“Did they admit it?” Glyma asked.
“Only Rusty,” Oliver said. “Gem’s being stubborn.”
“We did warn you,” Willow said.
“For the record, I do not think this is workplace appropriate,” Zef said stiffly.
Tad knocked their lower arm with a webbed hand. “Oh, come on, Zef. This is fun. Even the customers are into it.”
A glance at the gathering crowd, all watching with rapt attention, proved her point, and warmth bloomed in Gem’s cheeks. “Maybe we should get back to work.”
“No,” Brenda said as she sipped noisily at her smoothie, “pretend we’re not here.”
Gem scowled at her, but it was Oliver who said, “You know you’re wearing purple, right?”
Rusty glanced down at his shirt, then he glowered at Gem. “Purple?”
“Hey, don’t get your tail in a twist. It was early and dark this morning, and I was half-asleep because someone kept me up late, handcuffed to the bed.”
“The handcuffs were your idea,” Rusty defended, and Gem reared back at his volume.
“Hold up! I loved the handcuffs. I’m almost always down for some power-play, and babe, you delivered. I wasn’t complaining. I was justifying why I found it difficult to distinguish what color shirt you were holding up this morning.”
“Oh my god,” Oliver said as Willow and Glyma giggled.
Squeaking in horror, Gem scrambled to fix what was clearly unfixable at this point. “I mean, Rusty’sgirlfriendlikes power-play and handcuffs. Not me.”
“Seriously?” Rusty said.
“Yeah, Gem,” Oliver said, “come on.”
“Okay, fine! Spoiler alert, everyone: I’m the girlfriend. The girlfriend isme!” Gem huffed, and as one, everyone—including a few customers, which was, honestly, uncalled for—said, “We know!”
“Well, excuse me for trying to establish open and honest communication,” Gem sniffed as Rusty snuffled a laugh. “But how did you all find out? We’ve been so stealthy.”
“This has been you being stealthy?” Glyma asked.
“Even Zef caught on,” Willow said, and Zef nodded sagely, antennas quivering.
“Yeah, you’ve been touching Rusty’s ass in front of me for, like, weeks,” Oliver said.
“Told you he’d see,” Rusty said unhelpfully.
“I was super subtle,” Gem defended.
“Or last week, when you kept sending Rusty dick pics during your shift?” Oliver accused.
“Yeah, you went to the bathroom so often Quin was worried you had a UTI,” Glyma chimed in.
“I have a very healthy urinary tract, thank you.” Gem pouted, before he caught Rusty’s eye and it bled into a sultry smile. “Though, I’ll admit, that was a fun day.”
Pointing to the kitchen, Willow said, “Not to mention, Zef caught you red-handed, blatantly making out in the walk-in cooler.”
“It was very unpleasant,” Zef said morosely.
“And you tried to play it off like you were giving Rusty upsies to the top shelf,” Glyma added.
“When we all know that Rusty would rather die than get upsies from anyone,” Oliver finished.
