Page 116 of The Fire We Crave

“I would. I was thinking of keeping busy. Maybe starting to sort through the mess in the apartment upstairs, or heading to Smoke’s to bake.”

“You’re moving on?” Ember says with a pinch of amazement in her voice.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” I reply, busying myself making her coffee order. “Close the shop. It’s like, two minutes until closing, anyway.”

I’ve needed time to process Melody’s arrival. I’ve been made a fool of, and it hurts. Every time I think about her, my chest tightens, and I feel like I can’t breathe. And Melody has put me in an unthinkable situation, where I worried whether my friends would think I was cruel if I didn’t go through with getting tested. These friendships are the most important ones in my life.

Which is why they will support you, whatever you decide.

Ember grins and turns the lock on the door. “So, the thinking you’ve been doing? Is that the euphemism we’re using for doing Smoke every day and twice on Sundays?”

A chuckle escapes me, the first time I’ve laughed all day. “Absolutely not.”

“Absolutely not a euphemism or absolutely not riding him every day? You know what they say, save a horse, ride a cowboy.”

I toss a napkin in her direction, and she bats it onto the counter. “Stop it. And I think Atom qualifies as the cowboy in this scenario.”

“Meh. I think they’re all a little bit cowboy. But for what it’s worth, I’m really glad you found each other. You seem…happier.”

I take a deep breath. “Despite the uncertainty washing around the town and the club, I am.”

“So, what have you been thinking about?”

“Take a seat, and I’ll keep cleaning up while I tell you.”

“Wait, I told Raven I’d let her know what we were doing. Let me call her and tell her to come over. We can help you sort things in the apartment. And there’s safety in numbers.”

Ember moves to one of the stools by the window, her back to the street, and makes her call while I finish up our drinks.

I place Ember’s coffee in front of her as she convinces Raven to join us.

“It’s fine if you bring Fen,” Ember says, but she looks to me like it’s a question.

“For sure,” I say. “We can order pizza. Fen can keep Bones happy. The two of them love each other anyway.”

It takes another ten minutes for the two of them to arrive, and Fen barely says a word before he runs up the stairs shouting Bones’s name.

“Oh my God, I’m so glad we’re doing this together,” Raven says. “Wraith took an untold volume of weapons from his gun safe before he headed to the clubhouse.”

“Quinn was about to tell us all thethinkingshe’s been doing with Smoke recently,” Ember says as I make Raven’s usual coffee order.

I roll my eyes. “I was not.”

“You are cute together, though,” Raven says. “I never thought I’d see the day Smoke settled down, though. He likes so much…never mind.”

Ember chuckles. “You can say the wordsex, Raven.”

She shakes her head. “I know, but it’s hardly appropriate.”

Ember shrugs. “From what I’ve observed, including why you and I were shunted from the bar at the clubhouse the other night, I feel like Quinn might be his match.”

“Shut up,” I say, but I can barely keep the grin from my face as I place her coffee in front of her.

Raven looks at Ember innocently for half a second before it dawns on her what Ember is saying. “Oh my God…did you …in the clubhouse bar?”

“No comment,” I say.

Her mouth drops wide open. “Oh my God. You totally did. Hey, no shame here. You know I tag scenes in romance books and leave them for Wraith to read so he can do them to me. And thank you for the coffee.”

---