Page 11 of Leave Me (Shift MC #1)

Chapter ten

Riley

T aking King’s hand sent a warm feeling up my arm. He always went by his last name in school, being on multiple sports teams, but I didn’t know if that changed.

“Hi, King,” I started and then asked, “Or do you go by Fowler now?”

“King’s fine,” his voice came out deep and gruff. So different from a decade before, but it suited him.

The warm feeling turned hot all over, and I hoped I wasn’t blushing through my tan. I could feel sweat gathering on my back, and I pulled my hand free to wipe at my brow.

No one around us was sweating, so I had to assume some of my predicament had to do with the man in front of me. Noticing how hot Fowler was at his father’s funeral was probably inappropriate. But damn.

His dark auburn hair was thick, but redder in his beard, both set off by his black leather jacket and the sun shining overhead.

He removed his glasses to tuck them into his T-shirt, and I could finally see his warm brown eyes.

They bore into me as I tracked his tongue peeking out to lick his lower lip.

Fuck me.

Fowler was even hotter in person than the brief glimpses I got on his social media. I wondered if he still dated men like he had in high school. Fowler had come out to me and still dated a couple guys, but he hadn’t come out to them.

Plus, we had that one kiss , my brain said, giving me hope.

“King, it’s lovely to see you,” Mom’s voice broke the spell holding Fowler and me in a trance.

She was beside me, and when I looked over, I saw that the rest of the guests were on the way to the house with only Merle King waiting for his grandson, holding the urn on his lap. How long had we been staring at each other?

“Ms. Jones, glad to see you as well,” King took her hand and turned toward his gramps. “I’ll see you both at the house?”

“Yes, of course,” Mom agreed, looping her arm with mine to lead me away.

Looking back, I saw Fowler pushing his gramps over the uneven earth to stop in front of Alpha King’s headstone .

“He looks well, don’t you think?” Mom asked, and I heard the hint of a question in her words. She wanted to know how I felt about seeing him again.

“He does,” was all I offered up.

“Hmm.”

We walked around the house and entered through the back door, on the kitchen side. “Is there a reason we came this way?”

“Yes, I want to help, not be stopped by everyone on the front steps,” Mom explained, opening the door and letting cool air spill out.

“Put me to work,” I offered when we stepped inside, reveling in the air conditioning on my overheated skin.

“Go see if Channing needs help in the main room?”

Nodding, I made my way into the vaulted living room of the King pack house. Channing accepted my help, collecting empty cups and plates, but otherwise, they didn’t need me. So I ended up finding Fowler in a dark corner beside the stairs.

“Hey,” I greeted him, and I noticed his glasses were back on despite being indoors.

Fowler’s drink must have been strong, because I could smell the whiskey when I leaned against the wall beside him. The shifters were the ones with heightened senses. I never got that benefit.

“Hey, Ri,” Fowler replied, and the familiar nickname wrapped around his tongue in a rough voice. So he wasn’t as unaffected by the funeral and his dad’s passing as I’d thought.

“Are you staying for the reunion?” I asked, skipping over the reason we were in the same room again and going straight to what I needed to know. Was he staying longer?

“Wasn’t planning on it.” King shrugged and took a healthy gulp of his drink. “Already saw the guys last night. And now you’re here. Who else is there?”

My heart stuttered at the implication. King saw me, and his pack mates, so now he was done with his visit to Blue Lake? Something in me said it would be unacceptable to let him leave so soon.

“There’s a picnic tomorrow. Super low-key and chill,” I rambled, grasping at what might entice him to stay. “We can catch up.”

“You’ll be there?” King asked, and I nodded, turning my body toward his.

“Yes, I will. I’ve been gone a lot over the past decade as well.”

“Then I’ll think about coming,” King replied with a twitch of his lips, leaning closer to me.

Maybe it was his cologne, but he smelled amazing. Bergamot, sandalwood, and his familiar cherry, but it was deeper, richer. Less floral and more musky, like the tree. It matched his masculine aura, and I got lost in his eyes, breathing him in.

“You guys coming to the mixer tonight?”

It took me a few blinks and Fowler breaking eye contact for me to realize Ricky and Rel had joined us. Rel had asked the question, but neither of us answered.

“Yeah,” Ricky added, “I’m bartending the first part, and then I can join.”

“I wasn’t sure. Maybe?” I told them, not being a big drinker. Fowler’s brows were drawn together. “King?”

“I could make an appearance,” Fowler started, hesitating. “If I’m not too wiped from this.”

“And last night,” Rel teased with an elbow nudging King. They mentioned getting together the night before, but was it a party? I was confused until he went on, “I noticed you finished all my liquor last night.”

“Hair of the dog did the trick.” He lifted his glass, swallowing the last of his drink.

“Well, I hope to see you there,” Ricky grinned, clapping Fowler on the shoulder and turning to me. “Both of you.”

“Fowler,” Channing called from halfway across the room, and the three men excused themselves to see what she needed help with.

Fowler kept catching my eye until my mom said she was ready to go home, and we caught a ride with Pam. It was too hot to walk in a suit and dress shoes.

After saying goodbye to the Kings, I decided I would go to the mixer. Just in case a certain long-lost son made an appearance.

And if he didn’t, I might need to bake something for an excuse to stop by and drag him to the picnic in the morning.

If he left Blue Lake and I never saw him again?

A sharp pain stabbed through my gut at the thought. At the very least, I knew I’d have a new mental image to get off to.