AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes. Give Nicky some space.”
I pouted. “Fine. I’ll wait until tomorrow.”
“You’d think that four lovers would be enough to keep you occupied,” said Tony.
“You’re all more than enough,” I insisted. “I love all of you to the moon and back. I dunno why I get like this.”
“You’ve got a lot of love to give.” Tony scooped up my hand as he set off for home again, kissing my knuckles. “You’re also a slutty little beta who needs constant attention, and I say that with the most love possible. Besides, you were right.”
“About?”
“I do kinda like her. She has good vibes, and I think Jasper will like her, too.”
“Yes!” I raised our joined hands and Tony stole his back to put it on the steering wheel. “Pack trip to the library.”
“You are not going to descend on that woman with the entire pack. You’ll scare her off.”
“Dream killer.”
“Baby, I’m trying to keep your dreamalive. I’ll teach you some patience when we get home.”
I grinned. “Can’t wait.”
3
NICKY
Therestofmyshift went by relatively smoothly, and I’d gotten enough work done that the day staff wouldn’t be giving me the stink eye. It was weirdly quiet without the ambience of Billie and Tony in the background. The students were astonishingly well mannered in the study rooms, and they vacated the premises around four in the morning, so I turned on some music to compensate for the silence. I buried myself in tasks—cataloguing, sorting through the donation boxes, tidying, and setting up for the morning programs—before gratefully heading home when the day staff arrived to take over.
Pushing open my apartment door, I stepped into the dark. A plaintive meow echoed. I flipped on the light and my little grey cat, Spud, trotted down the hall towards me.
“Hello there, my sweetest little baby boy!” I scooped him into my arms and kissed his head in a series of loud smooches. “Who's my prettiest boy? Did you miss mommy?”
Spud meowed and headbutted my face, purring up a storm.
“Should we have some breakfast?” I kicked off my shoes and carried Spud into the kitchen. “Wet food incoming for my very good boy.”
I set Spud onto the floor and peeled open the can, scooping half of it onto his plate, nearly dumping it onto his head as he shoved himself in my way to get to it a microsecond faster. He inhaled the food with gusto while I packed up the remainder and took a portion of lasagna leftovers out of the fridge to microwave for myself.
Spud finished his meal and curled up in my lap as I sat on the couch with my own food, turning on the TV for some background noise. He sniffed all over me, curious nose wiggling.
“What's up, Spudster? You smell the people mommy hung out with tonight?”
Spud meowed and whipped his head, trying to steal a bite of lasagna as I lifted it to my mouth. I dodged him and pushed him to sit on the couch next to me.
“You had your food. Don’t be greedy.”
Spud huffed and sprawled across my lap, looking as cute as possible in hopes I’d change my mind and share.
I didn’t.
I did, however, indulge him in some quality cuddle time. Once I’d gotten in my snuggles and finished eating, I stripped out of my work clothes and washed up for bed, making sure the blackout curtains weren’t askew before sliding under the sheets. I stared up at the ceiling, willing myself to fall asleep, but my brain remained stubbornly active. With Spud curled up at my side there was only the hum of the appliances to accompany my thoughts.
I would never give Mom the satisfaction of knowing that sometimes my apartmentdidfeel too lonely. If I didn’t have Spud I’d have probably succumbed to Mom's many requests to set me up. Most of the time I was completely fine with being single. I hated modern dating more than I hated coming home to an almost empty apartment and every time I’d tried to test if that were still true, the people I’d been matched on dating apps with went out of their way to remind meexactlywhy I preferred singledom.
Billie's pretty blue eyes and Tony's slow smile filled my head, setting my skin to tingling. I sighed. The two of them already had a boyfriend they shared. There was no reason they might want me, too. I let out a giggle at the thought of turning up to family dinner with three lovers in tow. Mom's head would probably explode.
I could still indulge myself even if I wasn’t planning on dating anyone. I might not be falling into bed with the beautiful library patrons, but I could embrace a little mental inspiration. I rolled over and fished out my vibrator—a hot pink one that always got the job done—and a bottle of lube to get myself started. I let my mind wander to the infinite possibilities. The allure of being the filling in a Billie and Tony sandwich was stronger than I was comfortable admitting so soon after meeting them.
