Chapter Fourteen

We'd been mated for a few days now, and already the scheduling was getting frustrating. The biggest obstacle in the way was how stubborn Rome was. He worked far more than any person ever should and, while we hadn't had a full sit-down discussion on it yet, I got the feeling that he wasn't willing to give one of them up.

He hated it.

I hated it.

Armel hated it.

I just didn't know what, if anything, I could do about it.

I was selfish. I wanted to be able to spend more time with Rome…with both my mates. And we did have time together, but usually when we were sleeping because that was the only time he had off. My sexy dragon was wearing himself out. The kind of hours he was working just weren't sustainable.

Armel came over after he got out of work, and we sat in my apartment trying to figure out what to do for the night. We both didn't have to work, but Rome did. I loved spending time with my bear, but I couldn't help but feel like something was missing, that something being Rome.

"Do you think we should go to the bar?" I asked.

Rome worked at a human bar, which I didn't have any problem with. Work was work. But, unlike if he worked at Animals, I wasn't sure if it was okay for us to hang out there. Here, there was an understanding that mates liked to be near each other and often would hang out and grab a beer while their partner worked.

That wasn't the same in human spaces. They didn't want you to bring your outside life to work. They considered it a distraction, not grasping that being away from your mate was a significantly bigger one.

I sat down with my head on Armel's lap, and he ran his fingers through my hair.

"I don't know. I don't want to get him in trouble."

"The thing is, he doesn't have to work." None of us had to. I had enough money that none of us had to work again. And while I'd discussed my wealth with them, I wasn't sure if they understood just how vast it was. There were days when I didn't think I did, either.

"Yeah, but that's a pride thing with him. Dragons are weird about money." Armel ran his thumb along my cheekbone.

I had to take my mate's word for it because I didn't know much about dragons at all. But I guess it made sense if they were hoarding creatures. In Rome's case, instead of collecting all the money, he collected pens, although "collect" was probably not the word to use with a hoard. I needed to ask him about that.

I appreciated his hoard. It was special to him, and I didn't like the fact that he was embarrassed by it, thought it somehow made him less of an alpha. He was wrong. Being unique was a gift.

"I want to tell him to quit his job there." There. I said it. It felt good to get it out instead of keeping it bottled up inside.

"He's got a roommate," Armel reminded me.

I'd met him. He was a nice guy, but I didn't see that as a hindrance unless they were roommates because his roommate didn't like to be alone. If it was just the money, there wouldn't be any issue. It wasn't like I'd let him get the shaft. I'd buy out his lease or however it needed to happen.

"I guess we're not going to solve that problem today." My head was starting to hurt.

"It'd be nice if we could." He leaned over and kissed me far too briefly, but at this angle, it was all that we could do.

"We do all have off in a couple of days. Maybe we should plan something special." Armel was the sweetest. "We could go for a hike."

I always loved the mountains, and dragons liked mountains. I needed to brush up on my dragon knowledge, for sure.

"Yeah, that could be fun. Or maybe we could go to a nice dinner?" Having a human roommate, he might be expecting a typical human-type date.

"I've been to a couple of restaurants in town that have some really good food and some privacy to them," Armel said. "There's that one, I forget the name, but they have these rounded booths and the little curtain you can close, and they make homemade pasta."

"Francesca's?"

"Yes. It's supposed to be great." I'd heard the reviews. That didn't make it less human.

"I haven't been, but can we really talk in a restaurant?"

The answer was no. Not about anything shifter related. Not about us being mates. Heck, in our society, just it being the three of us there as a throuple might turn some heads.

"We still have time to work on it. Why don't we go and see our mate and depending on the vibe, go from there."

"Yeah, that works for me." I pushed myself to sit up and then stand, leaving the comfiness of my mate's lap. "Did he say what time he got off?"

"He closes, so 3 a.m. ish." Which was the worst of the worst, in my book. He never got nearly enough sleep on days he had this shift.

"Hopefully, we can hang out there for a while." I grabbed my keys.

"Yeah. That would be nice." He kissed me. "And afterward, maybe we can watch that movie you were talking about."

I couldn't remember which one he meant, but it didn't really matter. All that did was that we did it together.

"You just want my head on your lap again?"

"Nope." He grabbed my ass. "I wanted my head on yours."