“You'd be better at it.” Taroc got his plate and started filling it, adding things to my plate as well.
“I don't want any more sausages.” I jerked my plate away. “Stop that.”
“You need more protein. Eggs then or the steak.” He put the sausages back, then stabbed a slice of steak and hefted it onto my plate instead.
“That's sweet, but see to your own protein needs.” I hurried away before he could put anything else on my plate.
“I tried to upstairs, but you stopped me.”
My eyes went wide as I laughed. “That's gross.”
“No, it's not.” He licked his lips and glanced at my crotch. “It would have been amazing.” He slipped a piece of bacon on my plate.
“Hey!” I spun away and hurried down the buffet.
Taroc tried to catch up to me, but he got distracted by the fried potatoes. Ironic after all his talk about protein. I snickered as I plopped a pastry on top of my pile, then another for good measure, and finished by pouring myself a mug of coffee from the beverage area at the end. While Taroc continued to heap food on his plate, I escaped.
“Good morning,” I said brightly to everyone at the table as I sat down. My plate made a thud.
“Good morning,” Rath said with a glance at my plate, then Taroc. “You've made up?”
“It was a stupid misunderstanding,” I said.
“Oh?” Xae asked just as Taroc sat down. He directed his question at Taroc, “What did you misunderstand?”
“I thought Ember was seeing other men.”
Xae blinked.
Nex snorted.
Kel burst out laughing.
“Why are you laughing?” Taroc lifted a brow at Kel.
“Well, first off, I thought you knew him better than that,” Keltyr said. “Second, it's laughable that you're dating him to become one of hisfourlovers, knowing there will probably be more, and the thing that put you off was that he might be dating someone else now.”
“This ismytime,” Taroc said. “I know what I'm getting into, and I also know that this is the only time I'll have with Ember like this. Our courtship. This is ours, and I don't want to share it. I'd like to have him focused on me.”
“Understandable,” Rath said. “The bond makes it easier to share Ember, but I do wish I'd had more of a courtship with him.”
“You do?” I asked in surprise. “We had the longest courtship out of the three of you.”
“That was flirting. Heavy flirting, but still, just flirting,” Rath said. “I'm talking about taking you out on dates. Feeling the excitement of what might be. It's different.”
“Well, I can't give you back the excitement of falling in love,” I said. “But we can go on dates. I told you we should have more one-on-one time together. I didn't just mean sex. You guys are the ones who assumed that's what it would be.”
Rath lifted a brow at me.
“All right, Xae and Kel assumed that's what it would be,” I amended it. “We sort of went on a date the other night.”
“I suppose next time we could go for a meal,” Rath said.
“I'd like that.”
Rath, Xae, and Kel looked at each other.
“I'm good with it just being sex,” Xae said. “I like catching you unaware. It feels like a hunt.”
