Everybody drifts for several moments.
Until my stomach grumbles loudly.
Blaze laughs. “Really?”
I half-heartedly reach over to slap him, but I mostly get Asch. “Really. Sheesh. I was so busy prepping this Valentine’s surprise for you that I didn’t eat.”
“We should fix that,” Asch says, but he doesn’t even try to move. “River, feed her.”
River rolls his eyes, but he gets up. “Yeah.” He grabs one of the trays of canapes, which has mini quiches on it. He picks one of them up and offers it to me. “One of these?”
I open my mouth, and I let him place the quiche in my mouth. I make sure to lick his fingers before he can pull them away.
Blaze groans. “Wait. We could have been doing sexy food things?”
I flip him off. “Maybe you could have. I don’t mix food and sex.”
“That’s the line you’re drawing?” Asch asks, sounding amused. “Also, I think my arm is falling asleep.”
River reaches out to help me sit up more so Asch can shift, thengrabs another of the quiches. “If you don’t behave, you’re going to end up getting bent over the side of the couch again.”
“Oh noooo,” I say sarcastically. “That’s so tragic. Please, River, don’t ever bend me over any surfaces.”
“Okay,” River replies. “I promise never to bend you over any surface ever again.” He smirks at me, then turns back to the tray to look over the rest of the food I’d gotten before picking another canape to feed me.
Blaze sits forward and reaches awkwardly for the wipes I’d left in the space under the coffee table. He passes a few to Asch, who uses them to clean me thoroughly.
I don’t mind that kind of gentle touch.
“So,” Blaze says after we’re all clean and he’s munching on one of the tiny cakes. “Why did you warn us not to panic? Your beautiful, mostly naked body isn’t going to make us panic.”
I don’t point out how skittish he’s been since he got back from the hospital.
Mostly, because nowI’mskittish, and I debate throwing the rest of my plan out the window. But I take a deep breath and get off the couch, fumbling for the surprises I left underneath it.
“Pandora?” Asch asks.
I stay on the floor and pull out all the tiny boxes.
I place one in each of their naked laps.
Blaze lifts it up. “What’s inside?”
“A cock ring,” I say, deadpan.
“Oh, look at the time,” Asch drawls. “Got somewhere else to be.”
River glares at him, then opens his box. His eyes go wide, and he looks sharply up at me, Asch completely forgotten. “Pandora?”
Asch follows suit, opening his own box. He goes still, then reaches out to touch the item inside.
A ring.
I got them all rings. Perfectly sized, because yes, I can creepily measure their fingers in their sleep. They’re all shapedto look like a four-eyed snake biting its own tail, each eye in gold while the snake is a soft, white silver.
I open my own box and pull out a similar ring, although the eyes of the snake sparkle with small pink diamonds.
“So. Um.” I laugh nervously.
