21. Rome

21

ROME

Ivy wasn’t ok.

And I had no idea why.

Logan, James and I had been embarrassingly happy when we got her text. There may have been some celebrating on our front stoop. High fives exchanged across property lines. We coordinated what we would bring — drinks and kissing lips were a given — plus a plate each and a gift from all of us.

I should’ve known something was up when Felix scratched at the door and made dramatic dying noises until we let him in. He behaved nothing like the overgrown slug I was familiar with, meowing urgently as he nipped at our ankles. By the time James and I made it out the front door, Logan was already waiting for us outside. He glanced down at Felix and then back up at us looking resigned.

“Yeah, he bit me until I hurried up too.”

James knelt down, scratching beneath Felix’s chin. “We’re heading over to Ivy’s now, ok?”

Felix slumped with relief. Finally , the determined swing of his tail seemed to say. He was eerily still as we piled into my car, watching us from the top of the steps one minute and then vanishing from my rearview mirror in the next.

Ivy lived in a quaint blue townhouse, the greenery lining the steps a little too overgrown and one of the stone pavers wobbling on our way up. I could already see Logan making mental notes to return another day to fix it. There was a clay sign hanging next to her door — Winter carved with a steady hand and a myriad of messy little thumbprints surrounding it.

She was a vision when she opened the door. Lifted straight out of my dreams. Her velvet blue dress sparkled when it caught the light, like a night sky spilled out across her body.

“Ivy. Wow.”

I would’ve said something more eloquent but my tongue had decided to stop working.

“It’s old,” she immediately countered, adjusting her hair and smoothing out her hemline even though both were perfect. “I know I’m a bit too dressed up considering we’re only going to be home but?—”

James stepped over the threshold and kissed her. I didn’t think I would ever tire of seeing them together. The soft gray of his loose button-up shirt matched her perfectly. “You look gorgeous,” he said, giving her cheek a reassuring stroke of his thumb.

“Oh, you brought food too, you didn’t have to do that. I went to the market this morning,” Ivy babbled as she stepped aside. Her eyes widened when she noticed the giant bow-adorned present Logan was carrying. “What’s in there?”

The present looked tiny in Logan’s hands but was giant in hers. “Another courting gift. It seemed like time for another one,” Logan said, bending down to press his lips to hers as well.

Each kiss seemed to fluster her more. Not in an elegant, may require a fainting couch way. She was so jittery I was concerned she was breaking out into hives.

I laid my hand on the small of her back, hoping to steady her as I followed her inside. Her entryway opened up into her living room and we sat down while she opened our gift. She gasped as she held up the cashmere wool blanket in a soothing cream color. It had been exorbitantly expensive and completely worth it, simply for the tiny squeal she let out when she rubbed it against her cheek.

“Is it for my nest?” Ivy asked hesitantly. Shades of emotion flickered so quickly across the fragile blue of her eyes I couldn’t read them.

Shit. Had we fucked up? Was she feeling pressured to invite us into her nest because of the gift? That was the last thing I wanted.

“It’s for whatever you want it for,” I said quickly.

Her features went tight and I immediately knew I’d said the wrong thing.

“Of course,” she said woodenly. “I love it.” She sort of lay it over her couch, adjusting and patting it until she was satisfied. “Are you hungry?” she asked, standing up and motioning for us to follow her to the kitchen.

Ivy’s home was lovely if a little sparse. There were only a few personal touches here and there — a framed photo with her friends, a glitter snow globe, an overstuffed bookshelf. I thought of her classroom in comparison. Brimming with life and color, decorated so thoughtfully with personalized touches for her students everywhere. There was barely a fraction of the same care expended here.

“We need to buy her more homewares and decorations,” I hissed low at James. “Maybe some plants too. Really sturdy ones that won’t ever die.”

“What?” I could feel him prodding at the bond, confusion on his end. “Are you having an alpha moment?” he said suspiciously.

Maybe I was but that didn’t make me wrong.

Ivy had a beautiful grazing spread laid out on the kitchen table for us. Cured meats draped artfully, fat wedges of cheese, dollops of jam and fruit pastes. Bread and crackers fanned on the edges with fruit and nuts sprinkled all over. There were pastries laid out on a tray ready to go in the oven too.

James whistled appreciatively. “Ivy, you didn’t have to go to all this trouble.” With our addition of curry puffs, skewers and some home-made dips we were going to be rolling into the new year.

She glanced at the pastries and whispered behind her hand. “Those are store-bought. Technically everything is.”

“Good.” I grinned.

Ivy fetched a bottle of champagne from the fridge. “Anyone? I mean, it’s New Year’s, right?”

I caught the longing glance Logan gave the six pack of beer he’d brought, right before giving her an enthusiastic yes. I’d never seen more dumb in love behavior.

We cheersed her and gave her the kisses she had asked for in her text. While she was giggly afterward, I still couldn’t shake the feeling she wasn’t alright.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her against my hip, head tucked perfectly beneath my chin. I kissed her temple lightly as I breathed her scent in. There was the slightest burnt edge to it. Subtle but definitely present. I scent-marked her and she let out a small sigh and leaned into my touch. That was a good sign. “Is everything ok, Ivy?” I asked quietly.

She looked caught for a moment. It disappeared quickly, smoothed over like a clean sheet of ice. “Yes. I’m really glad you’re all here.”

The scent of charred sugar did not wane.

It went downhill from there. Ivy started drinking more and eating even less.

Logan kept trying to feed her but it seemed like for every bite he managed to get her to take, she offset it with two mouthfuls of champagne. There was always an excuse — she was refining the playlist, she swore she had sparklers tucked away somewhere that she had to find and did we want to play some cards or board games?

“What’s wrong with her?” Logan said, pulling me aside. “Why is she not eating? Have we done something?” He’d worked his hair into quite a state from all the stress.

“I asked and she said she was fine.”

“So she was lying.”

“Yes.”

“Fuck, this is going to drive me crazy.”

At least I wasn’t alone in feeling this way.

James took a pack of cards from Ivy. “Want to play? I can teach you Big Two,” he suggested, shuffling them easily.

Yes. Good. Something to keep her hands busy and distract her so we could slip her some more food.

“I’m worried about her too, you know,” he murmured privately to me before helping Ivy clear some space on her coffee table.

James and I took a few minutes to explain the rules to Logan and Ivy and soon we were embroiled in a practice round.

“Should I put this down now?” Logan asked, holding up a three of spades next to the three of diamonds in the middle. “Since it’s low?”

James peered at his cards. “You should save it because you can…” He pointed out several cards in Logan’s hand.

“I didn’t know that was?—”

“Yeah, all spades. A flush. It’ll also get rid of—” More pointing. “And it means you can keep this as a potential move.”

Logan settled back into his cushion looking smug and then threw out a Jack of diamonds.

“Jesus.” I stared down at all my single cards. I couldn’t put down any of them anymore.

“Oh no.” Ivy trembled. “It’s too high.”

Logan panicked. “I’ll take it back.”

James stopped him with a laugh. “There'll be other chances to get rid of cards,” he assured Ivy. His cheeks were glowing red from only half a glass of champagne and I found him moderately adorable.

Ivy picked up the game quickly and was soon trouncing us even without help from James. Which was an issue because she celebrated every hand she won with a deep drink from her glass.

After I managed to eke out a win, Ivy fell back against the couch. “Gosh, my hand was terrible that time.” She stretched her arms to the ceiling and let out a huge yawn. “I really do love this blanket,” she sighed, snuggling up against it. I only just managed to catch the last thing she mumbled. “It would’ve been so perfect in my nest.”

Her eyes fluttered closed and a soft snore began to emanate from her.

It was 10:00 p.m.

“I guess she’s a sleepy drunk who’s good at cards.” James shrugged. “Probably the most ideal situation, really.”

“How can you joke about this?” Logan bristled.

James gathered up the cards carefully, turning them all one way and letting them fall into his palm neatly. “Look, something was clearly bothering her tonight and she wasn’t ready to tell us. We’ve only been courting her for a week, we can’t expect her to spill out everything she’s feeling to us yet. You forget that just as we’re worried about doing the wrong thing, she’s probably feeling the same. And she probably feels it threefold.”

Shit, he was clever. I did not manage to hide that emotion in the bond fast enough and James shot me an exasperated look.

“So what do we do then?” Logan asked, massaging the back of his neck.

I thought for a moment. “I think if we leave she will feel awful when she wakes up,” I said quietly. “But we haven’t been invited into her nest so that’s not an option for us.”

“Let’s put her in her nest, clean up and sleep over where we can out here,” James suggested. “Nurse her through the wicked hangover she’s going to have tomorrow and hopefully she will feel like she can talk to us then.”

Logan wrapped her in the blanket carefully and carried her easily through the house. “Do you think it’s ok if we step into her nest so we can put her in it?” he asked anxiously.

“It can’t be helped,” I reassured him. “There’s not much of a chance of you getting your scent on her things but even if you did…we know she likes it. She’ll understand.”

Considering how practical the rest of her house was, Ivy’s nest surprised me. It was luxurious and overflowing with soft textures. There was a squeeze of satisfaction as I realized our blanket matched perfectly with the warm neutral shades already there. Like most omegas, her nest mattress took up the majority of the floor in the small room. She had built a protective little circle using cushions and duvets with a giant mountain of pillows on one side where she presumably lay her head.

It felt wrong to be staring at it without her permission. I turned my head away as Logan laid her in the middle.

Once she was settled, we left immediately, closing the door tightly behind us.