“I almost was. Why don’t you two change into pajamas and join me?”
Shi sat up, rotating so they could lie between us. When James and I shared another glance but made no move to leave, they rose onto their elbows. “I don’t understand the feelings between us either, but right now, I don’t want to. I’ve had a terrible few days, and I just want some sleep. So, please, can we stress about it tomorrow?”
With the last word, they turned puppy eyeson us.
James squeezed his eyes shut in response, a sure sign of his resolve wavering. After all, Shi was watching now. He had to be careful. And if he opened them now, I’d be willing to bet there would be red swirling in the brown. “What the hell am I going to do withtwoof you?” he grumbled, pulling himself from the mess of blankets and following me to the bedroom.
As we brushed our teeth, his hand flirted with my hip.
“What is it, vampire?” I rinsed my mouth and rested against the counter while he did the same.
“Do you think they’re really sure about this? About us?”
“They’ve never been afraid to ask for their space, and I don’t think they’d start now. They wouldn’t be in our house if they didn’t want to be.”
With a deep inhale through his nose—out of nerves, not necessity—James dropped his toothbrush into the holder and flipped the light off. “Okay.”
We returned to the living room where Shi was nestled in the middle of the pillows, looking like nothing so much as a bird snuggled in its nest. As we each chose a side, Shi offered us a smile. They shuffled around, bringing themself closer to James, who stiffened in response.
“Relax, vampire,” I mouthed at him.
He did, but only slightly.
I lay on my back, and James did the same. Shi was on their stomach between us, arms crossed under their pillow. They faced me, but I noticed when one of their hands stretched toward James, and a leg came my way.
“No insomniatic stressing,” they reiterated, opening their eyes long enough to glance between the two of us. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” James and I agreed.
Unsurprisingly, Shiloh dozed off first. My own eyes grew heavy, but I resisted the urge to fall asleep. James still stared down at Shi and—even without the bond—I could read the emotions on his face like a book.
We were in deep.
I wokeup alone the next morning, but it didn’t take me long to figure out where James and Shiloh had gone. Soft country music filtering in from the kitchen revealed James’s location, and thesquealing of the pipes in our walls meant Shi was in the shower. As I sat up, I marveled at the fact that I didn’t ache from sleeping on the floor.
Vampire. James must have kissed away my soreness before I woke up.
Smiling, I pulled myself from the blanket nest and washed up in Hannah’s bathroom, and by the time I emerged both Shi and James were waiting for me at the kitchen table. I sauntered up to James to press a kiss to his lips.
“Morning, love,” he said.
“Morning.” Sensing their eyes on us, I glanced across the table at Shi.
I wasn’t sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t for them to blurt out, “I’m not moving in.”
“Okay,” I laughed, accepting the coffee James handed me. “Straight to the point.”
“Might as well rip off the band-aid,” Shi responded. “I know I was all over you two last night, but my own space is important to me.”
James reached out to curl a hand around my thigh as I took the seat next to him. “Whatdoyou expect from us, Shiloh?”
They blew out a breath. “I don’t know. I never expected any of this, much less that I’d have the balls to act on it. James is my boss.” Brushing damp curls out of their face, they turned to me. “And you’re my boss’sfiancé.Christ, this is complicated.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” I offered. “That’s why we’re talking about it.”
James jumped in. “We know this is a tricky situation, but I can promise you that your job is safe. I’ll adjust your contract to say as much. Whatever happens between the three of uswill notput your job at risk.”
“Thank you,” they said.
