Page 17 of The Griffin, the Tiger, and Their House Cat Omega

As much as I longed to be with my mates, my guys, Flora was my priority.

I bit my bottom lip, already angry at myself for what I was about to say, but knowing it needed to be said anyway.

“I—I think I need to go back to the room…alone.”

“Because of Flora?” Allen asked

“Yeah, because of Flora. One day, I’ll tell you all the details, but her life hasn’t been great. And we’re brand new here, and—”

“Of course she needs you.” Matthew rested a hand on Allen’s shoulder. “You need to go. We have time. There’s no rush.”

My tiger disagreed. He was ready to pounce, to mark them, to make them ours. And me? I wanted was to kiss them, taste them, rub my scent all over them.

“She’s pretty amazing,” Matthew said, rubbing himself on Allen’s side. He was so very much his house cat in all ways.

“She starts her new school tomorrow. I’ll have all day. I don’t know what your schedules are like…”

Allen was the first to let me know he didn’t have anything scheduled. Matthew, after a few seconds where it looked like maybe he was struggling with deciding finally settled on his calendar being clear too. I wasn’t sure if that was true or if he was calling it a sick day.

“So, a daytime date it is.” I leaned in to kiss Allen. The kiss turned passionate very quickly, and as our lips broke apart, I found them replaced with Matthew’s. His were soft and teasing—not the same, but no less spectacular.

They were making it very difficult to leave.

But with school the next day, and us being new here, I didn’t see any better way.

“We can walk you back,” Matthew offered.

“No.” I shook my head. “Because if you do, well, I’ll want to bring you in. And Flora doesn’t even know Allen yet. But tomorrow, we have all day. I can show you my place, for sure.”

I made sure everybody had everybody’s phone numbers, and then we all went our separate ways.

Or maybe they went together. I wasn’t even sure.

But thinking about them together as I walked back to our apartment had me far more hot and bothered than I should be. I ended up thinking about a show I watched—a dystopian one where people lived in the sewers and all the gross things they discovered down there—just to pull myself together enough to go inside.

These mates were going to be the death of me.

When I opened the door, Zevo was at the stove, putting the kettle on.

“Hey,” he said. “Oh, she’s asleep. Probably asleep enough you could check on her without waking her.”

And so I did.

Sure enough, she was hugging her stuffie close, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world.

When I came back out, there were two cups of tea on the counter.

“Thought you could use one.”

I took it gratefully.

“May I ask why you don’t look ecstatic?”

“Oh, I am.” I played with the tea bag, collecting my thoughts.

“It’s just…I’m not just me, you know. And as much as my instincts say to go to them, be with them…I’m her Uncle Daddy. I gotta do that first. But I don’t want them to resent me for that.”

“Oh, River. Dear, sweet River.” He shook his head with a soft smile.

---