Claps rang out around the room, startling Jess. She'd blacked out the world around her and forgotten their audience.
She leaned back and smiled.
Charles and Reese both took her left hand, and together they inched the gold-banded ring onto her finger. When they finished, they stood, pulling her up with them.
Reese leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, "Shall we go somewhere a little more private? I could really use some alone time with you."
Jessica shook her head and stepped back, leaving both men with their mouths hanging open. Tipping her head to one side and grinning slightly, she said, "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to go for a run again. It was … invigorating. Shifting might grow on me." She smiled broader.
Both sets of eyes went wide.
"Of course," they both stated at once. "What're we waiting on?" Charles and Reese took Jessica by the hands and headed for the back door, blocking out the world at large as they went.
The only thing that mattered was getting undressed, shifting, and running toward the future.