“You need cuddles, too.”
Enzo’s eyes widened, but he accepted Emery into his side as if it were a normal thing. Well, for them, I bet it was.
Emery
The cookies had turned out even better than expected. Okay, they may have been slightly burnt on the bottom, but they were fresh cookies, soft and warm with chocolate chips.
I wanted to eat every last one. Ryker didn’t agree. He only allowed us to have two each, warning us that we’d end up with a stomach ache. I didn’t want to argue with him, since he was probably right.
Enzo and I sat on the couch, watching some new cooking show. He didn’t complain about me being curled up next to him like some monkey.
“Ryker gives good hugs, too.” I said it off-handedly. Hopefully, Enzo wouldn’t read anything into it.
“He likes you, so of course he would.” Enzo didn’t turn his attention from the TV, but his hand ran up and down my back.
“He could like you to, you know. He’s nice.”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t.”
“He’ll let you—”
“Em,” he sighed. “I have you. I’m okay.”
“But you don’t like it when I cuddle with him. I saw your expression.”
Enzo moved so we were face to face. One of his hands cupped my cheek, his thumb running lightly under my eye. I leaned into him, soaking up every bit of attention.
“I’m okay with you both cuddling, or whatever you two were doing.” The words were said softly, sadly. “But I don’t get to feel that. Not with some stranger.”
“He’s not a stranger.”
“Not to you. He is to me. I met him less then forty hours ago. At least give me a bit of time before I want to seek him out for comfort.”
“Okay.”
It was hard to remember that Enzo hadn’t known Ryker as long as I had.
“I don’t know how long I’ve known him, but it feels like forever already.”
“A little over a month,” Ryker supplied. Enzo and I both jerked, not expecting him to have heard anything. “Some people feel connections to others right away. You two are a great example of it.” He paused. “I’m going to make some sandwiches for a late dinner.”
Enzo dropped his hand, letting it fall back to the couch.
“Ryker?”
“Yeah, sugar?”
“The schedule you set up for me isn’t being followed.”
A smile lifted the corners of his lips. My stomach filled with butterflies from that simple movement.
“We’ll have better luck tomorrow.” Ryker turned to the kitchen.
“You have a schedule?” That was Enzo. I wasn’t sure if he was in awe of that detail, or freaked out.
“Yeah.” I cuddled back to his side. “Ryker made me one when he found me not eating or sleeping well. It didn’t work very well until he started to show up and make sure I was adhering to it.”
“Was it because of me?”
