Page 45 of Five to Love Him

Leo’s sniffles ebbed slowly. We waited patiently though we would have liked to coax him upstairs, get him to lie down to make sure he’d be better able to relax while he cried, but like the sensitive wings of a new-hatched butterfly, we didn’t want to touch and prod.

Eventually he calmed. It was just when we arrived—we had told Coral we’d finish our shift with one.

“Oh,” Leo said when the door opened and we came inside.

We lifted a bag. “We got some more chocolate-covered strawberries.”

He cackled, his nose still stuffy. “You’re totally spoiling me. You better be careful or I might get used to that sort of treatment.”

“We wouldn’t be opposed.” We touched his sides. “Would you like to go upstairs, rest for a bit before heading back to your house?”

He looked around. “What time is it? It has to be going on midnight.”

“Just past eleven.”

“Wow. Can I go and take a quick look upstairs before we go home? If you’re done packing, I mean. I don’t need to rest.”

“We are.” We came down with the bag in our hand. We had packed more clothes than we needed for one night, hoping Leo wouldn’t notice.

He nodded, oblivious. “Look. Forget my first reaction, okay? I’m still new to this, and your place is awesome. Oh, I want to check out the bathroom too.”

We let him, our cheeks slightly flushed.

At the Dazzle, Coral waved his towel in front of our face. “The werewolves look like they’re about finished. I’m sending you home once they are. A little bonus for working with four hands all this time.”

We beamed at him. “Thank you, Coral.”

The lernean huffed. “One lucky guy. That one from yesterday, right? The blond one?”

We bobbed our head. “He is ours.”

Coral inclined his head. “Take a bottle with you. Anything you want. Celebrate with him. And please don’t quit on me, okay? You’re the best server I ever had. I don’t want to train anyone else.”

“We don’t want to quit. We enjoy working here as well, Coral, we really do. We met Leo here.”

Coral winked, showing off his dazzling fake lashes.

“That’s his name, huh. Bring him by some time and introduce us.”

We promised that we would while we watched Leo opening and closing the sliding door to our bathroom before grinning at us.

“I know it’s just a sliding door, okay? How’d you fit the washing machine in the bathroom?”

We shrugged. “It came with the unit though we wondered the same thing. Maybe they built the place around it.”

“Maybe. Ugh, I hate moving big furniture. Clearing out Gran’s room was a workout, and don’t even get me started on the adventure otherwise known as kicking the old couch to the curb.”

“We don’t mind big furniture. We may be small, but even we can handle a move.”

We tried to keep the longing out of our voice. Two balled their fists, keeping us from saying we’d happily move everything we owned by ourself if only Leo said we could. We wanted to be close to him, wanted to be with him, but we had read books and watched shows and movies, and so we knew that humans needed more time. Maybe we were lucky already to be allowed to sleep over.

The werewolves asked for the check, and we hurried over to their table, Coral chuckling behind us.

Leo stopped in the middle of the ladder to the second floor.

“Hold on. You don’t mind big furniture, and you picked me up like a straw doll. Tell me more about your superstrength.”

“It’s not superstrength. A hive is simply stronger than a human.”