“That sounds great, baby,” I say right away, wanting to encourage his developing instincts. “We can stop and pick out some new blankets as well. If you want. No pressure.”
Calloway nods. “I’d like that. Thanks.”
“Candy?” I ask, changing the subject. Calloway smiles at me knowingly, nodding his head.
We walk into The Devil’s Sweet Tooth, the candy shop located here at the mall. This isn’t the first time we’ve been here by any stretch of the imagination. Every single time, I’m amazed by the variety they offer.
The guy behind the counter, a handsome guy with horns and a tail, greets us. We’ve been here enough to know the shopis owned by a trio of incubi brothers. They all have mates and I’m embarrassed to admit how often Calloway and I have interrupted a flirting session while coming in to grab candy.
We head over to the left side of the store. There’s a massive wall of loose candy all in their own containers with spoons so you can make your own variety pack. We start picking out our favorites and tossing them into a giant bag.
Calloway keeps picking sour candy and I keep picking things that are sweet. We top it off with some chocolate covered nuts.
Just as we’re about to head towards the register, three guys come into the same section as us. I look at them with a smile before freezing, forcing myself to do a double take.
No. Fucking. Way.
Beside me, Calloway murmurs, “no fucking way.”
I shove my elbow into his side. Normally, I pretend to be annoyed that he’s already taller than me but today, I realize how it puts me at the perfect height to jab him at.
“Language.”
“Sorry,” he murmurs, rubbing at his side.
The three come to a stop at the wall of candy, one of them looking over at us. It’s Rodney. It’s fucking Rodney from the other night and he’s staring at me with wide, silver eyes.
“Oh my gods! It’s you!”
I can feel my entire face turn red at Rodney’s words. The guy beside him slaps the back of his head.
“Oi! That’s rude as fuck! Don’t just yell at people in public.”
“Shit, sorry,” Rodney says, rubbing the back of his head. “What I meant to say was hello! I can’t believe we’ve run into each other like this! What a coincidence!”
I can’t help but snicker at the way he’s talking like an over the top robot. “It’s nice to meet you in the flesh and put a face to my hypeman.”
Rodney’s cheeks turn a pretty pink color and he looks away, chuckling to himself. “Can’t mute in real life so I better keep myself in check.”
The guy beside him snorts. I’m about to ask for introductions but Calloway barrels into the conversation.
“It’s really nice to meet you guys! Would it be weird if I asked for a picture?”
“Yeah, no worries,” the guy with blue hair says. Right. That’s Blue. Which means the third guy with the scowl must be their other roommate, PourSomeSuga. He goes by Suga.
I take Calloway’s phone as he tucks himself into the middle of the three. I take a couple pictures and hand it back.
“Sweet. This is really awesome! Thanks so much! Now you can talk to my dad, he’s all yours. Just don’t flirt with him too much, okay? I don’t wanna hear all that,” he says with a giggle, running off to a different section of the store.
I rub the back of my neck, suddenly feeling completely off-centered.
“So, uh, that was Calloway,” I say softly. “And you guys can call me Gayle. It’s nice to meet you all.”
“I’m still just Rodney,” Rodney says with a chuckle that helps loosen some of the tension from my muscles. “That’s Rin. And this is Kei.”
“Nice to meet you, Gayle,” Rin says, shaking my free hand. All of Calloway’s bags rest on my left arm. “It was really fun playing with you the other night. Would you ever be down to try again?”
“That’d be super fun,” I say right away. “So long as Rodney is there. He really helped my ego that night.”
