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“What are the chances that you won’t follow me around today?”
“Absolutely zero. I haven’t seen you in days. I’ll stalk you from afar if I have to.”
Sighing, I slid off his lap. His eyes tracked my ass as I stepped into my bedroom and opened the dresser. I hadn’t slept in the room much since Shan had been over, spending all my time in my nest instead. When I’d pulled on a loose t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans, he could finally tear his eyes away from me. “Get dressed. We’re going for breakfast. If I have to be up this gods awfully early, I might as well be productive.”
Caspian didn’t complain or ask where we were going. He simply listened. Compared to Shan, it was fucking refreshing. When I led him out the door, he slipped his hand into mine and gripped it tightly, keeping me close to his side all the way to our destination.
Chapter 25
Freya
Duringtheday,HexSisters was bustling and loud, but we’d snuck in at the end of the morning breakfast rush. Everything was dying down around us, tables leaving messes behind that the waitresses hurried to clear. Mabel wasn’t working — she was about as much of a morning person as I was — but Joanne, the head day waitress, was her usual matronly self.
“Freya!” she greeted me, coming in for a half hug. “I haven’t seen you in so long.”
“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “My aunts are pissed at how infrequently I’ve come in lately.”
She pulled back, placing a hand on her hip. Her apron didn’t have a notepad or pen in it because she didn’t need to write orders even with a full restaurant. The woman had the memory of an elephant and nothing slipped past her. Certainly not Caspian at my side, our hands linked. “Well, it looks like you’ve been busy. They can’t blame you for that. You need to savour the joys of youth.”
Joanne had a dreamy, faraway look in her eye like she was remembering a time long past. She might be doing just that. None of us knew what Joanne was, exactly, but she didn’t seem to age. Visibly, she looked to be in her sixties and her appearance hadn’t changed in all the time my family had been friends with her. Either she was immortal and glamoured herself to look how she did, or she was an incredibly slow-aging species. The amount of years she would have had to have lived to look sixty in that case…
Needless to say, we had no clue why she was working as a waitress when she was ancient and all-knowing.
“That’s what my parents always tell me,” Caspian said. “I’m finally listening to the advice.”
Reaching out, Joanne placed a hand on Cas’ cheek and smiled. Few people were as touchy as her, but it seemed to have something to do with her abilities, whatever they were. I’d once seen her pinch the cheeks of an angry shifter man on the verge of a breakdown. She’d said two words to him after, and he’d calmed down and left.
“Oh dear, your parents are very smart people. And they have quite the handsome son. What a pleasure to meet you, Caspian. I’m Joanne.”
He startled at the use of his name when I hadn’t introduced him yet, glancing over at me. I shrugged. She had her ways, and no one was privy to how she got her information. “Nice to meet you,” he said, nodding at her and subtly moving his cheek away from her hand.
It didn’t matter. All she needed was one touch, and she knew things she shouldn’t. Sometimes she didn’t even need a touch. She had the hint of a smirk on her lips, knowing what he was doing, but let him move away and slide into the chair at the same table we’d had the last time. “I’ll get you two your food. Clara is in the back and she’ll be delighted to hear that you’re here. Unlike Elodie, she might let you eat before she lays into you with the questions.”
“Tell her she better,” I said. “I’m a little low on sleep and I’ll need to be drenched in grease before I’m ready to have this conversation.”
I gestured between myself and Caspian to show which conversation I was referring to. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind Joanne was aware of what I was and what he might end up being to me. “The kitchen will put a rush on it, don’t worry, deary. You’ll be well fed here like you always are,” she said.
Then she vanished through the swinging doors into the kitchen, leaving me alone with Caspian. We were the only people on this side of the diner, just like the last time we were here. It gave us a lot more privacy to talk freely. “Why the angels is that woman working as a waitress? And how is she going to bring me what I want to eat? I didn’t order!” Caspian said, leaning in to whisper.
That wouldn’t stop her from knowing what we said. She didn’t need to hear. “We don’t know,” I admitted. “But she’s been a friend of the family for ages, and when Clara and Elodie opened the diner, she wanted a job. They wouldn’t say no to the best damn waitress they could’ve possibly ended up with. Don’t worry, you’ll get either the exact thing you thought you wanted, or something you hadn’t thought about but wanted more.”
He glanced suspiciously toward the door she’d disappeared through before leaning back again with a sigh. “I guess I’m not picky, anyway. Usually I eat whatever Shan or Em cook or pick up.”
“Can you tell me more about Em?”
When Caspian’s cheeks went pink, I cocked an eyebrow. Interesting reaction. We’d spoken in passing about their third team member before, but I’d never asked about him specifically. “What do you want to know?” he asked quickly, trying to cover his reaction.
Too late. “I want you to tell me why you blushed when I brought him up.”
His blush deepened, and he rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. Then he glanced around as if our food could be coming already. He was delusional if he thought our breakfast could save him from this line of questioning now. “Em is… well, we…”
“You’re in love with him too, aren’t you?”
Dropping his head into his hands, he groaned. “I was going to tell you. It’s not like we… he doesn’t feel the same way. He only fucks me to feed me when I’ve taken too much from Shan.”
If Emmett wasn’t in love with Caspian, he was an idiot. I didn’t say anything, watching emotions flit across his features.
“Really,” he said. “Em doesn’t enjoy sex much. He does it for the good of the team. And I… um. I need to eat, so I put aside my feelings. So I don’t make him uncomfortable.”
