Page 24 of The Dragon, the Bear, and Their Sugar Glider Omega

I rubbed at my face and ran my fingers through my hair. Then I just sat looking at the screen saver on the TV.

When Armel came back, he tucked me into his side, covered me with the softest blanket I’d ever seen, and stuck a pillow behind my back.

“Now,” he said. “What movie do you want to sleep through next?”

I laughed. “I’m sorry. Work is killing me.”

“I know. Clay and I have been talking about that. You know he can subsidize you if you need it. So can I.”

“No. I would never ask him. Or you.”

“But this is killing you. And we’re all going to move in together eventually and share in the mortgage and bills. It shouldn’t be any different now.”

Pride reared up inside me. I forced myself to say nothing.

“I wish you’d move in with me right now,” Armel said.

I gulped a couple of times then whispered, “I’d love that.”

“Tonight, then?”

I whispered again. “I can’t. There’s Dez to consider.”

“Rome, please let us buy out the lease. Then Dez won’t have to worry at all.”

“Maybe soon.”

“Please can we do this sooner?”

I just shook my head.

Why did it feel so wrong to me and so right at the same time?

“Okay,” Armel said softly, hugging me to him. “Let’s start the next movie so you can get another well-deserved nap.”

I smiled. Gods, I loved him so much.

Chapter Seventeen

Clayborne

It was Saturday night at Animals, and I was working. My bosses had been great since the day I arrived, but triple great now that I had found my mates. They’d offered to schedule me so my hours more aligned with Armel’s.

And they could easily have been. His were predictable. But what good would that do? It wasn’t like we could fully align with each other. There was no way anyone could align with Rome’s hours. He worked a bazillion of them. I didn’t know how he was still standing half the time. I worked significantly less than he did, and I was exhausted.

The staying up late to spend time with just the three of us had really started to take a toll on me. I was exhausted…all the time. The solution was obvious: Don’t wait up for Rome. Only thing was, I couldn’t help it. When he wasn’t around, I missed him. Missed him terribly.

I turned down a set weekday-only schedule for a bunch of reasons. One of them was because I really liked Saturdays. Saturdays were when people from all over came, even shifters who drove here from different states. It was nice to be surrounded by shifters of all different varieties. I’d even met a shark not too far back.

Tonight, I was training my mate’s roommate. He was looking for a very part-time gig, and, of course, Animals welcomed him with open arms. He might be human, but he knew a lot about shifters due to one being mated into his family. And it made him the perfect person for the job because we did have humans who came here. And now there was somebody who was…I wouldn’t want to say a human expert, but sort of.

We’d been running bar drinks from the bar, and, so far, made some pretty great tips. He said he was making a ton of money and I was glad for it. The number of times I nearly asked him to let me buy out his lease was astronomical. But I refrained. That was something I refused to do without my mate’s full agreement.

They said happy mate, happy life.

We’d just gotten started for the night, and he was already doing so well. They were going to love that we had an employee who picked up on things as quickly as he did. He was a natural. And the tips tonight showed it.

I was thrilled. I really wanted to help Dez up his income so that Rome wouldn’t feel as bad about leaving the apartment. I got it. I did. He had a roommate. They’d made a commitment. The rent was high. All of that made sense, but I was selfish. I wanted to be around him all the time, and that meant maybe letting go of that apartment.

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