Page 37 of My Undead Love Life

Spencer laughed softly. “Yes, Luck. All at once.”

“I feel like we're skipping over a very interesting story,” Luck stated.

“There are several very interesting stories.”

“See?” He pointed his spoon toward her. “Now I'm invested.”

The smile lingered for another second before fading. “They’re good for her, and I've seen firsthand how you can love more than one person.”

Oxi glanced toward her. “That's different.”

“Not anymore.” Spencer set her empty can on the floor and wrung her hands together. “Ava and Jack live together, too. They used to have another man in their relationship. His name was Charles, but he succumbed to the virus after an infected mountain lion attack.”

I blew out a slow breath. “Mountain lions are formidable.”

She nodded. “Worse when infected. There’s also Benjamin, who is Nathan's dad, and Sally, his wife. Akiko has her own treehouse now, too. That's pretty much everyone.” She looked around at us. “Now, I guess, we'll have you three.”

Something tightened unexpectedly in my chest. The Oasis sounded like the potential to become an actual home. Not another temporary shelter or abandoned building we'd eventually have to leave behind. A real community with others.

“We can't wait to meet everyone,” I said honestly.

Luck nodded. “Especially the sister with three husbands. Just super curious to see how that works.”

Spencer rolled her eyes. “Of course that's what you're focused on.”

“It's fascinating.”

By the time we finished eating and put the cans out of the way, exhaustion had settled heavily over all of us.

I stood and stretched until my back popped. “I don't know about you guys, but I need some sleep. Which means, we need to do a check.”

Spencer groaned. “Do we have to?”

“We ran into a few stragglers,” Luck pointed out.

“Don’t forget about the bats,” Oxi reminded her.

Spencer immediately frowned. “The bats?”

“There were a few that flew away from us a couple hours ago,” he explained.

The color drained from her face. “Oh.”

“Exactly.”

“I hadn't noticed.”

Luck bumped his shoulder gently against hers. “That's because you've had a lot on your mind.”

“You're dealing with grief,” I said as I tugged my shirt off. “Nobody expects you to notice every little thing right now.”

Her gaze slid downward for a split second before immediately shooting back up. Pink bloomed over her cheeks before she buried her face in her hands.

My lips twitched in amusement.

It wasn't that it was funny or anything. It was just nice seeing a normal reaction from her for once. Something that wasn't sadness or drowning grief.

They checked me over first. Then, we checked Luck, then Oxi.