Page 17 of Leave Me (Shift MC #1)

Chapter sixteen

Riley

W hile the picnic was better than I could have imagined, to be at a high school reunion event with King by my side, I wasn’t feeling great. The stomach pain hadn’t come back, but I was too hot.

Everyone around me stayed in the shade, drank something cool, and they weren’t sweating bullets. Hell, the kids running around acted like it wasn’t a hot June day. I’d just come back from Africa, and I was dying.

Fine, that was dramatic. I wasn’t dying. But I was on the uncomfortable side of hot.

When our old friend, Kono Dasan, suggested I go home early, I almost protested.

I wanted to spend more time with Fowler, and I hadn’t seen Kono or some of our former classmates in years.

Kono was in the local tribe, and I knew my sperm donor was a distant cousin of his, meaning we were cousins.

I wanted to catch up with him, but a tiny voice in my head warned of danger when he hugged me .

It also felt good when Artie, the captain of the football team, gave me props on my biceps.

We’d discussed workout routines, and I experienced a welcomeness I didn’t have as a teen.

I wished I could have felt that without changing my body, but in retrospect, I understood that most teens feel out of place.

Multiple people told me they read my articles and complimented my writing.

I wasn’t just the chubby, bespectacled sidekick to King.

But…Fowler had asked if I wanted to leave in a tone that suggested he would be taking me. I’d seen a motorcycle in the parking lot, which I assumed was his, so I agreed and we said goodbye.

Fowler’s hand rested on the small of my back, and despite the heat he radiated, I reveled in the touch.

He led me across the street to the parking area.

A shiny black bike with a fringed leather seat, chrome trim around the lights, and whitewall tires sat beside a dark purple bike I thought might be Kono’s.

“Did you restore this yourself?” I asked, knowing the answer but still in awe of his skill.

“I did.” Fowler grinned proudly and offered me the helmet. “I only have one.”

“You assume I’m going home with you?” I teased, feeling a bit better with the cool breeze from the lake blowing over us.

Fowler frowned but didn’t drop the helmet. “You don’t feel well, so you’re not walking. ”

“I forgot how bossy you can be,” I chuckled, taking the matte-black, open-face helmet from him. I slid it onto my head but left it unclipped. “I suppose you can just shift and heal if you get in an accident.”

“Mmm,” Fowler grunted, though I wasn’t sure if he meant it as an agreement since his face was full of conflicting emotions. He reached out to close and tighten the chin strap, getting closer. “You are more fragile than I am.”

Narrowing my eyes, I gripped his elbows. “I’m not a kid anymore, Fowler.”

His eyes shot up to mine, and Fowler licked his lips. “No, you’re not.”

All discomfort in my heated body vanished as lust spiked through me. I leaned into Fowler, breathing in the taste of the sweet soda he had at the park along with his own musk.

Instead of kissing me, like I wanted, he stepped back and threw his leg over the bike. “Hop on, let’s get you home.”

Taking a deep breath, I willed my half-hard dick to calm down before swinging my leg over the back of the bike to settle behind him. It was a tight fit, with two grown men, but it was a position I remembered well from our teens, and once again I was trying not to let him feel my erection.

Placing my hands on his sides, Fowler grabbed them and moved them around to his front. “Hold on tight. I don’t want to lose you when we go uphill. ”

A shiver ran through me when he started the engine, and I was surprised when we started up Main Street and Fowler placed one hand over mine. With us both in tank tops, I was feeling a lot of him on me, and my body took notice.

The trip only took a few minutes, but I enjoyed the wind on my face and the feeling of being pressed up against Fowler. It made me wonder about roles in the bedroom and if he was into bottoming.

He parked next to my place in the shade, letting me get off before he followed suit. Before I could take the helmet off, Fowler was there, unclipping it and pulling it off to set it on the seat.

Cupping my face, Fowler looked me over. “How are you feeling? I tried to take it easy so you wouldn’t get motion sickness.”

“And here I thought you drove slow to make it last longer,” I teased. “I’m feeling better. I think the ride helped, actually.”

“You think?” Fowler asked, biting his lower lip with an anxious expression. He always did care about me, and I was glad to see his consideration of me hadn’t changed. “Maybe your mom can make you soup or something?”

“I don’t have a cold.” I laughed, then stepped closer, running my fingers up his muscular arms. “And she’s not home.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed, letting my fingers trace their path down to his hands, clasping one in mine and walking backwards. My body was thrumming with energy after the ride, and I knew what I wanted. “Maybe you can finish what you started last night?”

Fowler’s brow furrowed for a second as he followed me up the steps, then cleared in surprise when he realized what I meant. “Sure you’re up for that?”

“I’m feeling much better now,” I insisted.

Pushing the door open, since we never locked it, Fowler let me pull him inside. As soon as the door clicked closed, he had me pushed up against the frame. I ignored the door handle digging into my spine, arching my back to press against him where he had me caged in.

“You want me to kiss you again?” Fowler asked, one hand holding my head in place while the other gripped onto my waist and held me against him. His dark brown eyes looked black, and I sucked in a shaky breath when he rubbed a rough thumb over my lower lip.

“Yes, I want you to kiss me.”

Lapping at the pad of his thumb, I tasted salt and the lingering hint of rubber from gripping the handlebars. Fowler growled low in his throat and thrust his thumb into my mouth, rubbing it over my tongue.

“Or do you want more?”

Sucking at his thumb, I nodded, and he removed the digit, making me whimper at the loss. “More,” I begged.

Fowler’s mouth was on me before my next breath, sipping at my lips and licking into my mouth. It was as possessive as the night before, with him taking control, and I loved it. Instead of a sweet joining, it felt aggressive in the best way.

Wrapping my leg around his thigh, I wanted to get as close as possible. Except for the one foot I had planted on the ground, I was completely wrapped up in him. It wasn’t close enough.

I needed Fowler to take me over, to show how much he wanted me, and he seemed to hit all my buttons.

Lifting me with his hands under my hips like I didn’t weigh almost as much as him, Fowler walked me over to the kitchen counter and set me down. Our hands were all over each other as we rutted against one another.

“God, you have me harder than I’ve been in,”—Fowler grunted into a kiss, biting my lower lip before nuzzling into my neck—“I don’t know how long.”

Sitting so high, I was looking down at him, and I could see I was tenting my shorts, my dick in pain as it strained to break free. I’d wanted Fowler like this for half of my life, and I wasn’t going to waste my chance.

“Take me out,” I whispered, reaching for the waistband of his pants. “I wanna see you.”