I find Drake by the graphic novels. "Hey. Found your next terrible series?"
"Blasphemy. My series are all excellent. You have no taste."
"I have impeccable taste. I chose you."
The words punch a hole in my chest.
He realizes what he said half a second too late. "I mean—we chose—I—"
"Relax. I know what you meant."
Jasper's gaze brushes us, sharp and quick.
When we regroup an hour later, Marie has three books clutched like fragile birds. Eli's carrying two. Drake has a stupid dragon comic I'll steal later.
"What did you pick?" I ask Marie.
She rattles them off—cozy mystery, romance, organizing nonfiction. "I know it's basic."
"Basic is a marketing term retailers invented to shame women. You like what you like. That's allowed."
Her smile is real this time.
"And you?"
I hold up my single choice, suddenly self-conscious. "Just this."
It's a book I've already read twice. Comfort and pain and found family with sharp edges.
"Only one? Are you sick?"
"I'm budgeting. For blankets. And life. And the collapse of society."
Ragon pays for everyone without blinking. Jasper watches where we stand while we wait—how Marie ends up between Drake and Eli, how I edge closer to the door like I want to be first out if something goes wrong.
He doesn't say anything.
He just files it away.
The meltdown happens at the last stop.
It's stupid, which is somehow worse.
We're at the little bakery on the corner, the one that knows my name and my usual order. The air is full of sugar and yeast and coffee. The glass case gleams with pastries.
"Vee!" The woman behind the counter lights up. "Haven't seen you in a while. Thought you'd eloped with a bread rival."
"Never. You know I'm loyal. I brought extra stomachs, see?"
She laughs and starts ringing us up before we even order. "Same as always?"
I glance at the menu. Then at the people with me. "Maybe more. There's six of us this time."
"We can share," Marie says quickly. "I don't need my own."
"You absolutely do," Drake says. "Carb equality for all."
We settle on a sprawled mess of pastries and coffee. Ragon goes to claim a table. Eli and Drake carry plates. Jasper stands near the wall where he can see everything. Marie and I wind up at the counter waiting for the last two drinks.
