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“What?”
“Nothing. Um, Eryn?”
“Yeah?”
“I, um…” He cleared his throat, and bit back a blushing smile. “I don’t talk dirty.”
“Oh. Does it bother you? Sorry, I—”
“No, no, nothing like that. I’m not against it. I just suck at it. If you want to, though…”
“After tonight, maybe we could be friends who call each other at night and talk dirty.”
Crowds flooded the coffee shop and the pancake restaurant as the town greeted the day.
Vann glanced over, and a grin tugged up the side of his mouth. “Are you saying you’re into phone sex?”
“Not exactly…”
“Not exactly?”
“I’m saying I’m open to the idea, in case my next dry spell is looking to last a decade.” Oh shit, what if it literally was? Tisiphone hadn’t aged a day. A walking, talking, evil-doing mythical woman. Would Eryn become exactly like her?
Immortality could be a perk.
Although, damn, a murderous eternity was… damn.
“Lots of tourists in town this week.”
Shops, restaurants, galleries, lodgings, and a few other odds and ends were all walkable. The rare sunny day had brought both tourists and locals out in droves.
“Have a shop in mind?”
She pointed ahead and to the right. “My favorite. I’ve daydreamed, but now that I have a few paychecks in my pocket, I can actually buy some things.”
A parking spot opened right out front as they approached. He flipped on the blinker and parallel parked with a fluid motion. At the first gap in traffic, he slid out of the car.
She popped out and met him on the sidewalk. “Does this happen often?”
“What?” He offered his hand. Apparently, he’d missed the no-hand-holding part of her declaration. One day wouldn’t hurt.
She laced her fingers with his. “Amazing parking spaces opening right as you arrive.”
He blinked a few times. “Lucky, I guess.”
Massive and meandering, the shop was packed full of pretty household things, from knickknacks to furniture sets. Clusters of sample rooms mingled in a reticular pattern, in and out of rooms. Lexi had declared this place would be an epic place to host a party, so many little conversation nooks, each classy as fuck. One of the original houses in the area, converted into a shop.
“Welcome.” The shopkeeper lifted a friendly smile as she folded linen napkins at a shabby-chic, whitewashed dining table.
Hands still linked, Eryn led the way to her favorite spot, weaving over the ancient hardwood and up the creaky wooden steps.
Curios between each sample room were decorated with necessities, candles, vases, and picture frames. She released his hand and narrowed in on the set she’d had her eye on. The velvety gray sectional would occupy more of her apartment’s living space than was available, and the sink-in-able leather chairs she wanted would take up the entire dining area.
If she was still human when her lease was up… no, she needed to keep her head in the present, and not drift into the what-ifs.
Oh, shit, if she wasn’t human when the lease was up… would she still need a dining room? Did furies need to eat?
She skirted the reclaimed barnwood coffee table and dropped onto the sofa. She stretched her arms out and tipped her head back. “I need this sofa.” She rubbed her hands over the smooth fabric and looked up at Vann. “Actually, you need this sofa.”
