Tawk chugged his beer and tried to control the roaring in his head.
“I’m not you. You’re human. You would be a better match for her than I w—fuck.” He couldn’t even finish that sentence because thinking of her with someone else pissed him off and made him want to Change. He couldn’t do that here in this little bar. His skin was already burning and tingling.
The bartender set a couple of cheeseburger baskets in front of them.
He ate the entire burger before he was calm enough to speak again. “What’s next?” he rumbled.
“Evil eyes, evil voice now too,” Dylan pointed out.
“Talking to you is like rubbing my balls across sandpaper.”
Dylan laughed. “Thank you.”
“It’s not a compliment. Not even a little one.”
“You know what?” Dylan asked. “I like you.”
“I don’t feel the same.”
“I think deep down you do, you just don’t know how to process those—”
“Keep your therapy bullshit to yourself. I’m going away now. I have an errand.”
“Good luck with everything,” Dylan called, and damn it all, Tawk could hear Cash’s annoying voice in his head saying, ‘say thank you.’
With a growl, Tawk turned at the door. “Thank you,” he grumbled, but because Dylan was a human, he couldn’t hear him very well and said, “Huh?” with his hand scooped around his ear.
“Thank you.”
“I don’t think I’ll see you anymore Tawk.”
“I won’t be seeing anyone. I’m leaving.”
“So am I.” Dylan lifted his beer in a silent cheers. “Good luck with everything.”
Tawk frowned as he watched the man give him his back and drink his beer. Dylan was leaving? But he had it good here.
So do we.
The dragon’s whisper in his mind startled Tawk. He needed to go. He forced himself to shove open the exit door and get outside where he could inhale fresh air.
That lunch had been…well…it had been something else. Infuriating in some ways, and enlightening in others.
He didn’t know how to feel about it.
Lost in thought, he made his way to the auto parts store and went inside. The clear-tone bell above the door dinged as he opened it.
Behind the counter, a barrel-chested man in his late fifties or early sixties nodded a greeting.Cliff, his nametag read. The store was called the same, so this must’ve been the owner.
“What can I do for you?” Cliff asked.
“I ordered a set of headlights for a 4Runner. I got a notification that they had come in,” he murmured, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.
“Sunglasses inside, huh?” Cliff asked as he typed away on his computer. “Cool guy.”
Tawk swallowed a growl, and lowered his sunglasses, then glared at Cliff.
“Holy shit,” Cliff uttered, and staggered back into the wall.
