Page 31 of Leave Me
Pressing the button to unlock my mom’s old hybrid car, I scrambled for the handle without taking my eyes off him, his brother striding over to box me in. These two had been the main reasons high school was an unpleasant experience, and I’d hoped never to see them again.
Squaring my shoulders, I pulled my door open and slipped inside. Facing forward, I locked the doors and started the engine, peeling out of the lot before they could do something like stand in front of my car. Douchebags.
I couldn’t shake the feeling of being prey. I just needed to get to the reunion. Fowler would be there. He’d always made me feel safe, and I needed him more than ever after that interaction.
Especially since the MacTaryn twins were in the nicest clothes I’d ever seen them in, clean pants with their leathers shiny over black dress shirts. They were headed to the same place I was.
Chapter twenty-one
Fowler
Spending the day with Gramps at Motorvated had my cheeks hurting from laughter as he regaled me with stories from his and my dad’s youth. I’d somehow forgotten I came by my prankster ways naturally.
“Your dad hid all of my sockets and then pretended to help me find them,” Gramps told me in a grumpy tone, but I saw the sparkle in his eye at the memory. “And then I heard this knucklehead giggling in the storeroom.”
“Hey, I don’t giggle,” Uncle Clark protested.
“Fin, you were twelve, and you were cackling like a hyena,” Gramps insisted, letting a sentimental smile creep over his faux-angry expression. “The two of you were menaces.”
Uncle Clark chuckled and shook his head. “Not sure how you let him name me vice president of the club.”
“My VP had left town for his wife, and you know Enrique’s dad was a good enforcer, but…” Gramps trailed off.
Ricky’s dad had been a brawler, but he’d also been a drunk like my father. We all knew he didn’t have the silent strength needed to be the VP of the club and second in command of the pack. I’d learned that he’d died driving drunk shortly before my dad decided to quit. Ricky hadn’t said a word, so I’d have to remember to give him my condolences.
My phone buzzed, and I excused myself to take it behind the shop. Leaning against the wall and looking towards Uncle Clark’s house, I saw Hudson had texted to see how I was doing. Instead of texting back, I hit the call button.
“Hello? Is it my long-lost friend?” Hudson asked as if he were looking for me.
“Yeah, got lost in Borneo looking for your dick,” I quipped back. “Send a rescue party.”
“Ha!” Hudson barked out a laugh, and I heard the sounds of the city noise through the open garage door in the background until it sounded like he was walking to the office and closing the door. “How’s it going in the boonies?”
“Better than I expected,” I told him, and then launched into the kind reception I’d received from family, friends, and neighbors at the funeral and reunion events.
Hudson listened patiently, like he always did, though I left out the bits about Riley and me hooking up. He was asexual, though demiromantic with his mate, and he didn’t want to hear about my sex life.
“It makes me feel like shit for staying away so long.”
“You couldn’t have known. And they may not have been as welcoming even a few years ago.”
“True,” I nodded to myself, though he couldn’t see me. The silence extended between us as my unspoken thoughts lingered on Riley.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Fuck, you never miss a thing,” I chuckled and rubbed at my short beard.
“I don’t have your ability to hear heartbeats or whatever, but I know you. What’s eating at you? Do I need to come up there and kick some wolf butt?”
“No.” I laughed to hide that my throat was clogged with emotion. “It’s just…Riley.”
“Your old best friend? Before you met me, of course,” Hudson added, lightening the mood. “Is he not welcoming you with open arms?”
“The opposite, actually.” I started pacing across the paved path between the shop and the house. I might as well get it all out. “He’s the one who made me realize I could be out and trans and people would still care about me in high school. You know we lost touch. But then I came home and saw him, and it was like I’d never reallyseenhim before. You know? And he smells so fucking good, Hudson! We hooked up, and I… I let him see all of me.”
“Damn,” Hudson breathed out, and I could hear him leaning forward in the creaky office chair. I could imagine the way he would scrub a hand over his beard and furrow his brow in thought. Then he hit me with the question I didn’t know the answer to. “Do you think he’s your mate?”
“How could he be?” I lamented, realizing I wanted it to be true. Squatting to pick up a rock, I tossed it into the bushes with a little too much force. “We were around each other every day for years. I would have known.”
