Chapter Nine
Freid
When we met, when we saw him, it was a done deal in my mind.
My dads always said it would be like that. Meet, mate, mark…live life, but somehow their fairy tale was not mine.
Our mate, Ty’s and mine, did not understand the assignment. He ran away and then when we got that all straightened out and shifted together, I thought we might be on the same page. I was wrong.
After Penn left, it was just the two of us again, and we went back inside to figure things out together.
“Where should we sit?” I asked, looking around the bar.
I’d had to sit on the same stool for the past three years because of the dream, but now I’d met—we’d met—our omega.
The dream came true, but not in the way I’d expected.
“Maybe a booth in the corner? I see one open.” Ty pointed. “Time for a change of scenery, I think.”
“Agreed.” I started toward the open seating, Ty at my side.
Something else that had changed—my friend of three years was now my other mate, and the sense of connection I’d felt with him was intensified.
Meeting our third had been earth-shattering.
I slid into the booth, and Ty followed, coming to sit right next to me, thighs touching.
Three years had passed where we never touched one another, deliberately at least. We’d passed one another things while sharing appetizers and drinks, so maybe brushed fingers, and the feeling had been pleasant, interesting, but nothing like now.
My entire awareness centered on the place where our thighs met.
Everyone in the club seemed to be having a great time, while we sat in silence in the corner.
Our previous seats had been in the middle of the action, where my dream mate would find me.
Where Ty might meet his mate, but we didn’t need to be seen now.
We needed to figure out something so serious, I didn’t even know where to begin the conversation.
Fortunately, the tiger did. Ty had always been the voice of reason in our friendship. He knew I was there trying to make my dream a reality, and he never once told me I was foolish or not realistic. Rather, he lent quiet support. Until now, I hadn’t known how difficult that must have been for him.
Ty reached for my hand and took it into his lap, wrapped in both of his. “Well, that was…something.”
His words broke the tension of the moment and made me laugh. A little. “Understatement of the year, tiger. So, that was who I’ve been waiting for. And I guess you, too. I always thought the moment he showed up, he would recognize our connection.”
“Well, he did…”
“Okay, maybe I should have said he would accept it. Instead of saying, let me get back to you if I like the idea.”
We let out simultaneous sighs.
A server arrived at that moment. “Imagine finding you two in my area. And looking like someone stole your lollipop. Will a drink help?”
Ty shook his head. “No, but we won’t take up space without ordering. I’ll have a martini. Gin. With a twist.”
I gaped at him. “We’ve been drinking beer together for three years.”
“Seems like a good time for a change. New table, new drink.”
“All right.” I considered the many options. “In that case, a Dark and Stormy.” I liked the copper mugs they came in.
After the server left, I leaned against the leather banquette, my hand still in Ty’s lap where I would gladly leave it forever. If only Penn held my other one. About to speak, I stopped as Zevo, the manager who had been with our mate, arrived holding a tray with three drinks on it.
“Gentlemen, what is going on here? You’re not in your usual seats, and your order has changed? May I join you?”
“Of course.” Ty waved toward the empty half of the booth. “Have a seat.”
The bear shifter took up most of the open bench. He was one of the largest bears I’d ever seen but was known to be a gentle, loving mate in his triad. Maybe he’d have some advice for us. “I take it this has to do with the young man who brought the menus?”
Of course. He had been speaking to our omega. “Yes. Can you tell us anything about him? He’s…” I was afraid to say it, since things were far from settled.
“He’s a librarian.” Zevo chuckled. “And this was his first visit here. Our menus were delivered with a printing order to his library, and he was kind enough to drop them off. That’s all I know, except that he seemed like a nice person.”
Zevo stayed long enough to finish his drink then went off to deal with something or other urgent, leaving us alone again.
“A librarian,” Ty mused. “I think what we need to do is to make our mate feel like he is safe with us. He seemed to like us, a lot…but was as jumpy as a cat. And then left agreeing we were mates but he’d have to decide whether he wanted to be with us?”
“I agree, but how do we prove we will keep him safe?” I tapped the table with my free hand then snapped my fingers. “I have an idea.” Pulling my phone from my pocket, I awkwardly tapped in a search.
“What is it?”
“I think librarian is key here. Growing up, I always loved the library, but the librarians always seemed like a breed apart, whether they were shifters, gnomes—because a surprising number of librarians I met were gnomes—or humans.”
“And…”
“And I am searching for a website that will give us more insight into librarians and what they like.”
Ty grinned. “I knew I liked you. Any luck?”
“Yes.” I tapped a few more times and set the phone on the table between us. “Look.”
“Know Your Librarian.” Ty swiped the screen to open a new page.
It seemed to be geared to customers of the library who wanted to know what their favorite librarian might like for Christmas or as a thank-you, so a little simplistic, but we had to start somewhere.
And then he swiped again. “Look at these T-shirts. And mugs…everything with naughty librarian pickup lines.”
“Most of which involve the Dewey Decimal System. Do they even use that anymore?”
“I have no idea. We’ll have to ask Penn one day, but I don’t think naughty is the way to prove we’re safe. Let’s go back to the other page.”
We did and found cute and fun things. Plants and mugs with sayings like Librarians Read with Heart and such.
Nothing naughty, although my thoughts were very naughty, but we decided to send him a sweet gift every day.
It might not be the best idea, but it was better than showing up in person and making him feel unsafe.
Ty and I sat there until closing, holding hands, and were about to leave when we realized we had no idea what library our mate worked at. Fortunately, Zevo was able to find the address for us on the box of menus, or we would have had a real problem sending the mug for delivery the next day.