Riley
“I’ve never heard him swear so much,” he murmured.
I don’t know who you are without it either. But I know who you are now. And I like that person a lot.
He hadn’t expected the mate part to be the final straw in breaking his sweet Seth.
“Whyever not?” Mama Sybil asked. “It wasn’t you who hid the jumper cables.”
No, it wasn’t. And his moms weren’t telling him where they were either. Which was extra thoughtful of them because Riley wasn’t certain he would have given them back to Seth if he did know, and it was nice not to have to face that side of himself so soon.
Riley could pretend. They could all pretend.
It wasn’t like he was falling over himself to give Seth a ride.
He wasn’t sure if Seth would have accepted one from him, anyway.
Because then Seth might have to look at him, and he seemed determined not to do that right now.
Even on the way back inside the house, he’d stormed past Riley in the entryway without a glance, silent and fuming as Mama Daphne had led him upstairs to one of their guest rooms.
“I bit him,” Riley told his moms. “Did you know that? The stupid voice took over and drank from his thigh while I was…blissed out.”
That alone should have been the worst part, Riley losing control like that. But he was a terrible person because what really got to him was the fact that he couldn’t remember. He’d finally tasted Seth, and he couldn’t remember it.
Delicious, the voice taunted.
Get fucked, Riley replied.
“He seems none the worse for wear,” Mama Daphne said. She actually sounded sort of proud, which was so incredibly off base Riley couldn’t handle it.
There was a crash from above them. Maybe Seth had finally thrown something that wasn’t a down pillow.
Riley lowered his head onto his clasped hands. “He’s so angry.”
“Well, we are keeping him against his will,” Mama Daphne said cheerfully, placing two more teacups across from him on the table. “I supposed he’s allowed his tantrums, isn’t he?”
Well, when she put it that way.
Riley straightened. “I should take him home.”
“I wouldn’t advise it,” Mama Sybil murmured, taking one of the seats across from him, pushing out the seat next to her for Mama Daphne. She gave Riley one of those Mother knows best looks. “Let’s get it all out of the way at once.”
It was a reasonable suggestion, except for the fact that Seth was angry at him and Riley hated it with every cell of his being. Riley frowned, toying with the handle of his teacup. “Why do you think he doesn’t want to be my mate?”
He hated how childish the question sounded, hated the hurt he couldn’t keep out of his voice.
But really, things had been going so well until the M-bomb.
It had to be the thought of being tethered to Riley that was sending Seth into a tailspin.
Not the fangs. Not the bloodthirsty presence inside him.
Just…Riley.
Mama Sybil and Mama Daphne exchanged a look. “I think love is very frightening to those who’ve made comfortable lives in its absence,” Mama Sybil finally said.
Riley’s frown deepened as he stared at his moms. “Seth is loved.”
“A different variety, I’m afraid, my darling,” Mama Daphne said.
Riley narrowed his eyes as both his moms picked up their teacups in unison. “You two don’t deserve pretty cups either,” he told them.
Mama Daphne had the gall to look offended. “Riley! Why would you say such a thing?”
Riley pointed up at the ceiling. They could all hear Seth ranting something about elk now. He seemed to be holding a new grudge against the entire species.
The ranting was kind of cute, actually.
No. Riley shouldn’t think that. He should be focused on wallowing in shame at his family holding his future mate hostage. Anything else would be glib, and Seth would have to punish him for it later.
Mama Sybil pursed her lips at the ceiling, then met Riley’s accusing look. “He wants distance to rationalize and cast doubt. It’s very human of him, and we won’t hold it against him. But”—she shrugged genteelly—“there’s also no need to help him achieve his aims.”
Neither of them were the least bit sorry, were they?
Riley cast his own look up at the ceiling. “Should I—should I maybe bring him some tea?”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Mama Daphne told him. She sounded proud again. There was another crash from up above, and she seamlessly added, “But perhaps let’s wait another quarter hour.”
“Cards?” Mama Sybil suggested as the ranting picked up again.
It was a full hour later when Riley finally knocked on the guest bedroom door. He was answered by a muffled, “Come in.”
Riley stepped in, making sure to quickly close the door behind him. An open exit would only make it easier for Seth to shoo him out.
Seth was on the bed, lying on his back over the covers. He was holding a pillow over his face. Maybe that was the reason the noise had finally settled down—he was shouting all his viciousness into the down pillow.
“I brought you tea,” Riley told him.
Seth lifted the pillow just enough to snipe, “Shouldn’t it be water and a crust of stale bread?”
Riley fought a smile. He didn’t like that Seth was angry with him, but it was kind of intriguing to be treated to the sharp edge of Seth’s tongue.
Riley hadn’t seen this side of him before, and he had a feeling not many people had.
Seth liked to comfort everyone around him—with baked goods, with easy cheer—and Riley was sure he usually kept his bad moods to himself.
It was sort of an honor to be bearing the brunt of one now.
Riley peered around the room while he waited for Seth to further acknowledge his existence.
He hadn’t taken much notice of this current version of the guest room before.
It was one of two, and Mama Daphne liked to redecorate them periodically.
This rendition could easily be dubbed the Blue Room; there was clearly a theme.
The walls were painted a pale blue, the comforter a deeper, richer shade. The sheets were a blue so light they were almost white, and the paintings on the wall ran the gamut of the blue spectrum.
Riley wouldn’t have thought the color suited Seth—Riley always pictured him in bright yellows and oranges—but it kind of worked. Like the sun surrounded by blue ocean.
There was no sign of anything out of place either. Whatever Seth had thrown around in his anger, he’d put it back almost immediately.
He was so sweet, this human they’d tangled up in their lives. Riley should be drowning in guilt, not trying to weasel his way back into Seth’s good graces.
But some things couldn’t be helped. There was no world where Riley didn’t want to be exactly where Seth was.
Seth lifted his pillow even higher in order to shoot Riley a glare. “I made a joke about being held prisoner.”
“I know.” Riley gave a helpless shrug, which might or might not have been convincing. “My moms can be…high-handed.”
Seth treated him to an unimpressed look. “You don’t say.” But he lifted himself onto his hands, shuffling back until he was sitting up against the remaining pillows. He placed the pillow he’d been holding over his face onto his lap. “I’ll take the tea now, thank you.”
That was a quick turnaround. Like Seth’s anger had only been a passing storm, and now it was all sunshine again.
Or maybe it was a trick.
Riley decided to risk it. He approached the bed carefully, handing Seth the cup of tea. Riley had added milk and sugar based on how Seth always took his coffee.
Seth stared down at the offering. “This is a really pretty cup.”
“It’s one of my favorites.”
Seth paused in the middle of taking a sip. “Do you have a lot of tea parties out here by yourself in the woods?”
“Yes.”
Seth closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He shook his head. “I refuse to be charmed.”
That was heartening. Riley walked over to the other side of the bed and climbed on, taking a seat against the headboard next to Seth. He left a few inches of space because he was determined to be considerate of Seth’s foul mood.
Apparently not considerate enough. Seth shot him a suspicious scowl. “What are you doing?”
Riley gave him a beseeching look. “There’s nowhere else to sit.”
“There’s a chair right there,” Seth countered, pointing to one carved out of dark wood over by the window.
“It’s not very comfortable,” Riley told him in a half-truth.
The other half of it was that the chair didn’t smell like Seth, and the bed did, in an intoxicating sort of way.
All orange and buttery sweetness. Nothing in Riley’s house had ever smelled this good.
He wanted to roll around in it. Or roll on top of Seth and get right to the source.
Riley had a feeling the latter wouldn’t be allowed just yet.
Seth finally took a sip of his tea, humming a little as he assessed the flavor. “I called you tricky once, didn’t I?
“Yes.”
“Accurate.”
Riley smoothed the wrinkles in the comforter around him. “I wasn’t trying to be tricky. I was trying to be…careful.”
When Seth didn’t start hurling profanities, Riley scooted a few inches closer, biting back a smile when Seth allowed it.
Seth took another swallow of tea, and Riley did his best not to think of where those lips had been earlier.
He had a feeling if Seth caught sight of the barest hint of an erection, the crazed ranting would begin again.
“You were being careful because I’m your mate,” Seth said after a moment, his words clear and concise.
“Yes.”
There was more silence as Seth sipped his tea. Eventually he spoke again, with more hesitancy this time. “The thing is, I don’t really…believe in being destined for someone. I don’t think love comes from an outside source like that. It doesn’t feel real or—or truthful.”
Riley twisted to meet Seth’s serious gaze. “You don’t have to believe it though.”
Seth’s green-brown eyes flashed. “Because it’ll happen anyway?” he asked, his skepticism clear.
Riley tried to find the right words to express his thoughts. It was a struggle at first because the stupid voice was responding to Seth’s skepticism with a determined chant.
Yes, yes, yes. Destined. Meant for. Ours, ours, ours.
Shut. The fuck. Up.
“I was wooing you,” Riley finally blurted out.
Seth blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
“Before all this was…revealed…we were getting close.” Riley knocked his knee against Seth’s, careful not to let it linger. “You liked me. And you were attracted to me. Even though I’m too young. So let’s just…keep doing that.”
Seth blinked at the far wall now. “Let’s keep…wooing me?”
Riley shrugged, trying to seem casual and not completely desperate. “Yeah. It doesn’t have to be fate. It can just be…us. We have time for you to—to care about me, maybe.”
Seth turned to face Riley, setting his mostly empty teacup on top of the pillow on his lap.
“Aren’t you annoyed though?” he asked. He looked so sincere, so honestly perplexed, and it tugged at something in Riley’s chest. “So much of your life has been out of your control, and this is one more thing. Aren’t you angry? ”
Riley could only shrug again. “It doesn’t feel like that.”
“What does it feel like?”
Riley hesitated. But he’d already decided on honesty, so he might as well keep going with it.
“I smelled you first,” he said. “Your scent. Bright and sweet but also…rich. Decadent. I thought it was the most delicious thing I’d ever smelled.
And then you spoke to me the next day, and you were wary, but you were also…
warm. So warm. And when you smile at me, I feel warm.
” For once, Riley couldn’t meet Seth’s gaze.
He took his turn staring at the far wall.
“I like the way you talk. To me and to—to other people too, even if I get a little jealous sometimes. You give your smiles to everyone, and I hate it, but I also love it. And I think you’re beautiful, but maybe that’s obvious. ”
He could feel the weight of Seth’s stare. Riley turned to meet it with a rueful smile. “Are you done with your tea?” he asked. “It’s late, and you said you get cranky without sleep.”
Seth nodded, still staring kind of blankly, and Riley gently took the cup from Seth’s pillow, setting it on one of the bedside tables. He settled down on his side, facing Seth.
Seth’s dazed expression faded, and he gave Riley an arch look. “What are you doing now?”
“You pointed out that we haven’t slept together.” Riley gave him a winning smile. “I want to sleep with you.”
Seth pointed an accusing finger. “We’re not fucking. Just because you said a bunch of…really wonderful things doesn’t make this all magically okay.”
“No, we’re not fucking,” Riley agreed, settling even more firmly in place. “We’re sleeping. You’ve had a very long day.”
Seth let out a disbelieving laugh. “You and those moms of yours. Jesus. Tricky is the least of it.”
But after a moment, Seth lay down on his side facing Riley. They were both over the covers still. At least Seth was wearing his soft pants. Those would be comfortable. Riley would tuck him under the covers later, so he wouldn’t get cold. He reached over his shoulder and turned off the lamp.
They lay there together in the dark, breathing each other’s air.
“I was trying to get some distance,” Seth said eventually.
Riley had excellent night vision, so he could see that Seth had closed his eyes and that his lips were curled into a rueful smile, a little echo of Riley’s own expression earlier.
“To rationalize and cast doubt,” Riley recited.
Seth hummed. “It seemed like a good idea.”
“I don’t want you to.” Riley scooted closer, until Seth’s bare foot was just brushing his ankle. “I want you to keep talking through it with me.”
“Do you get everything you want?”
“No. Hardly ever.”
Another laugh, soft and sleepy. “Preying on my sympathies.”
Riley nodded against his pillow. “If I have to.”
“I’m going to sleep now.” Seth jabbed a toe into Riley’s calf in warning, his eyes still closed. “Save your trickiness for the morning.”
“Okay.” Riley smiled into the dark. “I will. Good night, Seth.”
“Good night.”