Nyte chuckled.
Ember nodded. “It really was, because you bumped into me once with those and theyhurt.”
“I’m so sorry!” Maggie cried.
“It’s okay.”
“What happened next?” Nyte asked.
“Oh! So we went outside, in the snow, in our boots. Couldn’t forget those. And I closed the door behind us.”
Maggie snickered.
Ember pressed a finger to her lips. “Shhh! Not yet.”
“Okay, okay!” The red-haired woman covered her mouth.
“So we were outside, and it was dark except for the streetlight, and deafeningly quiet. Until we heard it again.”
“The crash was so loud.”
“Did we scream?” Ember asked, brow pinched like she was straining to recall.
“I think we did.”
“That’s right! We did, because that’s when we saw them.”
“Them?” Levi asked.
Maggie hugged his arm. “The raccoons! There were somany of them running around everywhere! And they left trash all over the parking lot.”
“It was excusable because they were so cute,” Ember said.
“They were, even though they scared the crap out of us. And once they scattered, we went back to our apartment…except we couldn’t get in because Ember locked us out.”
“The lock was wonky!”
“Our phones were inside, our keys were inside, and here we were, outside in our sexy, sexy nightgowns and boots in the dead of night.”
Nyte had seen what Ember wore to bed, and he knew that she’d undoubtedly looked desirable that night. He wasn’t sure there was anything she could wear that wouldn’t be tantalizing.
Ember propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her palm, grinning. “We were pretty sexy, weren’t we?”
Maggie waggled her eyebrows. “The neighbor thought so.”
“He was like, sixty!”
“We were still sexy.”
“You still are,” Levi said, taking Maggie’s hand and pressing his glass of water into it. “Drink this, my love.”
“Mmm,” she moaned as she did as he asked, and he helped her, tipping the glass as she drank deep.
Ember watched them with a soft smile.
Nyte didn’t miss that expression, nor did he miss the flicker of yearning accompanying it. He knew jealousy wasn’t warranted here. She longed not for Levi, but for someone to treat her with the same care and consideration.
Levi looked at Ember and Nyte. “I think it’s time for us to head out. Maggie’s had quite a bit to drink tonight, and I know she’ll be regretting it tomorrow. It was nice to meet you, Nyte. Maybe we can all get together again another time.” He glanced at Maggie with a tender smile. “Without alcohol.”
