‘When is your flight back?’
‘Tomorrow night. Red-eye. Gets in at 5 a.m.,’ he signs with a faint whine in his throat, looking annoyed. He’s always hated being up early.
‘Need a ride?’
He snorts. ‘Yeah, right. You won’t get up that early.’
He’s not lying. I shrug and lean back on my stool, resting the phone against the register so I can put my elbows on the counter. ‘Did everything go okay?’
He nods. ‘A lot of sales and interest in the cookies. And several surveys to go through for you.’
Surveys are both my favorite and my least favorite part of when Luca goes to expos. I like seeing what people want, but too many of them have unrealistic expectations about what sex toys can do.
And some of them are creepy as fuck. Some of the people should probably be spending way more time behind bars.
But it’s an integral part of my job, and I’m thinking about having Luca canvas around town and talk to some of the Vyastil about their own needs.
According to Everest, Rathyn didn’t even realize hecouldfool around, and from what I noticed about Cielo, while he was aware his body could provide pleasure, he seemed unfamiliar with how to really enjoy it.
So now I want to know about the others in town. The ones who have been living with humans for a few decades. The ones who are past their curiosity phase.
I should probably speak to Quilliyn.
Luca makes a loud, irritated noise, and I realize I’ve just zoned out. ‘Sorry,’ I sign quickly. ‘Been a long week.’
His brows lift, and he gives me a pointed look.
‘Pain,’ I tell him. He’s not aware of how often it’s been coming on lately, but he knows about my flares. He and Gia are the only ones I’ve talked to about it.
Luca’s face softens. ‘You need to hire someone to help at the store.’
I immediately brighten. ‘I did! Everest,’ I tell him, using his sign name. ‘He’s starting today.’
Luca looks immediately relieved. He’s been up my ass about not doing this all on my own for a while now, but he also knows I can’t really afford the full-time help. Maybe if I can diversify our stock to cover humans and monsters, sales will pick up.
But it’s hard to make a profit on this in a small town.
The door opens, and I sigh. ‘Customer. Text me if you need a ride,’ I tell him.
He waves me off, then disconnects the call, and I set my phone down, looking up to see Everest smiling at me. He looks a lot better than the man I met a couple months ago when he’d first signed his contract with Rathyn.
Back then, he’d been angry, a little scared, and very tired. But he’s a different man now.
“Am I too early? Or shit, am I late?”
I laugh and wave him over. “Nope. Right on time.”
“Amazing.”
Everest walks to the other side of the counter and grins at me, almost eagerly. “I’m so fucking excited. Rath isn’t, but god, I needed this.”
“I bet. You must be exhausted, you poor thing.”
“Tell me about it. Fifteen orgasms a day is wild, my dude. Have you and Cielo talked, or…”
“No. I will. I just need to find the right time.” I feel bad about it. I don’t want Everest to be upset with me on the first day.
“I hope that when you tell him, he realizes he’s allowed to make himself happy. Fuck what anyone else says.”
