Page 33 of Surge of Storms

“What are you interested in?” the store clerk asks Evander, his gaze skimming over the rest of us and probably deciding we aren’t the ones with money.

Smart.

Evander doesn’t miss a beat. “Engagement rings. For all of us. And anything else that catches her eye.”

“Uh…fiveengagement rings?” he asks, rubbing his hand over his bald head.

“Correct,” Evander tells him, his tone leaving no room for arguments.

The man’s eyes widen, and he leads us over to one area, the one with the engagement rings, where another employee is waiting. “What price range are you looking at?”

“Price is of no concern,” Evander tells him, waving a hand as if the matter means absolutely nothing to him.

Zane comes to the glass case and squeals. “I want that one!”

He’s pointing out a woman’s ring with a giant blue diamond.

Aydan sighs, patting Zane on the back. “That’s a woman’s ring, man.”

Zane’s shoulders slump. “Okay then, what is a man’s ring then?”

They bring out the men’s rings for them and the women’s rings for me. The men try theirs on while I try mine on, feeling kind of silly but loving the way all the gorgeous jewelry makes me feel. Like I’m alive. Still,engagementrings? Our relationship is hardly traditional. Do we really need rings? It’s not like we’re going to have some big, fancy wedding…

Frowning, I look at the guys. “Are we going to have a wedding?”

“Do you want a wedding?” Evander asks.

I feel my face get hot.

“That’s a yes,” Granger says.

“Then, we’ll have a wedding,” Evander tells me, grinning and kissing me.

I turn back to the rings and one catches my eye. One with spots for four different stones, and a dragon carved into it. “Whoa. What’s that?”

The shopkeeper grins. “That is an antique. We figured in the spirit of all this dragon stuff, it might be fun to have a ring with a dragon on it in our collection.”

It looks like something from an elfin kingdom, leaves and vines twisting along the band with a serpent, and then the dragon peeking out from it all. He slips the ring onto my finger, and I just know this is the ring for me.

My guys crowd around me, and they’re absolutely silent, staring at the ring on my finger. “What do you think?” I ask nervously.

“I think it’s perfect,” Granger says.

The others agree.

I smile. “But you'll have to have rings to match mine.”

“I want a gem in mine,” Zane says, pouting a little as he adds on, “I don’t see why the women’s rings should be so much prettier.”

Evander laughs. “We can get gems in ours and have them make rings that complement hers.” Then he glances at the jeweler. “And I’m sure he can make a ring that’s pretty enough for you.”

The jeweler stands up taller. “Of course!”

Zane looks pleased. “I want pale blue gems in mine.”

“I’ll have yellow… since it’s close to gold,” Aydan says.

“Black for me,” Granger adds with a grin.

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