While Ayden stayed absorbed in the computer, Tess and Gabe talked about the differences between their worlds. Gabe already seemed familiar with a lot of Kelstone, he said it was very D&D, but he wanted to know all the particulars: the races, the cities, the government, and even the school system, which Tess found very strange but answered anyway. It was questions that Ayden would be much better at answering, but for the most part, he ignored them, seeming to not even hear unless she answered something wrong.

Most of Tess’ questions were about things she saw out of the window and commercials on the radio, but they turned off the radio after a while because the constant noise gave her a headache. “I wonder if Sera’s powers would work here?” she said as she rubbed her temples.

“No,” Ayden told her. “Our gods don’t exist here, so I don’t think her powers would either. Sera’s Tess’ cousin, Cael’s daughter,” he explained to Gabe without looking away from the computer. “She’s a healing cleric and uses divine magic.”

“Cool.” Gabe said.

Midday, they stopped at a gas station that had a little store and a place to eat inside that sold something called Mexican food. They each had a burrito, and then Tess wanted to look around.

“Are these nymphs?” Tess asked, looking at some magazine covers.

“No, just regular women who are famous for some reason or a model,” Gabe answered. “They’re barely real though, they have tons of make up on and are seriously airbrushed—like body paint. That’s the only reason they look so perfect”

She nodded and browsed through the magazines for a bit. She found a bodybuilder one and her eyes grew wide. “By the gods,” she murmured. “And I thought Dad and Matt were big. But this guy’s huge and all… I don’t know… just not right. Uck.” She put it down and picked up another. This one had one of the nymph-looking women on it and was mostly pink. She held it up. “Look Ayd, 16 naughty ways to send your man over the edge. Maybe I should read that. What do you think?” she asked with a grin, then laughed when he predictably blushed.

A moment later, he took a magazine from the back of the shelf and gaped at it. But when Tess looked over and saw the large breasted, topless woman on the cover, she grabbed it from him, shoving it back with unnecessary force and glaring.

“Sorry… it just… surprised me,” he mumbled guiltily.

“I don’t like this place,” she huffed angrily. “Let’s go.”

Gabe chuckled and shook his head. “But it’s okay for you to look at the almost naked bodybuilder, right?” he asked lightly.

She scowled at him, then took Ayden’s hand and stormed out to the car, pulling him with her.

They got a room at a hotel in a town called Santa Rosa that night. Gabe set the laptop up on a desk in their room and showed Ayden the internet, warning him to stay away from anything that had several Xs in the title. When asked why, he just smiled and said, “It’ll be stuff that some…”–He looked pointedly at Tess–“might find offensive.”

Ayden nodded and Gabe left to go pick up some dinner.

Tess sat on one of the queen size beds, still ill-tempered and flipping through the channels on the TV. She left it on one with the more of the perfect looking people walking down a red carpet between large crowds yelling and cheering. The women that walked down the carpet wore fancy dresses, lots of them showing off their ample cleavage. All of the women on the TV and the magazines seemed to have rather large breasts, even though a lot of them were skinny like Tess.

She glanced down at her own small breasts and frowned. Even though she was wearing her hunter’s corset top, which was a bit low cut, it still showed off nothing, she had nothing to show. She sighed heavily and looked back at the screen.

A guy, talking into a black stick he was holding, kept stopping random people to ask them questions and gush over how beautiful they were. Everyone seemed so gorgeous and flawless, it was like a whole world made up of people like Sera and Matt. The longer she watched, the worse she felt, but she didn’t turn the channel.

“Ayd?” she said after a while.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think I’m pretty?” When he didn’t answer right away she turned to frown at him. “Don’t look at me like that,” she grumbled. “Just answer.”

“Why are you suddenly worried about your looks? You’ve never cared before.”

She shrugged, trying to seem casual. “I just never thought about it and… well… you’ve never said anything. I mean… I don’t wear make-up or stuff… and my boobs are… pretty much non-existent…” She sighed again.

He glanced at the TV, then got up to grab the control from her and pressed the red power button. He set it on top of the dresser and went to stand in front of her so she had to look up at him. “Tess, I’ve loved you for most of my life.”

“What’s that gotta do with it?”

“Everything,” he said. “I adore you and you know that.”

“You’re not answering the question,” she said, frowning more, her eyes actually starting to sting with unleashed tears.

“Because pretty has nothing to do with anything,” he told her. “I know what you’re getting at Tess and if that…” he pointed at the black TV screen. “Is what you’re calling pretty, then no, I don’t think you are.”

She looked down. “Course not,” she mumbled miserably.

He rolled his eyes before kneeling down and taking her hands in his. “You’re not fake, Tess. You don’t wear a painted mask to hide anything. You’re not pretty like those phony people. You’re completely beautiful. I’ve always thought so. You’ve always been absolutely perfect to me.” He grinned when she uncharacteristically blushed. “I don’t see how it’d be possible for you to not know how gorgeous and desirable you are to me,” he said with a suggestive twitch of his eyebrows.

She fought a smile. “Maybe…” She tried to keep her voice nonchalant. “Maybe you’d like any other woman just as much… probably more.”

He shook his head. “But I don’t want any other woman. I’ve never wanted anyone else. You’re the first person I ever wanted to be with and the last. I’ll never want anyone else for the rest of my life. Just you.”

“You never thought about Sera?” she pressed.

He sighed. “No.”

“But she’s beautiful.”

“Yes,” he agreed.

“More than me.”

“Yes, I think she’s more beautiful than anyone on Kelstone, or anyone I’ve seen here,” he told her honestly. “But what does that matter?”

“Because maybe you’re really attracted to her,” Tess mumbled. “Maybe you’d rather be with her or someone beautiful like that.”

He rolled his eyes again. “And maybe you’d rather be with Matt,” he shot back.

She opened her mouth and he raised a challenging brow. She sighed and her shoulders sagged slightly in defeat. She couldn’t deny Matt’s beauty. “Okay, but I haven’t wanted him, or anyone else, since I’ve been with you.”

“I know, but Matt’s better looking than me and that’s the point.”

She sighed again.

Ayden smiled tenderly now. “All that matters is that we’re happy with each other. And you damn well know that I am thrilled to be with you.” He stood again. “Now stop being ridiculous. And no more watching that crap.”

She smiled up at him. “Tell me again.”

He smirked. “You’re beautiful.” He bent to kiss her jaw, moving his hand into her loose hair. “Absolutely”—he kissed her cheek—“perfect”—kiss—“just”—he kissed her forehead—“the way you are.” When he made his way back to her mouth, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fervently. She laid back, pulling him with her, but he broke away. “Gabe will be back soon.”

“So, lock the door,” she murmured, pushing his shirt up.

“He has the key,” Ayden pointed out.

“So?”

“Tess.”

“Okay, fine.” She moved out from under him, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him up.

“Where are we going?”

“To take a shower,” she told him. “I’m feeling dirty.”

He grinned and followed her to the bathroom.