“It would.”Remy side-eyed his friend.“But won’t you be busy Sunday morning with the person you’re going out with on Saturday night?He might object to being kicked out early just so you can spend time shopping with a friend.”
Tasha laughed so loudly, people were turning around to see what was going on.It was only a small bar, and all the tables were busy.
“He won’t be there Sunday morning,” Tasha said, still chuckling.“I already know that.But hey, I’m going to pay for my own meal.I’m not leading him on or anything else.Becoming friends with him might lead me to meeting other people.Remember, this whole mating business is all about connections.”
“I know that’s true.”Remy nodded.“In my job, I make more connections than most, and who knows?Maybe at this event I’ll find someone who will send my furry self into a tizzy.”
“Now you’re thinking.”Tasha beamed as she patted his arm again.“So, have we got time for dessert, or do you have to dash off back to the office?”
There was a little hint of rebellion in Remy when he said, “We’ll have dessert.Why not?”If Sven decided to end his phone ban, then he could send a message via voicemail.Remy was entitled to at least an hour’s break for lunch, and he was going to enjoy it.
Chapter One
Toby
Toby glanced down at the glossy flyer for the third Bucket List Buddies event and chewed on his thumbnail.He felt excitement flutter in his belly.A hot air balloon ride, how long had he wanted to try that?
Forever.That’s how it felt.
Had he mentioned it to Morty or Niall, his two best friends?No, and it wasn’t because he thought they’d think him silly, just that he’d kind of romanticized floating around above the trees, not in his animal form, which he could do any time.He’d imagined himself with a hot alpha holding his hand.
It was a lovely notion, but for one thing, he wasn’t dating anyone at the moment.In fact, he hadn’t been on a date for some time after his last dating disaster.The guy had turned into a real creeper who thought he could tell Toby what to do.
Nope.
Nope.
Nope.
Toby wasn’t one for being dictated to, not when they hadn’t gotten to the naked part.And he never put out on a first, second, or third date; it was a rule for him.
Where did that leave him?
Dateless, with a romanticized version Toby had after seeing an advert once on TV for hot air ballooning.The couple inside, hands crossed over each other to link their arms, drinking champagne—not that Toby liked champagne; it was too fizzy and gave him awful wind—all the while looking at each other with love heart gazes.Of course, that’s how Toby imagined they had looked while the sun had set, casting beautiful colors over the sky while they glided effortlessly through the air.
Niall went with Morty to the first bucket list event.Maybe he’d be interested in this?He supposed he could ask Niall,excepthe had never professed to a love of flying, so Toby suspected he’d say no.And Morty had just had a baby—something Toby tried not to think about since he’d been at the birth—so it wasn’t like he’d want to go on an adventure with Toby and leave his daughter behind.
He sighed loudly at the realization that he had no one to take to the bucket list event, then he placed the flyer back down on the counter where some kind soul had left it and finished clearing up.Which was what he’d been doing before he’d found the flyer.
He stacked the empty trays that he’d filled not once but three times with the baked goods that Morty made for them to sell in the café.Morty came down extra early while Hector watched over the baby to do the baking, then disappeared back upstairs.It was working out better than Toby had imagined.
Melancholy wanted to cling to him when he couldn’t stop his gaze drifting back to the flyer.Stop it.
He shut his eyes for a moment and counted his blessings, something he did on such occasions when he felt something was missing.His legs might ache at the end of the day with how busy the café/bakery was, yet he was a co-owner of a thriving business with his two best friends.Two friends who were more like family to Toby.And then there was Hector, Morty’s mate.The man was so generous to not only Morty but also Toby and Niall.Instead of turfing him and Niall out when he’d bought the building they lived in, when Morty wished to remain living above the café, Hector had gotten his builder and made plans to give Toby and Niall their own place to live.
Who did that?
The basement, which was huge and unused, had been renovated at the same time as Toby’s old apartment, and the one Morty and Niall had shared.That space was now Hector and Morty’s home, along with Kaya, their daughter.The basement has been converted into two apartments.The renovations were more than Toby could ever have afforded himself.
Brad, the builder, had finished three days after Kaya’s birth, and as they’d shut the café with Morty out of action for a couple of weeks, Toby and Niall had moved in at their own pace, not having to juggle work and moving.
It meant they could all could continue with the business with little disruption once they had reopened after the temporary closure.
He loved his old place, but his new place had a shower that didn’t leak and wasn’t prone to boiling him alive in the summer or freezing him in winter.Although they were down in the basement, everything was so bright because of how they’d designed the lighting.
Not having to pay rent meant his savings bought new furniture, including the king-sized bed he wanted, along with a flat-screen TV to hang on the wall at the end of it so he could lounge there after a shower at the end of a workday.Bliss.
See, lots of blessings.
