Page 13 of Five to Love Him
He nodded once more, seemed to relax.
“We also have iced tea. Nice for the weather.”
We looked outside the window-fronted diner and smiled while we said, “Yes, please.”
He paused. “Three iced teas?”
We nodded and made a mental note to remember ordering for each of us for when Leo was going to join us. At the phone, the werewolf had picked up on us saying “we” instead of “I,” and had correctly deduced we were hive. He seemed excited and asked whether we’d be willing to work very flexible shifts.
“We are, if you are willing to pay for very flexible shifts.” Normally, we wouldn’t have done that, negotiated, but with Leo—
In the diner, the door twinkled with the arrival of a customer, and we were distracted by them. They were a hive too, sandy-haired, one of them wearing scrubs and well-worn sneakers. They spotted us immediately, and while one returned the server’s greeting, the other approached us.
“Hello. We haven’t met. Can we join you for breakfast?”
“We would love that, but we met our gleaming one yesterday and are expecting him for breakfast at ten.”
“Oh! Congratulations. We’ll be sure to be gone by then. Are you with him right now?”
They slid into the booth across from us—we’d taken the side facing the door, not wanting to miss Leo’s arrival.
Sadness rushed through us at the other hive’s question even as the werewolf negotiated with us. He seemed taken aback that we held our own, and we thought that made the negotiation easier.
We faced the other hive, who peered at us curiously, their gaze warm. We said, “He said he needed time. And he had drinks last night with his friends—at the Dazzle. We work there. He said he didn’t want to do this while tipsy.”
They nodded. “You were straightforward with him.”
“Is there another way?”
They grinned and frowned at the same time. “Not telling them and instead trying to get closer gradually is a way. We should know. If only we’d had someone when we found our gleaming one, someone who could have understood. You are small, aren’t you?”
We felt heat rise to our cheeks. “Yes. Five only. You?”
“Eight of us. You reveal yourself and your size by wanting to be many where something is important.” They pointed. “Triplets are rare, and yet you’re trying to pass as such.”
We rubbed our sweaty palms on our pants and said we would stop by the yoga studio tomorrow for a contract.
We said, “He asked that we meet him with just a few of us even though he could have met us entirely.”
“Human?”
“Yes. He learned of our world about a year ago.”
They chuckled and said, “That would be rough. I did think I had it easy when it happened for me last year.” We were confused by their use of “I.” They saw it and shrugged. “I’ve worked for Hawthorne for a long time now. Valentin Hawthorne is a good boss, and most of the time, the work is enjoyable. He lets us pick up shifts at the hospital as well, hence the scrubs, and there are almost exclusively humans there. It wouldn’t do if we kept slipping, although the humans there do think us twins.”
We nodded, working it out in our head. It very nearly made us dizzy. “It must be easier. You’re bigger.”
They took their hand, a self-soothing gesture. “Many things are while others are not.”
The server brought our iced tea and drinks for them even though they hadn’t ordered anything. “Figured the usual for you,” he said to them.
“You figured right. Thanks.”
The server looked from us to the other hive. “You’re the same, aren’t you?”
The hive nodded. “We are, but we only just met.”
The human looked at us. “I like these guys. You seem nice too. Let me know if you need anything else. Our cherry pie is borderline infamous.”
