Only my mate pulled the covers over his head when Hudson’s alarm went off inthe next room and put a pillow over his head when Oberon’s notification decided to join the fun. I took it as a sign that he needed some extra sleep. He’d been exhausted lately. I had a feeling everything that had happened finally caught up to him.
I climbed back into bed with him and he snuggled up close, never waking fully. His body knew his mates. I wrapped my arm over his side and held him close as he slept.
It was nearing noon when he finally started to stir.
“Morning.” I kissed his shoulder. “Sleep well?”
He didn’t answer me, instead bolting out of the bed and straight into the bathroom. Every part of me wanted to run to him, to make sure he was okay. But our mate was human and as such, he tended to want more privacy than I was used to.
“Sorry. I thought I was going to be sick.” He padded back over to the bed and climbed in. “Is it time to get up?”
“You’re on leave and I have the day off. It’stime to do whatever we decide.”
“I want to do something fun. Perhaps the air will do me well.” He stretched with a yawn. “Maybe we could try the new food truck alley they opened up for lunch. I bet they have some tasty treats.”
“Weren’t you just feeling unwell?”
“Huh? Yeah I was but now I’m starving.” He shrugged. “Want to shower with me real quick?”
Like I could turn that down, only it was far from “real quick”. It was nearly an hour later we were finally on our way. We drove to the community parking lot and walked the short distance to the food trucks. The town shut down a few of the streets once a week so that stores could have sidewalk sales and local crafters, farmers and bakers could set up a sort of street market. It was always fun to walk through and was conveniently adjacent to the food.
“What were you thinking of getting?” We walked past each truck, hand in hand, looking at their sandwich boards. It boggled my mind how much they could accomplish in such a tiny kitchen. There was everything from pizza to sushi to a truck devoted to grilled cheese. Each and every truck’s offerings soundedbetter than the last.
“I don’t know.” He leaned into my side. “I was super hungry and wanting a burger but now that we are here, nothing sounds too good.”
“We can walk around first and check out the other vendors?” I offered. “Maybe there are just too many scents here.” I knew humans didn’t have the same sensitivity to them that we did, but it was pretty intense, especially with the smoker from the BBQ truck going full steam.
“Yeah, maybe.”
We turned around and went over to the market where we wandered from booth to booth and store to store. There were some fun crafters and we ended up buying some bath bombs and a cute phone stand shaped like the three bears in the fairy tale. Candrin thought it was hilarious. Part of me did too.
“I think I just want noodle soup and a nap.” Candrin pointed to a small cafe. “We can do the food trucks another time?”
“Of course, love. I didn’t realize you were still not feeling well. I’d have taken you home long ago.”
“No. I’m not sick. I’m just weird. Like food smells not quite right and I go from starving to not even beingpeckish.” He sighed. “But noodle soup and a nap really sounds great.”
“Then that’s what we shall do.”
The small cafe was perfect. They had three different kinds of noodle soup, baguettes, and adorable sugar cookies in the shapes of different trees. We ordered far more than we could eat and went home where he asked to go straight upstairs instead of the kitchen or the dining room.
The food was delicious and we climbed into bed and put on a movie we’d both seen already and snuggled in close. I wasn’t sure who fell asleep first, Candrin or me, but I woke up to the sound of the bedroom door closing and Huston standing with Oberon.
“We got home at the same time and thought we’d surprise you, but you surprised us… already in bed?” Oberon winked. “Room for two more?”
“Shh, Candrin is exhausted.” I didn’t want him to wake up before he was ready. “I don’t think he’s feeling well.”
That stole Oberon’s smile from his face. “I’ll fetch a doctor? They do housecalls like in the movies, right?”
I wasn’t sure that was true.
“You watch too many movies.” Huston came over and pressed his hand against our mate’s forehead. “He’s not hot.”
“I am too.” Candrin cracked his eyes open, “And you three are loud.”
“We just worry.” Oberon shoved his hands in his front pockets. “We can go and you can sleep some more.”
“I’m up. Let’s do something fun tonight. The three of us.” He sat up and went right back to his pillow. “Or maybe I shouldn’t sit up so fast and make myself dizzy.”
