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“Sorry, the view was too good to pass up,” they teased with a heated look before pressing themselves to my backside and reaching up. I felt the bulge in their jeans, and the scent of juniper, mandarin, and saltwater surrounded me. This was far too intimate a moment for the middle of shopping.
“Well, this isn’t what I expected to walk up to,” King deadpanned, “but that seems to be my specialty today.”
That had me laughing, and River slowly stepped back. Not upset in the least, King handed over my drink. I took a sip before setting it in the cupholder on the cart while River deposited my new pillow in the cart.
“Thanks for the snack,” River said as he grabbed his hot dog, taking a suggestive bite that had both King and me swallowing hard. I was as interested in River’s actions as I was by King’s reaction to them.Addingthatto my list to talk to Hazel about later.They knew exactly what they were doing by riling us both up. I really needed to have this conversation before they made me spontaneously combust.
“So, we have a pillow. That’s as far as you got?” King asked, getting us back on track.
“Blame River! They were too busy watching my ass to help me at first,” I said with a fake huff. River laughed, completely unapologetic.
“Is there anything we can help you find?” they asked.
I sighed, realizing the crux of the issue. “No. This stuff will help, but I’m eventually going to have to find furniture for it. The room is bare.”
“When I texted Yuri, I mentioned that. If you tell him what you want in there, he’ll get it. That was the original plan anyway, but life ended up getting hectic with the fire and you guys moving in.”
“I don’t need him to buy me furniture,” I protested, but River’s bark of laughter had both King and me freezing.
“Need? Of course not. But will the alpha be absolutely stubborn and personally offended if you don’t let him take care of you? Yes,” they explained.
“Micetta, at some point you have to let us take care of you too,” King said gently. “It comes with the territory. We love your independence, but we also want to spoil you. The same way that you felt this urgent need to fix the nest, we experience a similar drive to care for you in whatever ways we can… if you’ll let us.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m not used to that,” I admitted. “Another item for our chat, I guess.” The miserable quality to my voice was impossible to hide.
“What I’m hearing is that we need to text them to meet us back at the house after this,” River said easily. “Yuri and Nash can handle dinner, then we can talk without any distractions between us. Less intense and no crowd to listen in.”
“You can’t just do that,” I grumbled.
“Do what?” they asked, clearly confused.
“Be so perfect!” The alphas laughed as I stalked away and started shoving blankets and a few more pillows into the quickly filling cart.
“You need this,” King said as he tossed something inside. I glared at him for picking out my nesting stuff before I saw what it was. The little squishy stuffed animal was a king, complete with a plush golden crown.
“Okay, I’ll allow it,” I said.
“Aw, adorable,” River said dryly. “Now you need something to remind you of me.” They walked away with purposeful strides.
I continued adding soft and fluffy items to the cart, going a bit more overboard than I usually would, but I was willing to spoil myself a bit. I hadn’t needed to send the extra money I thought my sister would be calling for, and the image of the plain white room kept haunting me, mocking my omega instincts.
We didn’t run into River again until we’d finished the nesting items. I was in the process of grabbing a few snacks to stow away in my new bedroom when I heard their voice.
“Found it,” they announced regally as they walked up with a sequin-covered pillow. With a swipe of their hand, they revealed ‘My alpha is better than yours’ underneath.
“Definitely fitting,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s going to be a competition with you guys, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely,” they both said together, and I grabbed the pillow from River’s hands, tossing it on top of my loot.
“Are we going to need rock, paper, scissors to figure out who gets to pay, or can we be adults about it?” King asked.
“It’s my stuff,” I protested.
“How about three ways? Split evenly,” River suggested. King’s previous words replayed in my head, and I bit back my immediate urge to argue. This was my chance to give away some of that control, and as much as I’d struggle with it, he was right. I had to let them in. They would likely be helping me through my next heat, so contributing to my nest made sense, right?
No matter how I tried to justify it, bile rose in my throat as I agreed to splitting the bill, but the smiles on their faces told me I had made the right choice.
* * *
