Page 28 of Where There's Smoke
Still, I had never been more thankful for my pack mate’s grumpy attitude. Fitz asking questions would likely make the situation a lot worse. It was probably best to hold off. At least for now.
“I… that would be nice,” Melody said, her voice scratchy as she nodded at me, her movements a little slow, like she had drained herself with her nesting urges and the subsequent crying fit. “Wait… how long would we be? Dotty is due for a feed in like an hour.”
“Get dressed, and I’ll meet you back here in five? We’ll be back within an hour, so you can feed Dotty.”
Melody nodded. “I appreciate it, thank you.”
“I’ll keep an eye on our mascot if you want!” Fitz suggested helpfully. “I’ll be in the den, so we can get her out of the playpen while you’re gone. Stretch her little doggy legs.”
I shot a thankful smile to Fitz, who was beaming from ear to ear. The fact that he wasn’t begging to go on the coffee run was surprising, but I appreciated it all the same. Something told me that he’d be looking for his one-on-one time soon enough, though.
Ten minutes later, with the puppy set up in the den and Fitz hovering over her like a mother hen, Melody joined me in the lobby, wearing an LADFD tee and a pair of leggings. She looked like she was right where she belonged, and damn, did I love that.
The shirt wasn’t one of ours, it was far too small, and no scent clung to it. It was probably one of the many we had stashed away that had no owner.
Was it bad that I wanted her to wear my shirt? Clearly, she liked them because she had stolen several from our room when on her little nesting adventure.
I had yet to see the nest, and the urge to go lay eyes on it was overwhelming. But I was doing my best to be respectful. Barging in on the nest she had made, which was a very personal thing for an omega, even if she didn’t realize it yet, would be a big no-no. And with Melody not accepting that she was an omega, it seemed worse to push those limits just because she didn’t know. I wasn’t like that.
“All ready?” I asked, grabbing my car keys.
She nodded, her ponytail bobbing as it caught the morning light.
I led Melody to my SUV and pulled away from the firehouse, more than a little excited for the coffee run.
After a moment of silence, Melody spoke. “How are you able to leave if you’re on shift?” she asked, her nose crinkling as she asked. “It only just occurred to me that you might be needed if there’s a fire…”
“One of us can leave at a time for small errands. As long as there are five firefighters at the station, we’re all good. There’s six of us on shift today, so I’m perfectly okay to go for a coffee run. It’s encouraged, in fact, because caffeinated firefighters are happy firefighters.”
A sweet, delicate laugh escaped Melody. “I’ll have to remember that. What’s everyone’s caffeine of choice?”
“Well, Elliot is a black coffee guy?—”
“—That tracks, matches his soul.” Melody nodded thoughtfully as I laughed.
“But he does like alotof syrup,” I said. “Seriously, that man will add enough syrup to his coffee to put an elephant into a diabetic coma.”
“That’s a mental image. I never would have pegged him for a fan of sweets.”
“He’s all dark and grumpy on the surface, but, deep down, Elliot is a softy.”
Melody glanced at me, not believing a word as we pulled up outside the coffee shop. “I think I’ll need to see that to believe it.”
She’d see soon enough. I was certain of it. Elliot was already softening up around her. He wasn’t exactly a cuddler, but he’d told us how he had held Melody that morning as she cried about the nest.
How she could think we would be mad about the nest baffled me. Mad was the furthest from what I felt. I was downright proud of her for listening to her instincts and choosing our clothing to line her space. I was already thinking about swappingout the T-shirts at some point, so I could wear her scent all day long.
I would wear that shit like a badge of honor.
“I’m guessing Fitz likes a creamy, sugary blended drink?” Melody asked as we entered the shop.
“Yep, he tends to go for whatever seasonal blended drink is available. Unless it’s floral. I grabbed him a lavender drink once, and he acted like I had gravely offended him and spent several days insisting that lavender was a pretty smell but there was no worse taste in the world. He was so adamant that all floral flavors are vile. Which is a shame, really. But I got to drink it, so bonus for me.”
“I mean, that’s a bit extreme but also kind of understandable.” Melody nodded, glancing over the coffee shop menu.
“It would be an understandable stance if his favorite candy wasn’t Turkish delight.”
“Wait, isn’t that…”
