Page 98 of Ember

Rian presented them with an arrangement of thick, velvety cushions. Two were dismissed as being too velvety, and one as “not durable enough”. The other, a deep green, was added to the blanket.

Great, we had two pieces. Rian passed me, back in search of more things, and I patted him on the shoulder. “Good job.”

He nodded. “It just sucks.”

“It does.” I didn’t have to ask.

A massive lounge chair sat in the middle of the display room that looked like a Victorian fainting couch. West gravitated toward it and pulled Ember down onto the couch with him.

“We’re going to sit a minute,” he said.

I nodded. “I’ll get you some water.”

Ember made a face.

“Sorry, my angel, I mean some sugar-filled syrup water that will do nothing to hydrate you.”

Ember perked up. “Thanks.”

I went in search of a vending machine and found Ben and Rian having a small conference.

“Good, you’re here.” Ben looped his arm around me. “This isn’t working. What do we do?”

I shrugged. “So this isn’t normal nest shopping behavior?”

“God, no,” Rian said. “I know it’s a trauma, so not a happy occasion…”

“But if they don’t want to actually nest shop, we could leave,” Ben said. “No point in rubbing salt in their wounds.”

“We could watch TV or play video games,” Rian said. His curly hair was escaping its ponytail and he looked like a deranged angel. I rubbed my hand on his shoulder and then looked at Ben. Ben was still thinking and didn’t seem threatened in the least that I enjoyed touching Rian.

This had to be what a pack was like. I sighed. “Ember wanted to go out shopping.”

“Out of guilt?”

“Maybe.” I rubbed my chin. “At the risk of presumption, have either of you asked them to move in? Officially?”

Rian blinked and Ben rolled his eyes. “I’m an idiot. No.”

I shrugged. “I know you’re talking about making various rooms theirs, but if it’s not a living situation…”

“It won’t feel like theirs.” Ben shoved my shoulder. “That goes for you too. We could buy a big house if we wanted. It doesn’t have to be our house.”

“Your house is way better than my apartment,” I said. “The kitchen is massive, and there’s a separate island.”

Rian grinned. “I’m glad we managed to entice you with the kitchen.”

“Maybe we don’t nest shop,” I said finally. “Maybe we just spend the day going shopping in general. Ember likes a lot of plants, and I wouldn’t mind picking up some more cooking supplies.”

“You’re brilliant.” Rian nodded. “We could go to a music store too. There’s a great place around the corner. It won’t be ‘hey, let’s shop for your new nest since your old one was destroyed.’ It’ll be ‘hey, let’s just shop.’”

With that decided, we went back to where Ember and West were cuddling on the couch. A saleslady was talking to them, and Ember looked amused.

“Are you sure?” She looked at Ember and West and then back at the three of us. She gave me such a dirty look, I stopped.

“Positive,” Ember said, patting her hand. “They’re helping us feel better. We just suffered…a loss.”

The saleslady gave me and Ben a dubious look. Rian shifted over to Ember and West. “Everything okay?”

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