gained a beautiful daughter and two more kids who would soon be joining the pride. The person ahead of them moved, and it was finally their turn. A sense of giddiness filled Logan. He knew he wouldn’t get to have any of the coffee, but he’d still get to hold it in his hands and that was honestly all he wanted.
“What can I get for you?” the cashier asked.
“Bethany, wait,” a man said behind the counter. He had dark brown hair and a round face with light blue eyes. His skin was a light tan that had less to do with the sun and more as part of his natural color. He smiled at Bethany and handed her a slip of paper. “Kyle said take your break. I’ll handle this.”
Bethany’s shoulders relaxed, and she hugged the new guy. A growl that was all animal echoed in the room. Thank goodness someone started grinding coffee beans right at that moment. Logan glanced around discreetly to make sure no one was looking at them weird. And sure enough, no one but the new cashier stood there frozen in place, his bright blue eyes going big. They flicked over to Logan and then Clyde. But when they focused on Clyde, there was fear but also a spark of something else that Logan couldn’t quite read.
Logan sniffed the air, and past the strong scent of coffee was the barest scent of a shifter. The scent made Logan’s head tilt to the side as he tried to decipher exactly what kind of shifter stood before him. It smelled a little like prey.
“Emory, are you okay?” Bethany asked.
Emory shook his head and moved to the register. His eyes continued to stray to Clyde. It clicked, like finding the perfect puzzle piece. Right now, really? Fate was pushing Logan’s last nerve.
“What can I get for you?” Emory asked. His voice was steady, but his hands betrayed him with a slight tremor.
“Your number for starters,” Clyde said.
Logan wanted to smack his own head. “Smooth,” he said sarcastically.
Emory blushed, and that seemed to put the man at ease. He smiled at Clyde’s cheesy as fuck pickup line. “Sorry, I don’t date customers.”
“Oh, good because we’re here for him, so technically I’m not a customer, so no reason to deny me, right?” Clyde asked.
Emory could hardly take his eyes off Clyde, and any other time Logan would have excused himself, but they were at a damn coffee shop.
“That’s a shame. I helped make the conchas. I was hoping you’d buy one,” Emory said.
Were they seriously flirting right now?
“Oh, in that case, I’ll take all the ones you made and your number,” Clyde said.
Logan cleared his throat; he had to do it twice for Emory to tear his gaze away from Clyde.
“I’d like a cinnamon breve, hot, medium,” Logan said.
“Make that a small. Sugar.” Clyde winked at Emory.
“Who the hell orders a small?” Logan gritted through his teeth.
Clyde didn’t take his eyes off Emory once. “The person who doesn’t enjoy coffee enough to drink more than one cup a day.”
Logan found his wallet, but Clyde already paid for everything, and Logan sighed. He pushed Clyde along so that the people behind them could order. He found some seating and forced Clyde to sit down. Logan sat as well, sighing. His feet were most likely swollen. He’d have to do a shit ton of pleading and maybe a sorry blow job, but he was sure he could get Indigo to forgive him for the outing and then hopefully get the man to work his magic fingers on his sore feet.
“You’re distracting him,” Logan said. He didn’t even need to glance behind him to know that Emory was staring back at Clyde. “I don’t need him messing up the coffee.”
“You aren’t even drinking it,” Clyde said.
It was the principle of the thing. Did the man not know how sacred coffee was? Logan shook his head. There was a clatter, and he turned just in time to see Emory had dropped a pitcher of ice. He was apologizing, and his cheeks, where his thick facial hair didn’t cover, were a light red.
“See what your attention is doing?” Logan grumbled.
He reached out and stopped Clyde instantly as another growl rumbled in his chest. Logan glanced back, seeing some guy’s hands on Emory. Fuck.
“Clyde, the rest are humans, they aren’t a threat,” Logan said. He just hoped none of the people who were touching Emory were in a relationship with him. Uh, a simple outing, and