Page 19 of Leave Me
“…and King said he could make the biggest splash from the roof,” Ricky yelled, slapping me on the shoulder and laughing so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes. I’d tuned out the beginning of his story, but I knew he was referring to the party after Homecoming and Cara Simpson’s house. “And you fucking did it!”
“I’m a man of my word,” I replied, hiding my smirk by taking a sip of my cider. I’d decided to have whatever Riley was having, and wondered if he tasted like apples, too. “And I was right.”
“You nearly broke your arm!” Riley rolled his eyes and sighed at the memory, but I could see a smile in his eyes. “You could have missed the basketball season.”
“It was a sprain,” I shrugged. “And I just shifted to heal it.”
“Lucky,” Riley muttered under his breath, but I heard it.
The bar had quieted down, and Rel had already left since he had a shift at the firehouse in the morning. We moved to a booth, with Ricky between Riley and me. It was probably a good thing, because I kept my hands off Riley while also getting to look at his face.
Being around them was so much like old times, where we laughed and teased one another relentlessly. The difference was how much I wanted to kiss Riley. I’d always liked being alone with him; he was my best friend, but back then, I’d been so in my head about my dad and identity.
A decade later, I knew who I was and had a lot more room in my head for others.
Ricky was off duty, but he was looking tired. He yawned and tried to hide it behind his hand. My instincts told me to send the poor guy home.
“You should get some sleep.” I nudged him with my shoulder. “You didn’t get a nap today like I did.”
“Yeah, and we’re not kids anymore.” Ricky nodded, and I stood to let him out of the booth. “It’s just so good to see you, man.”
Ricky’s—and everyone else’s—easy acceptance of my gender was overwhelming, so I pulled him into a hug. “I’ll be here tomorrow.”
Slapping his back, I went to release him, but he clung a little tighter, Ricky’s strong hands fisting my jacket. “Don’t leave so suddenly this time, okay?”
Riley stood from the booth behind Ricky, and my eyes caught his when I replied, “I promise.”
Reluctantly, Ricky let me go and hugged Riley. A rumble echoed up my throat, but I stopped it before my wolf could voice his displeasure. I usually had full control of the beast within, but something about being home was triggering my baser instincts.
“See you tomorrow,” Ricky said, and I caught the smile on his face before he waved and went behind the bar to grab his keys and helmet. Maybe my wolf had been loud enough for my friend to hear.
“You want to stay longer?” Riley asked, but was interrupted by the owner of The Barn announcing the last call for drinks. “Shit, it’s later than I thought.”
“Time flies, and all that.” I grinned down at my old friend and gestured towards the door with my head. “Walk you home?”
“You didn’t take your bike?” Riley asked, following me out after leaving a tip on the bar.
“Naw, I didn’t want to drink and drive,” I told him, holding the wide swinging door open for him. “Learned some things from my dad, even if it was what not to do.”
“How are you feeling… after everything today?”
We fell into step, leaving the parking lot as I thought about his question. Across the street, I saw my dad’s shop, Motorvated, but the lights were out. Slightly above it, I saw a light on in the house on the same property. It was where Uncle Clark lived, and where I’d spent a lot of time in my teens. His words had choked me up at the funeral, and I needed to remember to stop and tell him what his support had meant to me before I left town.
“It was a lot,” I admitted. “But it felt good to say goodbye.”
“Makes sense.”
We were headed up Wolf Creek Road, and Riley’s mom lived halfway to my place. Well, to the pack house. Not my place anymore.
“How long are you around this time?” I asked, knowing from our earlier conversation at the reception that Riley had only been back from an assignment in Africa for a couple of days. “Your mom must like having you around?”
“Not sure. And she does.” Riley smiled to himself and stopped to look up at the sky. There were millions of stars out, very different from San Francisco, and I spent a minute gazing up with him. He shivered and started walking again.
It wasn’t cold out to my shifter blood, but I wondered if the light breeze in the middle of the night was uncomfortable for him. I itched to hold his hand, warm him up like I used to, but that felt too forward after so long.
“You want my jacket?”
“No, I’m actually warm,” Riley insisted, and my wolf grumbled in my head. He wanted my scent on the man.
