The sky was turning pink by the time I got back to my house. I had barely made it to my house before my dragon came bursting out of me. The anger at the calls from her ex and her careless attitude toward intimacy kept me in dragon form all night. I spent the night flying aimlessly around the island and hid for a while in a cove that no one seemed to know about. I knew I had to get calm and get some rest so I could finish the work on her house, but I wasn’t sure I needed to see her after what happened. I wanted her and would’ve made love to her and showed her what sex was meant to be, but I couldn’t do it with her attitude towards it. Making love to her would totally change the dynamic of the relationship for me, and it hurt me to know that it wouldn’t for her.

    I thought of my mother and wished that she were here to give me advice on what to do. Her and my father both had seen many clan mates killed because they had no mate and had become feral. I knew they both would want me to find a mate, and I knew my mother would have the perfect advice for me.

I grabbed the scraps of material that were once my clothes off the ground and threw them in the dumpster on my way inside and headed for the shower. I knew I needed to sleep some, so I laid in my bed after my shower and tried to go to sleep. I tossed and turned to no avail and finally got dressed and headed over to Lauren’s.

    She was still asleep when I got there, and I watched her through the window for a few minutes before knocking on the door. When I knocked, she screamed and jumped, causing herself to fall off the couch. I tried the knob, but the door was locked, so I knocked out the glass panel closest to the knob and reached in to unlock it, running to her once I got it open.

    “Lauren, are you okay? I’m so sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to scare you,” I soothed, as I helped her off the floor.

    “It’s all right, Dane. I’m fine, just didn’t sleep much is all. Thanks for the help up. Want some coffee? I just put it on a bit ago,” she replied, putting distance between us.

    “You put coffee on in your sleep? Talented, aren’t we?” I joked, hoping to make her laugh. I wasn’t disappointed as she turned to face me.

    “I couldn’t sleep so I got up and started the coffee and must have fallen asleep while waiting on it,” she said as she playfully punched my arm.

    Something changed in the atmosphere around us, and it felt charged with electricity as I moved closer to her. I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to me. I looked into her eyes and dipped my head to kiss her but, she dodged me.

    “I’m sorry, Dane, I just can’t do this. I like you, and I want your friendship, I just can’t get involved with anyone right now,” she said as she took my hands off her hips.

    “Can’t or won’t, Lauren? How long will you make other men pay for the mistakes of one stupid fool?” I replied as I stepped away from her and started my day’s work.

I tried not to think of the woman in the next room and concentrate on my job, but my mind kept going back to her and what I needed to do to get her to let her guard down. I needed her to see that I wasn’t like her ex and I wouldn’t hurt her in any way. There was also the issue of me being a dragon to deal with. I wanted to tell her what I was, but I wanted her to want to be with me first so she might be reluctant to run off. I knew that wasn’t fair and I should tell her so she could make an informed decision before she got in too deep with me, but I was afraid she would reject me if I told her now. Who was I kidding? She had just rejected me; why was I so afraid to tell her?

I decided that I would invite her to dinner again, maybe take her back to the café and tell her over dinner. I hoped that by taking her to a public place, she wouldn’t make a scene even though most on this side of the island were the same as me. Some humans were mixed in and they had no idea what we were. I finished up the painting and took the supplies to the sink to wash them out. Once they were clean, I cleaned the sink and made it look like new. She sat on the couch working on her laptop, completely oblivious to the fact I was in the kitchen. I washed and dried my hands and sat beside her on the couch.

“Lauren, can I ask you something?” I asked, praying she’d say yes to another date with me.

“Sure, Dane. We’re friends, you can ask me anything,” she replied, killing my hope for the answer I wanted.

“Would you come to dinner with me tonight as friends? I would like for us to get to know one another better, and I’d like to show you something,” I replied, clinging to a tiny shred of hope she’d say yes.

“Of course, Dane! Dinner sounds lovely. I’ll go get changed,” she replied as she scurried off to her closet.

I had finally been able to move the rest of her things from the storage unit, and it appeared that my time as her repairman was over. I was going to either have to win her over or keep finding excuses to be around her. As if the gods read my mind, it started pouring, and water started dripping from several different places in the roof. Lauren came in squealing, holding a blanket over her trying to stay dry.

“Oh, Dane! What are we going to do? Everything is getting wet! It looks like the roof is leaking in every room!” she said, panic filling her voice.

“Stay calm, Lauren, I have an idea. I’ll be right back,” I assured her as I ran for my truck.

 I went to the truck and opened the toolbox, pulling the tarp I kept for work purposes out and slamming it shut. I grabbed the ladder from the side of the house and leaned it against the front and climbed up. I spread the tarp over the roof and secured it with clamps. I climbed down and grabbed the extra change of clothes from the truck and ran back to the house, hoping the new clothes wouldn’t be too wet. Lauren giggled at me as I walked in, dripping all over the floor. I narrowed my eyes at her and moved towards her. She squealed and started running around the couch, trying to avoid me. As she came around the back of the couch I grabbed her and hugged her, getting her wet like me. She laughed, and I kissed her cheek before letting her out of the embrace. I excused myself to the bathroom and dried myself off, changing into the other clothes. I draped my wet clothes over the tub and went to check for leaks. Once I knew that the tarp was stopping the leaks, I asked Lauren if she still wanted to go to dinner. She nodded and grabbed her umbrella from behind the door, laughing at the expression on my face.

“That would’ve been nice to have earlier!” I whined, pretending to be offended.

“How would you have done what you did if you were holding an umbrella?” she replied, still laughing.

“You do have a point. I actually like the water though, so I didn’t mind that at all,” I chuckled as I helped her into the truck.

The rain let up as we made our way across town to the café. I helped her out of the truck, happy to see that she was able to walk on her foot again without limping. The waitress seated us in a secluded booth in the back surrounded by pictures of people that had worked there in years past. The pictures brought back wonderful memories, and I couldn’t wait to share them with her. Once we had placed our orders, I decided to broach the subject of my species while we waited for our orders to be brought to the table.

“Lauren, there is something that I want to talk to you about. It has to do with me, but I want you to promise that you’ll hear me out without making any rash decisions until you hear everything I have to say. Can you do that?” I asked, hoping she would agree.

“Oh my, this sounds serious. Are you a serial killer or something?” she joked, giggling as I rolled my eyes.

“No, but you might consider it worse than that,” I replied with a straight face.

I tried not to laugh as her expression changed from joyful to serious at my words. I couldn’t hold it in though and began to laugh as she squirmed in her seat.

“Okay, Dane, you can tell me what it is you need to say. I promise I will let you finish before making any judgments,” she agreed as she played with the corner of her napkin.

Our waitress came and delivered our food before I could say anything, and I was grateful for an extra few minutes to gather my thoughts. I had no idea how I was going to start the conversation, and I became a bit fidgety myself. I wondered how my dad had told my Mom what he was and wished he was still alive so he could tell me how to say it. My emotions got the better of me, and I got a little choked up at the thought of my dad. Suddenly, the sadness turned to anger, and I felt my dragon clawing to get out. I took a deep breath and calmed my emotions, forcing my dragon to settle down and stay put.

Once the waitress left our table and I collected myself enough, I started talking to her about the history of the island and how people said it was a haven for people of other species. I smiled when she laughed and wondered how she was going to respond when I told her my family was one of those other species. I continued with the history lesson, and she seemed to be really interested in it. It made me happy to know that she might really be interested in my home and gave me hope that she might not reject me. I told her about the two different species that went to war and how the people migrated to a different place to escape the conflict, losing some along the way. She seemed genuinely sad about that, and I could see her resolve softening. Maybe I had a chance with her after all.

I continued my story even after we’d finished our meals and the plates had been cleared. I had almost finished and was about to reveal that I was one of those people. I was nervous to reveal that to her but knew if she were really meant to be my mate, she would understand and be okay with it eventually. I told her of the island and how it housed several different clans of the people from that war with the other species, and the clans had leaders. I had her full attention and decided that it was time to tell her what I was.

“Even now, there are clan leaders, and the title is passed down from father to son in every clan. I recently had the title given to me when my father passed away,” I said, as I watched her face to gauge her reaction.

I watched as she squirmed in her seat and cleared her throat, putting her hand over her mouth for a minute. My thoughts swirled as she sat there silent, just staring into space, refusing to look at me. I waited what seemed like hours before she finally spoke.

“You’re telling me you are one of these dragon shifter clan people that came from another part of the country?” she said as she began to slide out of the booth.

“Lauren, please don’t leave. I know how crazy this sounds, but I am being completely honest with you and there is a reason I wanted you to know. Please, let me finish; you promised.” I replied, hoping to make her stay.

“I can’t, Dane. For you to think I would be stupid enough to believe any of this shows me that you don’t have a high opinion of me at all. Please, take me home now,” she demanded as she walked to the truck.

I paid for the meal and followed her to the truck, surprised she was already inside. We drove to her place in silence as she stopped any attempt of mine to talk to her. I pulled into her drive and helped her out of the truck and walked her to the door.

“Lauren, please let me explain everything. I don’t think you’re stupid, and I do know how crazy this makes me sound.” I tried to continue bit she held her hand out silencing me.

“I’ll see you tomorrow when you come to work on the roof. Thanks for dinner, Dane. Goodnight,” she replied as she shut the door in my face.

I drove home with no hope left and resigned myself to the fact that I was going to go feral and my clan would have to kill me, just like my father. Rage erupted in me as I stepped out of the truck, and my dragon burst forth in a cloud of green smoke, moonlight dancing on my scales. It looked like it was going to be another sleepless night for me. I took off and headed for the cove I always hid in, trying to calm the rage burning inside of me. I had misjudged her and thought she could handle the truth about me, but I had been very wrong. Now I was unsure if she would even stay my friend. If only I could get her to listen to me and plead with her to be my mate. I didn’t just want her for the sake of not dying; I had started to care for her deeply, and I felt protective of her and didn’t want her ex to hurt her. I knew I had to somehow make her listen to me, but I didn’t know how. I decided to give her some time to settle down, and I would stay away for a few days. I knew that wouldn’t do her roof any favors, but I had to do what I thought was best for my chance of survival.

Three days passed without seeing Lauren or working on her house. I stayed in my dragon form for most of the three days and checked on her house at night when she was sleeping. There appeared to be no signs of anything bad happening, and she was safe inside her bedroom. I watched her through the window for a brief time before making my way back to my place. I knew I needed to calm myself and get back in human form so I could try to talk to her and fix her roof before it caused the whole house to rot.

I knocked on her door and nervously waited for her to answer. She opened the door and stared at me for a minute before stepping aside so I could go in.

“Good morning, Dane. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to hire another contractor to finish the job,” she spat, letting me know she was still pissed.

“I know I was supposed to come back three days ago, and I fully intended to finish the job, I just thought you could use a few days to process the things I told you and cool off a bit. I would really like to finish telling you about my people,” I replied, hoping she would give me a chance.

She shook her head, dismissing me with a wave of her hand. I sighed, stepping close to her, and pressed my lips to hers, taking her by surprise.

“I know you’re attracted to me, Lauren. I’m attracted to you too, and I know that one day you’re going to let me finish my story, and when I do, it will be because we love each other,” I said as I stepped away from her and headed out the door to begin work on the roof.

I had ordered the new decking and shingles from a store on the mainland, and my friend, Rory went and got them for me. Rory sympathized with my fear of boats as his mother was in the same accident as mine, but Rory liked to be on the mainland with the women too much to be afraid like I was. Rory had no truck to bring the supplies to me, so I told him to text me when he got back to his place, and I’d come load them in my truck. I had half the old shingles and decking off before I got his text. I climbed down and headed for Rory’s place. I left with a weird feeling that I needed to hurry and get back. I didn’t think it was for the sake of my work either.