Severin lifted a shoulder and gestured for the woman to follow. She clacked along behind him, sounding like a shod horse echoing through the halls.
He shoved open the door and flipped on the lights. His favorite belt was lying in the middle of the floor.
“I was wondering where that went.” He strode over and retrieved the worn leather and palmed the tube of lube it had half covered, then turned back to the glorious sight of Minnow’s blushing face. She wouldn’t meet his gaze as he slid the belt through the loops of his jeans.
Rodrigo made a choking sound and scrubbed a hand through his hair, smothering a laugh.
“I took this room off the cleaning schedule a while back,” Minnow mused.
If the woman understood what had transpired, she had the good grace not to remark on it.
Talia turned in a slow circle. “Hmm...I think it might be too big.”
Rodrigo bit his lips together.
“That statement...this room...it’s like déjà vu.” Severin smirked.
Rodrigo gave him a wolfish grin, and they both eyed Minnow, who flipped them off while Talia’s attention was on the piano.
Severin’s laugh boomed so loud in the cavernous space that Talia jerked and turned wide eyes back to them. So easy to startle compared to their Miss Korsgaard.
As Severin watched Rodrigo and Minnow follow the woman around discussing things, a weird lightness rose in him. Maybe she wasn’t dying. Maybe she was just moody because of the wedding stuff.
After all his shit, they were still staying. They’d chosen him. Why having a fake wedding that meant nothing in the eyes of church and state? Maybe it was a symbol, like a collar and a brand and a tattoo – except this time they were marking him as their own too. The feral dog was getting chosen from the pound despite its snarling and snapping. It didn’t mean he was less messed up, only that they accepted him anyway. No one had ever really chosen him before. He’d been an obligation that had turned into affection for some people, but Rodrigo and Minnow? They were choosing to be his family.
The legal documents binding them financially had already been signed. Only the ceremony remained. It was weird and uncomfortable thinking about the future – he tended to focus on the moment he was in, but maybe now the future was worth considering.
“Your suits were ready so I picked them up. Rodrigo, yours should fit perfectly since you showed up for fittings. Severin, hopefully your fits. If you finally decide to try it on sometime in the next few days, just let me know and I’ll send a tailor over to make sure it doesn’t need alterations.” She eyed his shoulders skeptically. “I just need maybe an hour’s notice so they have time to get here.”
He didn’t even bother to glance at her, let alone reply. At no time had he agreed to wear a suit, but when he wouldn’t choose something, they’d chosen for him.
“Are you going to do something with his hair and that...beard?” Talia stage whispered to Minnow.
He could feel Minnow’s gaze on him.
“He’s a grown man,” Minnow said lightly. “It’s his choice. Maybe he’ll let me do some Viking beads in his beard, braid his hair... Or maybe he’ll show up all scruffy in his boots and jeans...a ripped T-shirt –” Her face turned pink again but she bit her lip in the way she did when she was thinking about sex.
When he turned to Rodrigo, expecting a protest from him, all he saw there was a mirror of Minnow’s lust.
He managed not to chuckle. “What exactly are you hoping happens during the ceremony, Miss Korsgaard? Should we uninvite family and send last-minute invitations out to Rodrigo’s kinky friends?”
“That’s an entirely different kind of party,” Rodrigo said, grinning. “A reception after-party, if you will.”
“Oh my god! Shut up you two!” Minnow laughed. “We’re the first poly wedding she’s done. We need to be on her best behavior so she doesn’t refuse to do other ones.”
Talia chuckled uneasily as they made their way back to the foyer.
“The chef sent me with a few garnish variations he wanted you to look at,” the organizer said, reaching for the small cooler she’d left on the circular table in the front hall.
“We could move to the kitchen, if that works for you?” Rodrigo offered.
Talia nodded happily and started in that direction with Minnow, leaving Severin alone with Rodrigo, who was dressed business-casual even though he was off today. He must have stepped it up for this meeting. They were paying the bitch, so he wasn’t sure why Rodrigo thought he had to look nice.
“Okay, I think you can escape now, if you want to go to the forge instead of comparing salad garnishes.”
The urge to withdraw was strong, but he also realized they were excusing him from something that most men who got married were probably expected to do.
“I’ve got this,” Rodrigo said, but he stepped closer instead of away.