Page 18 of Leave Me
“It’s a light cider, on me,” Ricky winked and left to help another customer.
“That was nice of him,” I commented, mostly to myself. Most liquor and beer made me feel sick, but I didn’t want to be rude and not try the free drink. I looked around at the people mingling as I took a sip. The tangy, dry apple burst over my tongue, leaving a tart and pleasant aftertaste. “I don’t drink much, but this is good.”
“We know,” Rel said, nursing his own bottle. “We never see you when you’re in town, so I’m glad you came out.”
A flash of guilt hit me, but I pushed it down. I wasn’t super close with Ricky and Rel, and I knew Ricky traveled a lot for fights, but I’d been building my career. I had nothing to feel bad about. If I avoided Blue Lake because it felt like a giant chasm had opened when King left…well, that was my future therapist bill to deal with.
Rel and I chatted about the firehouse and how they had a makeshift gym. He was an omega and had been the only Black kid in our school, so I was glad to see him happy and settled into Blue Lake.
Ricky stopped by to chat off and on, along with a few people I was glad to see, but Rel and I stuck to the bar.
When I finished my second—or maybe third?—cider, I remembered who I’d come to see. Fowler had yet to make an appearance, and it was nearing ten at night. I still had some lingering jetlag, telling me to go to sleep for twelve hours straight, but I still had hope he’d show up for the picnic.
“I think I’m going to head out,” I told Rel, slipping from my stool and dropping a twenty-dollar tip on the bar for Ricky, who hadn’t let me pay for my drinks. “Why don’t I get your number so we can stay in touch?”
“Sure.” Rel pulled his phone out, and I read my number out, so he could save mine. “See you guys tomorrow?”
“You can’t leave yet,” Ricky insisted, and I looked up to see him and Rel smirking. Except they weren’t smiling at me; something over my shoulder caught their attention. “Your BFF is here.”
A shiver ran up my spine as I turned to find Fowler King walking my way. Looking like sin in head-to-toe black, his neck tattoo gave him a menacing vibe, but I could see the smile in his eyes.
My body swayed towards him, but I kept myself from meeting Fowler halfway. Biting back a moan, I didn’t know what came over me, but I went from tipsy to horny in a split second.
“Hey, Ri,” King greeted, pulling me into a hug I didn’t see coming. He let me go but kept his eyes on me. “I’m glad I didn’t miss you.”
“Did people trash your house or something?” Ricky asked. “We could have stayed later to help.”
“No, it wasn’t too bad.” King shook his head and finally looked away from me. I took a deep breath and was assaulted by his musky almond and cherry scent. “I took a nap and lost a few hours.”
“Sorry, man,” Ricky rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess we kept you up late.”
“Did you…” I paused and looked around. Most of the people who had come for the mixer had left, but I still lowered my voice. The three of them had enhanced hearing anyway. “Did you go for a run?”
“We did,” Rel explained. “King stayed behind to watch the fire and hang out with Red.”
That made sense. Red couldn’t shift and run, so Fowler was being a good friend. Rowen Finley was an octopus shifter; he shifted and swam.
“Remember when we ran around the whole lake and pissed off the bears?” Ricky asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Pissing off the bear-shifters of Lakeview had gotten them in deep trouble, but they were young and thought they were invincible.
“I remember getting a lecture from Gramps and Dad about being responsible for you two,” King replied dryly with a raised brow. “As if I could ever stop you.”
Ricky and Rel laughed and led us back to the bar. My jetlag disappeared, and something inside of me said to stay close to Fowler, so I accepted another cider.
Being there, surrounded by old friends, by the pack I was never really a part of, I sensed a warmth spreading all over my body. It felt right in a way I didn’t remember from high school. Like I fit.
Maybe moving back home wouldn’t be so bad. But I still didn’t know if the main person I wanted to see was sticking around.
Chapter thirteen
Fowler
When I left Blue Lake, I hadn’t been old enough to drink in public. Since The Barn served food, and Dad was a regular, I had been there many times. Carrying him home drunk was part of why I didn’t drink much. Usually.
Most of my hangover was gone after a nap and a second shower, but the mix of scents in the bar would normally have been annoying enough to make me turn around and leave. In the city, I lived above my motorcycle shop and near the ocean, two things that helped to temper all the odors of being surrounded by millions of people. The bar had a hundred individual fragrances and colognes on top of people’s natural scents, plus the drinks and food served there.
The smell of Riley—apples, ready to pick and take a bite out of—overpowered them all.
