Ardor ▪️ Embry Call

"Your imprint is a baker."

"I'm Emby Hall."

"My friend here is Embry." Quil corrected, throwing an arm over his friend's shoulder. "Named after a character in a soap opera, I believe."

"How charming." The girl's laughter was airy. "And you are?" She directed her glance to Quil. Embry growled under his breath, which went unnoticed by Bronwyn.

"Quil, at your service. How would you like being friends, Bronwyn?" He squinted at her jokingly. She chuckled.

"You've been in here for 20 seconds." Bronwyn pointed out to the boy with a laugh, raising her eyebrows slightly. Embry furrowed his eyebrows towards his friend.

"Me and Embry here can basically read each other's minds. His judgement is all I need, and I'm getting a strong sense of approval towards you."

"How lovely. Yeah, we can be friends. Definitely." She tried to hide her smile, picking at her nail for a second behind the registry. Nervous habit. "So, any pastries that water your mouths?"

Embry's gaze directed to the left, where glass shelves showcased several goods. "What are these?" He pointed to a swirly roll with cinnamon on top.

"I think those are normal cinnamon rolls, Em." Embry elbowed his friend, as he called him out on the relatively obvious question.

"Actually," Their attention switched back to the girl. "We just took a tray of them out of the oven, if you want some extra fresh ones." As she finished her sentence, her mother decided to make an appearance.

"Hello, boys. How are you?" The plump woman greeted them as if she already knew them from before, which she didn't.

"We're great, thanks. Speaking to your lovely daughter." Quil answered after it took Embry over five seconds to respond.

"My name is Embry Call." He stuck out his hand politely towards Bronwyn's mother, intent on making a good impression. So his last name is Call, not hall, Bronwyn noticed.

"What a nice young man you are, my name is Wynny." Quil followed through the same process, while Embry went back to looking at where Bronwyn just stood a second ago.

"Where did Bronwyn go?" Quil asked, feeling his friend's anxiety at her disappearance.

"Probably went to fetch some of those fresh cinnamon buns for you two."

"In fact, I would like to buy about fifteen, if that could work out?" Embry asked with a sheepish smile.

"Oh, of course. I'll go tell Ronny." As she exited the room, the friends looked at each other.

"Your imprint is a baker." Quil pointed out excitedly.

"I was thinking we make the others eat one each, and then we reveal that my imprint made them." Saying those words made the spark in his chest ignite again. He was so proud.