Fern
Sure, give me 5
Fern didn’t know if he meant voice or video call, but she wasn’t willing to risk it. Racing into her bathroom, she swiped her hair up in a smooth twist and patted a little blush onto her cheeks. Her shirt had dye on it, so she ripped it off, replaced it with a fresh one, and re-did her hair.Thenshe texted him, “Ready.”
A regular phone call popped up on her screen, but vanished before she had the chance to accept it. Then a video call came through. After rubbing her lips between her teeth to rouge them up, she hit accept, looking poised and professional.
“Oooh, let me see this,” were the first words out of Elliott’s mouth, cracking her carefully crafted facade.
“See what?”
“Your new hair, give me the back view.”
She swung her phone around her head, and he told her she looked like a scarlet begonia, which had her blushing a similar shade of pink.
Unsure where to take the conversation, she blurted, “Are you out on your porch? I wish my apartment had a deck or something. I can open the windows, but it’s not the same. The breeze is nice, but it’s still outdoor air coming in, not outdoor air while you’re out. Does that make sense?”
“Yep, makes perfect sense. And I’m on the back porch. It’s my favorite room in the house. I spend a lot of time out here.”
She smiled softly, setting her phone down to pack a bowl. He’d brought her to hisfavoriteroom. That wasn’t some ploy to keep her out of his sacred space; he’d plopped her right in it. Hope swelled in her as hechatted about how he’d made all the chips already and had them racked in his studio with the air conditioner cranked so they’d dry quickly. Soon, he could fire them, but for now, he suggested she come by to do some test glazes on some pre-fired pieces in his studio.
“I’ve never made anything with clay, would you teach me to throw?” she asked before sucking down her second hit.
He joined her on his end, lighting his bong at the same time, and she wished she was beside him on the daybed again.
“How about this, you come over tomorrow after work, and we’ll make some samples for Ren to check out?”
“And you’ll teach me to make a vase?”
Repositioning his phone, so it felt like he stared directly into her soul, Elliott offered, “If you stay for dinner, I’ll teach you to throw.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. We’ll make a night of it.”
“The whole night?” she choked out, glad she’d had the impulse to ask but petrified of his answer.
Fabric rustled as he answered, voice low, “If you’re so inclined.”
“The inclination is there.”
Grinning, Fern laid out her pajamas and neatened until she and Elliott wrapped up and said goodnight.
Seeking distraction, she started a new audiobook in the shower, an erotica featuring a wine sommelier, a hockey-playing dryad, and his sentient stick. The romance hit fine, and the love was as believable as it was meant to be, but those smutty scenes weren’t hitting the spot... and they were sort of the point of that book. With her sheet pulled haphazardly across her body, Fern lay in bed scrolling her favorite site for recommendations. She might have to pick up a shifter romance next... to fill her newly developed need.
Into the search bar she typed, “shifter books with fated mates.” Then she tapped at the beginning and added the word “bear.”
14
Elliott has the best date of his entire life, and it changes his outlook on everything.
Elliottbustledaroundhishouse on Wednesday in a state of “doing things for Fern.” It was the only way to keep his bear calm while he waited for her after-work arrival.
Her abandoned clothes went into the wash. He checked the favors for Ren’s wedding and flipped each one so the back could dry. Fern’s clothes went over to the dryer, and he pulled out his dough from its overnight proof to rest on the counter. He prepped vegetables for later. He cleaned every surface in the house: top, bottom, and sides, all while wishing he had the fine marble countertops and square footage of Northrop house.
Then he went out to his studio and neatened up. One hour went toward compiling the perfect playlist. He laid out every possible underglaze Fern could want and set up a station with his most comfortable stool, his best brushes, and a blank platter ready for her to test on.
It was only two thirty.
