Page 17 of Leave Me
Either way, I needed to stop thinking about Riley and the way he smelled before I popped a boner in the kitchen, standing next to my little sister.
Washing my hands while Channing rearranged something in the fridge, I let out the question I had been holding out hope for. “Do you think Riley will go to the mixer tonight?”
Channing stood, and her nose scrunched up adorably in thought. “I don’t know. His mom said he doesn’t drink much, since he spends a lot of time in fundamentalist countries.”
“Oh.” My shoulders sagged, and my wolf metaphorically tucked his tail.
“But he has been out of town a lot. His mom said he might stay awhile this time. Maybe he wants to reconnect with old friends?” Channing suggested, and I perked up again.
Riley had said he’d be at the picnic, though. My wolf roared to the forefront of my consciousness at the thought.
Riley.
Riley!
RILEY!
“So you’re staying the night?” Channing asked, startling me as I realized I’d dried my hands but was just standing there holding the dish towel and looking out the window at the forest beyond.
Yes.
Riley!
STAY!
For once, my wolf and I were in agreement; we wanted to see Riley again. I was staying at least one more day.
Chapter twelve
Riley
Getting ready, I had to shower a second time that day because I was sweating through my shirt. When I finally settled on a basic white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans that showed off my ass, I didn’t know whether I was excited or nervous.
Saying goodnight to my mom, a sense of…something lingered over me. I couldn’t tell if it was the fear of future regret or if there had been some cosmic shift in the universe, but I felt odd. I’d learned as a reporter in strange new places to listen to my instincts, but mine felt scrambled instead of focused.
The chance to see Fowler again overrode all my misgivings as I laced my boots up and headed out.
Walking down Wolf Creek Road and turning onto Main Street—across the street from the King family shop, Motorvated—the unnamable feeling kept gnawing at me. Seeing the mix of motorcycles and trucks in the dirt parking lot, I almostdidn’t go in.
“If those assholes from Lakeview are here, I’m leaving,” I muttered to myself as I pushed the solid wooden door open. My high school bullies from across the lake were not who I wanted to see.
Cool air with a distinct smell of beer washed over me, and I stopped in my tracks. I hadn’t realized how hot I felt from my walk until I was back in the air-conditioning, and I wanted to savor it.
The Barn was a bar in an old barn, and the theme was rustic. The floors were the original wide-plank oak, but with a layer of lacquer and years of spills giving them a shine. The walls had local and state team pennants along with mounted animal heads, though I noticed they no longer had bras hanging off antlers.
“Riley, hey!” I turned my head to find Ricky waving at me from behind the bar, where Rel was sitting on a stool across from him. “Glad you made it!”
It had been years since I’d come to the bar, but Ricky hadn’t been bartending back then. Seeing familiar faces settled something in me, and I made my way over. There were a bunch of old timers in the booths at the back, but the middle had a handful of people I recognized from high school. There were also a lot I didn’t recognize.
“Hey,” I greeted my old friends and accepted Ricky’s fist bump over the wide bar top. “Something going on besides the mixer?”
“Yeah,” Rel nodded, turning his stool to face me while I sat, and Ricky moved away to take someone’s order. “The graduates of our class and two thousand nineteen, a ten-year and five-year mixer in one.”
“We didn’t have a five-year reunion.” Scrunching my brow, I realized some of the adults in the room were younger siblings to our former classmates, but distinctly grown up. “Is it normal to combine them?”
“Fuck if I know,” Rel shrugged, “But Cara Simpson is in charge of our reunion—you remember the cheerleader—and her little sister, Kayla, was five years behind us. So I think they put it together.”
“Yeah, Cara was annoyed I didn’t have social media. I got my invite through her contacting my mom,” I chuckled as Ricky pushed a bottle towards me. “I didn’t order a beer?”
