But Keir patted the ground beside him. "Sit. It's supposed to be in the mid-fifties today, and the ground is almost warm."
"I can make it actually warm," Aspen offered, lifting a hand to make a fist. "Tell me when!"
"Little more..." Keir said. "Ok. When!"
She released her magic, so I sat down beside Keir. Sure enough, the ground was definitely warm. Not hot, and not bad. Nope, this was like a nice spring on my rump. I kinda liked it. But while I was looking down at the dirt, Aspen moved to Keir's other side, sat, and then shifted so her back was up against one side of his chest.
"Oh, I can handle this," Keir teased.
Giggling, I moved to match her, putting the guy in the middle. "Sure about that?"
"Positive," he said. "Besides, you're both cute. What's not to like about this? Beautiful and amazing." He bent his arm to push a bit of hair away from my face. "I mean, we're all friends, right?"
"Definitelyfriends," Aspen agreed. "But did Rain tell you she made out with Hawke enough to pass her math test?"
"Shit, that sounds like a lot of making out," Keir said, leaning a bit to see my face. "Does sucking face make your brain go or something?"
My face was getting hot. "I just..."
"I'm picking on you," Keir assured me. "You know, implying you're bad at math?"
"And that I was kissing our friend," I added.
"Because you did kiss him!" Aspen said.
"Yeah, but you're not supposed to - "
"Nope," Keir broke in. "Aspen and I agree. This is the fun part. I mean, Hawke's kinda hot in that whole dark and mysterious sort of way."
I turned, shooting Keir a confused look. "Wait, what?"
Letting his eyes close in a long and weary blink, Keir sighed. "I'mfae, Rain. I like people forwhothey are, not what's in their pants."
"You date guys?"
"Not often," he admitted, "but it has happened."
Ok, and now my mouth was hanging open. Talk about jumping to conclusions! Keir just acted so manly, and I'd only ever heard about the girl's he'd dated, so I'd just assumed. Even though the court kept trying to tell me that having multiple partners - across all genders - was a fae thing, it hadn't really sunk in until this very moment.
"That's... Uh... Yeah." I couldn't even get a whole thought out.
"What did I do?" he asked Aspen.
She shrugged. "Been single a while?"
"Because I'm into her!" he shot back. "Kinda know how humans are about these things. Sluts, you know? And I'm talking about me, Rain, not you."
"I just..." Bending forward, I used the heels of my hands to rub at my eyes. "I didn't know you dated guys!"
"First time I had sex was with a guy," he said as he leaned back. Somehow that made his comment feel casual, as if he was just trading stories. "See, I like people who are driven, determined, and looking to stand beside me, not behind or in front of me. Sadly, most guys want to be the strong one. Most girls want to be protected. And while I find both sexy, I have no interest in getting shoved into a place I don't belong, so it's easier to find strong-willed women who like being a partner. Older men work too, but most of them think I'm a stupid little kid."
"Ouch," Aspen said in sympathy.
"Well, I had a massive crush on Rain's zez for my first two years."
"Bracken?" Yep, my mouth was hanging open again.
Keir just nodded. "C'mon, your dads are hot."
