Chapter Seventeen

It was Saturday night at Animals, and I was working. My bosses had been great since the day I arrived, but triple great now that I had found my mates. They'd offered to schedule me so my hours more aligned with Armel's.

And they could easily have been. His were predictable. But what good would that do? It wasn't like we could fully align with each other. There was no way anyone could align with Rome's hours. He worked a bazillion of them. I didn't know how he was still standing half the time. I worked significantly less than he did, and I was exhausted.

The staying up late to spend time with just the three of us had really started to take a toll on me. I was exhausted…all the time. The solution was obvious: Don't wait up for Rome. Only thing was, I couldn't help it. When he wasn't around, I missed him. Missed him terribly.

I turned down a set weekday-only schedule for a bunch of reasons. One of them was because I really liked Saturdays. Saturdays were when people from all over came, even shifters who drove here from different states. It was nice to be surrounded by shifters of all different varieties. I'd even met a shark not too far back.

Tonight, I was training my mate's roommate. He was looking for a very part-time gig, and, of course, Animals welcomed him with open arms. He might be human, but he knew a lot about shifters due to one being mated into his family. And it made him the perfect person for the job because we did have humans who came here. And now there was somebody who was…I wouldn't want to say a human expert, but sort of.

We'd been running bar drinks from the bar, and, so far, made some pretty great tips. He said he was making a ton of money and I was glad for it. The number of times I nearly asked him to let me buy out his lease was astronomical. But I refrained. That was something I refused to do without my mate's full agreement.

They said happy mate, happy life.

We'd just gotten started for the night, and he was already doing so well. They were going to love that we had an employee who picked up on things as quickly as he did. He was a natural. And the tips tonight showed it.

I was thrilled. I really wanted to help Dez up his income so that Rome wouldn't feel as bad about leaving the apartment. I got it. I did. He had a roommate. They'd made a commitment. The rent was high. All of that made sense, but I was selfish. I wanted to be around him all the time, and that meant maybe letting go of that apartment.

"When are your men getting here?" he asked.

"As soon as Rome gets off work, I guess."

He was only working the bar today, had gotten lucky with the afternoon shift, so in theory, he was going to be there soon. But in theory and practice weren't always the same thing, and I had to remind myself to be patient.

My patience paid off a few minutes later. I sensed them coming long before I saw them. "You good to do the next few on your own?"

"Yeah." Dez cupped my shoulder. "I've got this. You go find your mates. I'm glad Rome has you."

I turned to face him. "I'm the lucky one." When I turned back around, my mates were nearly to me.

"Hey, guys." I kissed Armel first.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Rome asked, smiling playfully. He looked great for having worked a full shift on his feet after the work week he'd had. He looked a lot less tired than I was, for sure.

"Saving the best for last?" I shrugged, and Armel laughed as I kissed our mate.

"You need us to get out of your hair?" Rome was so used to the human bar. Sure, I needed to work, but I didn't need to ignore them in the process.

"Nope. I got us a table." I showed them to their seats and sat beside Armel and across from Rome.

"Aren't you supposed to be training Dez today?" Rome asked, looking at him. I loved how he was looking out for his roommate and me at the same time.

"Yes, but also, he needs to start doing a bit more on his own. With me here, he has the freedom to do that without feeling like I'm looking over his shoulder the entire time. And, from my seat, I can see if he needs anything."

"How's he liking it?" Rome asked.

"He's a natural, and everyone here already loves him."

Objectively, he was doing great. And having him shadow me wasn't really necessary anymore. It wasn't like he needed as much training as I had when I got here. I'd been such a hot mess, and not once did anyone make me feel bad about it.

"Nice to see him fitting in here." Rome grabbed the small menu on the table.

"It is. I'm thinking maybe we can...maybe… I want to offer him my apartment. When his lease is up, I mean." I still didn't know when that was.

"You want to give him your place?" Armel clarified.

"Yeah, then you wouldn't be in the lurch." I reached for Rome's hand. "And you wouldn't have to worry about him."

Before we could continue the conversation, I noticed Dez looking incredibly confused.

"I need to go. Sorry."

I hurried to the bar to find Dez trying to figure out which of the frou-frou drinks was which and gave him some tips, my eyes and attention never far from my mates.