“She won’t try for me again today, and I think I’ve proved I can handle myself. You’re not going to try to tell us the three of us can’t handle ourselves because we’re women.”

“Don’t go there, dude,” Sawyer warned. “No way to win it. But we can hang while you—”

“Go.” Sasha pointed. “All of you. If I get a reward it’s a little girl-shopping time without men hovering.” To seal it, Sasha rose to her toes, kissed Bran lightly. “We’ll be home in two hours.”

“If you’re not—”

“We will be.”

“Stay together.”

“Of course.” Sasha waved them off, waited until they were out of sight. “All right.”

“I could shop for new earrings!”

“We’re not going shopping.”

Annika’s jaw dropped. “But, you said—”

“Do you want to talk about sex?”

“Yes!” Annika grabbed Sasha’s hand. “It was a ploy!”

“That’s right.”

“If we’re going to talk about sex when I’m not having any, I want alcohol.” Riley scanned the marina. “Let’s find a place with a view and Bellinis.”

Within ten minutes—Riley moved fast—they sat on a shady terrace looking out at water and boats. Riley ordered in Italian, flirting with the waiter, who flirted right back.

Then she sighed, sat back. “Just proving I could have sex if I opted for the one-nighter. So.” She gestured at Annika. “The doctors are in. Proceed.”

“Are you a doctor, too?”

“She means we’re here to listen,” Sasha explained.

“Oh. It’s so nice to have friends who are female.”

“Truer words,” Sasha agreed.

“Sawyer says there are complicated rules about sex. If it’s so hard and strict, how do people have sex?”

“Good question. I used to think there were so many complications it was better to just forget about sex. I really believed that was the right thing for me, until Bran.”

“Because you’re mates.”

“Yes.” And wasn’t that a wonder? “I didn’t know that he felt that way, the way I did. But the other part is, he accepted me, what I am, what I have. No one had before Bran. Before all of you.”

“And I didn’t want to have sex with her.” Riley beamed at the waiter when he brought the Bellinis.

“But she’s very beautiful, and kind and wise. You’d have pretty sex together.”

Intrigued, Riley angled her head. “Are there gay merpeople?”

“Oh, yes. We’re very happy.”

“No, I mean— Are you, or some of you, attracted to the same sex? Can you mate with someone of the same sex?”

“Of course—differently because of the body, and there will be no young created, but you want who you want, yes? Love who you love?”

“Cheers to that.” Riley picked up her Bellini.

“Is one of the rules you cannot?”

“We’re eliminating that rule. Slower in some places, but we’re working on it.”

Annika huffed out a breath, frowned at her drink. “Are all the rules stupid?”

“Maybe some are, and the rules depend.”

Now Annika lifted a hand in frustration. “How can rules depend if they are rules?”

“We’re going to need more Bellinis,” Riley decided. “And pastries.”

“I can get behind that. But the rules, Anni, depend on the people involved, the situation. For instance, if Bran had been married or promised to someone else.”

“That’s the availability rule,” Riley added.

“I understand, and agree. I understand the willing. There must never be force. Clean—I’m not sure why this is important, at every sex.”

“It’s not that kind of clean. It’s more . . . letting your partner know if you’re healthy—sexually, that is.” Sasha shook her head. “I don’t see that as an issue for you or Sawyer, so we can table that complicated explanation for now. Other rules, the ones that depend? Some would come from the code or beliefs of who’s involved.”

“I know code. Sawyer’s honorable. Maybe too much honor. I tried to explain to him that when the painting happens, I can get away. He can take all of you—because he’s wounded, and leave me so—”

“Bullshit. That’s never happening.”

Frustrated, Annika turned to Riley. “But I can—”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what you can. And if Sawyer had said different, I’d think less of him—and that’s after I’d flattened him.”

“It’s insulting, Annika,” Sasha said, more gently. “It insults us for you to suggest that.”

“I don’t mean to insult. I love you, all of you. I hurt his feelings?” Distress squeezed her heart, clouded her mind. “Oh, I’m so apology. I will sorry to him.”

“Just put it away,” Riley advised. “And remember, this is all for one, one for all.”

“All for one, one for all,” Annika repeated. “This is a code. I won’t forget it. I hurt his feelings, so he doesn’t want to have sex with me.”

“I don’t think that’s it. Definitely more Bellinis.”