Page 37

Story: Ember

I glanced between them. “I’d love to. I should get my car today, though, so I don’t have to wake either of you up at oh god o’clock.”

Ember gave West an innocent look. “Do you want to go while I shower?”

I growled at the idea of her showering my scent off and she kissed my cheek. “You can put it back, alpha, and I don’t use scent cancelers.”

“That’s fine.” West tilted his head. “Let’s go.”

The quick change in plans made me reconfigure how the day would go, but I liked being kept on my toes. West handed me a T-shirt that smelled like him and a little bit like Ember. “We can swing by your place and pick up some clothes too.”

“Yes please!” Ember shouted from the other room. “This white T-shirt has an itchy collar.”

I smirked at West. “Guess I’d better step up my clothing.”

“If you want us stealing your clothes, you will.” West put a shirt on, his back flexing, and I noticed thin white scars in irregular lines.

I’d noted Ember’s scars without slowing down last night. Now was definitely not the time or place to ask. If ever.

West led me to his car and gestured at the passenger side. That was fine; I could be a passenger princess.

“So you’re a computer programmer?” I asked as soon as West pulled out of the driveway.

“You don’t have to do that.” West kept his eyes on the road, and his stone-faced expression was back, one that let nothing in and nothing out. He’d brushed his hair and put it back into a braid and I wished I’d had the presence of mind to play with his hair last night. His shoulders weren’t tensed, so I didn’t think he was uncomfortable.

“Do what?”

“Do the ‘getting to know you’ thing. We had sex, it was amazing, and you smell good. That’s good enough for me.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. His entire face was closed off. I knew I’d have to show him I wasn’t going to fuck around with him and Ember, but words were cheap. Actions would take time. “Okay.” I looked him over, remembering how good it felt to take his cock into my mouth. “Am I allowed to be nosy, though? Because I can barely get my email to open and you’re out here programming entire…programs…to do…stuff.”

Amusement flashed over his face, there and gone. “It’s actually not that hard. Just a lot of math equations.”

“Yeah, you lost me there, mi corazon.” I chuckled. “Math wasn’t my best subject in school.”

“Don’t you need math to cook?” He sounded incredulous, but warmth colored his tone that wasn’t there before.

“Sure, but measuring cups spell it out for me.” It was a gross oversimplification of cooking, but I got West to roll his eyes.

“Where do you live? We’ll swing by there first.”

My alpha instincts preened that he wanted to know where I lived, that I was going to bring him into my apartment.

West could have easily dropped me off at the restaurant and made me stop at my apartment on the way back to their cottage, but he didn’t.

My apartment building was near the coast, but no ocean view. I hadn’t bothered to go all out with my living space, considering I spent more time at work than I did at home.

I had a ground-floor apartment and unlocked the door. I was only a little bit taller than West, and his shoulder brushed mine as he went in.

“Pretty basic,” I said, gesturing around. “Mi casa es su casa, omega amour.”

I had a nice couch with a decent TV and a gaming setup. My kitchen was filled with all sorts of state-of-the-art equipment, though, because I had to be able to hold my head high, and I couldn’t stand cooking with shitty knives.

West glanced around, not hiding at all that he was checking everything out. “I expected more of a bachelor pad. Sexy single alpha with a fancy chef job? You could have a different couple every night.”

I headed down the short hallway to the bedroom. West followed me and I grabbed a duffel bag. I picked out clothing forwork and relaxing. “I did when I was younger. Kinda got old, and my work hours don’t help.”

“How old are you?” West leaned against the doorframe.

“Thirty.” I grabbed my softest T-shirts in case they became fodder for the omega nest. “Why, how old are you and Ember?”