Page 132 of Hot Girls Date Shifters

Some people have guitars.

Others clutch journals or sketchbooks.

A poet nervously flips through handwritten pages while another musician quietly tunes a mandolin in the corner.

When Elsie first floated the idea...

“Poetry, music, local artists... just a place where creative people can belong.”

I'd watched her get that look.

The one where inspiration grabbed hold and refused to let go.

Now she's standing near the coffee bar greeting everyone by name, laughing with customers who've already become regulars.

She belongs here.

Moon & Mug isn't just a business anymore.

It's becoming a home.

And she built it.

Christ.

I'm so damn proud of her.

Lucien warned me once that finding your mate would rearrange your priorities.

I thought he meant emotionally.

Turns out, he meant everything.

I don't care about awards anymore.

Or record sales.

Or sold-out arenas.

None of them compare to watching my mate smile across her little bookstore.

Yeah, Luc was right.

A mate changes you.

She becomes home.

I adjust the guitar strap across my shoulder and glance over at the ring gleaming on her left hand from across the shop.

Then I smile.

Just this morning, I put it on Elsie's finger.

Nothing extravagant.

Nothing flashy.

Just a quiet moment before opening the shop.