Page 3 of Bride of Choice

Gopher was… our friendship was… Damn. Shame filled me to admit it. Gopher, despite how out and proud we are as best buddies, there was this tension, this whole side to him I’d spy and secretly loved and I- Truth time. Gopher is my dirty pleasure, secret crush that I’ll never take seriously, blow off if he even hinted at liking me back because how the hell would that work?! I mean, Rek beat him up for giving me dung chips! Who beats people up over poop for the stove?!

So… Yeah. Dragged in by a poop fight mishap aside, Goph was, unknownst to even himself, my untouched, secret pleasure. Things with him were so chill and calm. I loved relaxing and just hanging out with him after a long day of crazy. It’s like taking a deep breath after holding it for so long.

And I refused to taint any of that with mine or Rek’s bullshit.

My soft n fluffy, skinny stick o’ furred up Gogo boots was just too pure for my world.

Dramatic, I supposed, but there it was.

Unless I was in the mood to hunt down and harass Bum-bum, that left me with a big ol’ nobody.

“Yeah, I see how it is!” I called after Red and Daisy from their short distance away. There was no real heat behind my words.

Red smirked, while Daisy “eep”ed, and “op”ed, snuggled between her males as their kids crawled all over her big old brutes for dudes.

Red’s males stiffened at first by my tease but relaxed once they realized Red took no offense.

Intense— that’s how I’d describe Red’s guys. And bossy. And about a million other things. Daisy’s males were less intense in looking like they might kill me for offending their tiny dynamo, but not really that much different at the end of the day.

Rosa had more chill dudes than all the rest but I’ve seen them good and riled so that wasn’t saying much. They’d kill for her.

Daisy insisted if I just gave a large group of furry buns a chance I’d come around, I’d see, I’d join the furry multi husbands side, but I failed to see the appeal of having a bunch of butts bossier than me barking orders they actually expected me to follow. Hah!

I had one bossy butt to contend with, thank you very much. One was enough.

“More!” the little man in my lap demanded, clapping his fruit sticky hands together.

Okay, two bossy butts to deal with.

“Yes, my tyrant. Your wish is my command!” I joked.

“What do we say?” Rosa prompted him, to Kehko squeaking out excitedly for him, “PLEASE! We say please!”

“PEAS!” my fruit lovin’ fiend hollered, to my rolling laughter.

Handing over his required sustenance, a piece of precut yellow melon, I glanced up, feeling like I was being watched.

Rek’s gaze darted from me to the little one in my lap. His throat worked, the look on his face unreadable. Our gazes met, held. Something passed between us. It felt… electric.

“Wek?” Lottie grumbled, gripping her uncle-cousin’s chin hair none too gently to drag his attention back to her. “Wek? You no wisten,” she fairly pouted.

Rek blinked and with some effort offered Miss Lottie his undivided attention.

It was then I noted Rektal had not been the only one paying attention to me. Or, possibly, had noted Rek taking note of me. The look on Kirch’s face was curious, darting between me and my furred headache. Damn. We had a busybody on the watch.

The moment was broken, just like that.

“Prinnedcess Lottie?” Rek gruffly rumbled at her when she just stared, giving him a dirty look.

He gave her one back but it just made her laugh.

“You wook so pitty,” she told him, gripping the fur on his cheeks to bring him nose to nose with her.

“My princess,” Kirch grunted out softly, causing his daughter to sigh, release her death grip on Rek, where he was tolerating her torture quite impressively for someone who barely tolerated much of anything, and wriggled for him to put her down.

I nearly burst out laughing at the reluctant look on Rek’s face, the pure delight on Kirch’s when his baby girl immediately took her little hair accessories basket and climbed up her papa like a tree to start in on his wild mane.

Crossing his arms over his chest, my fuzzy sock monkey was the one practically pouting now, feeling thwarted.

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