Page 70 of Never Feed a Dragon

Which was fine.

Honestly, I often envied her calmness. It’d be nice not to feel like I had to charge at everything as fast as humanly possible.

My brain just didn’t have that setting.

“A mate bond looks good on you guys,” Randa teased, throwing her arms around me for a hug. I squeezed her back tightly, not realizing how much I needed the contact until it was happening.

“Does it?”

She laughed. “Yes. But how bizarre is it that we’re both sisters and sisters-in-law now?”

I snorted. “Let’s not think about that. It’ll weird all of us out.”

“Our babies will probably be genetic siblings or something.”

A laugh escaped me. “There will be no babies for me.

“I don’t know, eternity is a long time to go without changing your mind. Fifty years from now, maybe you’ll be lonely or bored.”

“That’s what Eli’s for. He’s volunteered to be my permanent taste tester.” I gestured toward him.

“Hey, that’s my job,” she protested.

“Not anymore,” Eli announced. “I’ve claimed it.”

Randa sighed dramatically. I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

She snagged a cupcake off the plate. “Want to come check out my new cabin while the guys chat?”

“The honeymoon cabin? Of course.” I looked at Eli, waiting for him to protest. Supposedly, Randa’s new place wasn’t too far. Ten or fifteen minutes deeper into the forest than Eli’s.

…Which was mine too.

That was strange to think about.

“Have fun. We’ll eat all of these while you’re gone.” He gestured to the cupcakes.

“Go ahead. I have to remake them anyway.”

I needed to adjust the amount of fruit.

Again.

It was my fourth time doing the same damn thing to those cupcakes, and I was getting frustrated.

Thankfully, I was a few months ahead with the seasonal recipes Brynn and the other owners loved to feature, so I had time to keep working on them. But tediously adjusting small amounts of ingredients definitely wasn’t something I was passionate about.

I would make them perfect, of course. There was no alternative in my mind. But that didn’t mean I would enjoy making them perfect.

Randa kissed Jasper before following me out to my car. I didn’t wave at Eli or hug him or anything. That seemed awkward.

It did feel foreign to walk away from him after spending a solid month together, but foreign wasn’t bad. Just new.

“You’d better tell me everything,” Randa whispered, after she shut the front door behind us.

“It’s really not that exciting,” I warned.

She gave me a glare that said she disagreed.

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