Taking the Leap

Chapter 12

~Xander~

One week later

Fall and all her glorious colours were in full bloom as Achilles drove us across the city for our first official date. The sky was a peaceable blue with thick clouds rolling on by. But below that, the trees we passed were red, brown and and green and it made me realize autumn was alive and well.

Achilles' car was cool and he hummed along a bit off beat to a trashy pop song playing on the radio. I hadn't seen Achilles since we'd come back from the road trip and he looked as good as he always did. Strong jaw, broad shoulders, that little bit of stubble that never really went away. For the first time I realized Achilles could be the poster boy for rugged and handsome.

The past week had been frantic for me. I'd had to assess a number of my students along with attend a few seminars and conferences, while sending revision drafts to the Galatrickiton team. Achilles had asked to go out but I'd had to reject him or cancel last minute and somehow he hadn't taken it too harshly. It helped that we'd been texting and calling frequently. It had become something of a routine to take my nightly bath while on the phone with Achilles. He would tell me about his day, and I'd tell him about mine.

I learned more about Achilles as a person, the fact he'd broken both his legs as a child, his best friend was a shifter named Rory who could be a bit of a pothead, his first memory was of shifting and that he was jet black as a wolf. Apparently, it was an uncommon occurrence.

And I told him about most things, how my mom came to America and started her own billion dollar hotel chain, the fact she was probably asexual and aromantic even if she didn't believe it, how my favourite holiday was halloween and how my hair was the closest thing to religion I got.

He must have caught me staring at him in the car because he turned to smile at me, driving into a parking lot. "We're here now."

"Cool." I said smiling back. We got out of the car and Achilles took his backpack stringing it over his back and I had my trusty fanny pack over my arm.

Achilles locked up his car and we started walking down towards the entrance. I gasped, looking around. "The botanical gardens?" Even from the parking lot I could see the sheer mass of trees peeking out above the buildings. And it smelled different here. My nose didn't have anything on a shifter's but even I could detect that there were a lot of plants here.

Achilles nudged my shoulder, talking in a soft voice. "I knew you'd like it! There's a walk we can take to see a lot of the trees in fall, and then we can eat at one of their gardens. It's supposed to be—" A young couple passed us by, a man and a woman where the woman was pushing a stroller with their baby inside. They were laughing and Achilles voice quieted towards the end. "Romantic."

I looked at him while he watched them for a few seconds, then his fingers brushed mine and he interlaced our fingers together for the briefest of moments before squeezing my hand and then letting it go. His brows were furrowed and he looked afraid.

"Listen." I said, turning to face him. "We can take things slow."

"No." Achilles said. "I want to be here with you, honestly." He moved in front of me, touching my cheek and giving me a quick kiss. Blushing, he turned on his heel and started walking towards the entrance.

I touched my lips for a moment and then hurried after him, surprised Achilles could kiss me in public.

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