“Never.”
The three of them chime in at once. “Then why is he acting like that?”
“I don’t think he knows where he stands with you yet.”
“Ugg…” I groan, flopping onto the bed. “If he had just let me speak yesterday, I was going to tell him I love him.”
“Well, maybe you need to do that then.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Not all men are as forward as me,” Brax says, pointing his thumb into his chest. “Declaring that they want you and love you within moments of meeting you.”
“That’s true, you are a pretty unique yeti.”
“Not a yeti.”
“Besides, Red, he’s clearly not as confident as some of your other mates, and I think he really needs strong words of affirmation from you to know how you really feel, he’s nervous.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I plan to buy rings for them today.”
“Ahh, so that’s why we’ve been separated like this, I was wondering what you two were up to,” Indy says with a smile.
“Yep! you’re going to help me pick out rings.”
“And clothes, right? I’m dying to buy you something… black… and small… with lace.” I grin at Indy’s heated expression and soon enough we’re headed down main street.
I’m surprised how quickly we find a store that sells rings, and I easily find three for my last three mates. The men escort me to the clothing store next door and after about an hour I’m outfitted with several off the rack dresses that don’t need any altering, a couple pairs of pants and tunics, some new nighties, plus the large bag that Indy is carrying and refuses to let me see inside. I have a feeling it contains something with black lace, but whenever I ask to see it, he just tells me later.
The same store, thankfully, sells men’s clothes, too. So, I make sure all three men pick out multiple sets of clothing, as they seem to have as little clothing as I do somehow. How was it that these guys didn’t have any belongings? Maybe that was just the way this world worked. Less materialistic than the human world. They help me pick out outfits for the other three guys, and we leave the store loaded up with bags.
We return everything to our room and decide to head back out for a meal at a local restaurant. After so much traveling, it’s nice to have real meals that are made for us for a change. Indy leaves us to go find the others while Ryker, Brax and I get a large table on the patio of a cute little restaurant.
They tell me that restaurants work a little differently here and we end up getting different plates for sharing, so I let them do the ordering, assuming they’ll know what’s best. By the time the others arrive, our table is full of plates with a variety of meats, cheeses and breads. There’s even a platter of fresh fruit. We all dive in like we’ve been starving.
“Did you find out anything about Ria’s ship?” I ask the others.
Silver speaks up. “It was here two weeks ago.”
My heart sinks. “Oh no, that means it could be months before they’re back, right?” I ask, hearing the despair in my voice.
“I’m afraid so.”
I slump back in my chair, moving my fork around the plate, staring at nothing as I get lost in thought.
“So, we just wait around for them to come back. It’s not like we don’t have the money to stay at the inn. And is hanging out with us here really the worst thing in the world?” Ryker asks, almost looking worried about my answer.
Fuck, I’m a terrible wife. “What? No! Of course not. It just feels like I’ve been searching for her for years… which, at this point it must be closer to two years than one. I just need it to be over so I can move on. Sowecan move on,” I add on the last part as I reach out and grab Ryker’s hand and squeeze it so he knows I’m thinking of a future together.
“Since we’re on the topic, Love, have you thought about where you want to go after you see Ria? Do you want to… stay on the boat with her?” He gets a strange look on his face.
“Drake, why do you look pale? Do you get sea sick?” I ask as I see his normally unfaltering expression turn worried.
“Ahh… I’m afraid my stomach doesn’t get along too well onboard a ship, but if it’s what you want, I will be there with you, don’t worry about me, Love.”
“That really means a lot to me, Drake. But don’t worry, I enjoy the water, but I have no dreams of livingonit.” I hear a collective sigh from the group and I look around at all their relieved faces. “Were you guys all worried that I’d want to stay with her?”
“Well, yeah.” Ryker states. “Like you said, you’ve been looking for her for years, she’s your only family left. We always assumed you wanted to stay with her, you never really spoke about whatyouwanted to do afterwards.”
