I nodded. “Yes, but any time I don’t have to cook myself, it’s a treat for me. If you cook for me, and it involves more than maybe three or four ingredients, it’s a treat. I love to cook, but sharing a kitchen with three others, I’ve always had to make sure things were super simple because I just couldn’t afford to feed three other grown men.”
“I’m not a fan of your roommates,” Clay said. “And I’ll cook for you later this week, and you are more than welcome to cook anything you want here at any point. Except for Sundays. On Sundays we almost always go somewhere else and have a family dinner.”
“Every Sunday?” I usually worked Sundays.
“Yeah.” Clay handed me a pair of jeans. I took them, and after pushing down my shorts, I pulled the jeans on. “I usually work Sundays,” I said as I tucked things and buttoned the jeans. “Saturdays too.” I looked up at Clay. “Actually, I work most evenings. That’s how the schedule works. The restaurant doesn’t open until ten thirty and closes at eight at the latest. I usually work the majority of the shift.”
Clay seemed to be irritated by that. Not only did his face say so, but I could actually feel the irritation through our bond.
“Would you be willing to quit?” he asked. “Or…if not, possibly come to Silverback and work in the office? I know it’s a lot of changes and even more to ask of you, but I want to be able to spend time with you. I would like to be able to strengthen what we have together.”
I blinked up at Clay again. “You want me to quit my job?” That thought terrified me. I liked the idea of not having to work while having a young baby, but to completely quit?
“Ideally, yes. But we could use another assistant at the office. Especially since we’re expanding. Silver is pulling back now thatCharlie is pregnant with twins. I’ll probably work fewer hours, but I don’t plan on cutting back quite as much as Silver. But we could certainly use another assistant.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know how to be an office assistant. I’ve never done anything except work in a kitchen. I started as a dishwasher. I quickly moved to waiting tables. That’s it. That’s all I’ve done.” It sucked, and at times I’d actually made good money. It was how I’d saved up and bought my car. It was how I’d been able to afford my first apartment. But I knew absolutely nothing about working in an office. Clay handed me a shirt, and I pulled it on. I looked down and saw it was a solid gray polo. “Are we going somewhere that requires a collar?”
“Not necessarily.” Clay smiled and pulled me close. “I was thinking that perhaps we could go to the jewelry store and look at rings? The chances of them having something we like in our sizes are probably slim, so they would need to be sized. You said you weren’t against marriage.”
This guy was serious.
“Yes. I’m serious. I want to marry you. I want all of the things with you.”
I smiled. “Maybe I should meet the rest of your family first. I mean, I’ve not even met your siblings except for Silver. And your parents. What if they don’t like me?” I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. Clay had warned me about his mother. His father seemed cool, but his mom was going to be all over me. Especially when she realized she would get more grandchildren from me and Clay.
“We can certainly work on that. In three more days, we’re supposed to be meeting at Mica’s this week. He lives just down the street, and you can meet everyone then.”
I nodded. I wanted to meet his family. Charlie had said how nice they all were, which was reassuring. “I’d like to meet them,” I told Clay. “And I wouldn’t mind looking at rings. Mine won’tshift with me though. It won’t make you upset if I have to take it off to shift, will it? It’ll be too big for me in my panda form.”
Clay leaned down and kissed me. “Not at all. I’ll have to take mine off as well. My fingers in my shifted form are much larger. But I don’t foresee either of us shifting in a hurry, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Okay.” I didn’t know what else to say. There were so many changes, but we were already mated. It wasn’t like he could take that back. We were stuck with one another. Not that it seemed like it was going to be a hardship to be with Clay. The man was amazing. He was so sweet and attentive and I loved that he wanted to do all the things with me. I’d not expected that. “Then yes. Let’s go ring shopping.” I looked down at my finger. “Probably something on the plainer side. I’m not a very flashy person. Okay?”
Clay’s smile was back again. I didn’t know if he often smiled or not, but he definitely did that a lot around me.
“We can get simple bands. I understand you’re mated to me and aren’t going to stray just as I wouldn’t ever be able to either. Other shifters will be able to scent that you’re mated. But humans can’t. Not that a ring ever stopped a human from making a pass at another.”
“No. I’ve seen plenty of that at the tavern. But I don’t think I’d ever go to a place like that unless I was working there.” I sat down, and after shoving my feet into my comfy shoes, I stood. “I’ll think about the job thing. I understand the reasoning. I just don’t know what I’d do all day if I wasn’t working,” I said. “But I can’t just leave them hanging. I would have to give them at least a two-week notice. The zoo and the restaurant are really great when it comes to accepting and understanding shifters and how their lives are with regards to mates. And they’ve given me time off this week without even taking any of my vacation time.”
Clay took my hand and laced our fingers together. “I accept that response. I know I’m asking a whole lot of you all at once. But it will be beneficial for both of us if we get to see one another for more than an hour a day.”
I nodded because he wasn’t wrong. Already my panda wasn’t liking the idea of going back to work next week. I worked afternoons and evenings. Clay worked mornings and afternoons. It was going to be an adjustment to come home after leaving Under the Sea and not going to Sticky Floors. That would be hours of time I’d have back to myself.
“No rush on it. Take some time and think about it. We’ll discuss it more next week after you’ve had time to go back to work.”
I had a feeling Clay already knew what it was going to be like for me next week. Maybe I should figure out a time to talk to Charlie about things. He was also in my position, only he’d been mated a bit longer. Well, and he had more from the start. He had his own house, and he’d had a really cute little car.
“Are you ready?” Clay asked.
“As much as I’m going to be. I was thinking about talking to Charlie,” I told Clay. “He might have advice on how to better deal with some of the emotions I’m experiencing.” I didn’t have anyone else I could ask. Charlie was the only other mated omega I knew and would consider asking such things. There were other mated omegas at the zoo, but I didn’t really know them all that well. Not nearly well enough to ask such personal questions about being mated.
“I’m certain Charlie would welcome you reaching out. If we’re going too fast, just say so. I can put the brakes on and the two of us can simply go out to eat. If you’d really rather not, then we can get back into our comfortable clothes, order delivery, and hang out here at the house until it arrives.”
I shook my head in response. “No. I don’t mind going out. It’s different, but everything these past few days has been. It’s different for you too though. Not just me. We’ve met our mate and things change.” I took a deep breath and let it out in a quick exhale.
“Yes. I understand it seems more so for you though as you’re the one who moved. You’re also the one who lost one of his jobs, but I can’t even pretend to be upset about that.”
I couldn’t help it—I snorted. “Yeah, I can understand that. It paid the rent though. I don’t make that much at the restaurant. I’d get funds saved and it never failed. There was always something that came up and I needed a big repair. There was always some sort of emergency that dwindled my savings.”
