. It was a cozy bed with a tantalizing scent. She had slept like a baby once she was able to stop fantasizing about the man on the couch.
“Shoes are flying,” Noah said.
Grace giggled. “I wonder who’s with her.”
“You can always go downstairs to find out.”
“I don’t want to be attacked by a shoe.”
“You’re crazy!” a male voice complained before a door slammed with a bang.
Grace’s mouth opened in shock. “That sounded a lot like … It can’t be.”
“Who?”
“She can’t stand him.”
Noah frowned. “The one that’s always pranking her?”
“They do it to each other. They are always bickering and doing childish pranks. I thought they disliked each other.”
“Well, sometimes, just sometimes, people act nasty to the ones they want to pay attention to them. Of course, that’s not healthy behavior.”
“I wonder how much she had to drink to … Was she even sober enough to consent?”