Chapter 6
Chapter six
Fin
Ricky thought I didn’t care, but the truth was I cared too much. Seeing him in my jacket was like taking a lighter to gasoline. Riding hard with him pressed against me had me forgetting all the reasons we should be together and all the walls I’d built up between us.
Mine, my wolf had growled as soon as Ricky’s body was wrapped around mine.
No, I’d insisted back. Not this one. He was the least appropriate person for me to get turned on for. My son’s friend, two decades younger, a relentless flirt, and a major brat. Plus, he was a man.
Years of telling myself I was only rarely attracted to men—and women couldn’t get close because they didn’t know shifters existed—went out the window the minute Ricky batted his tick lashes at me.
My wolf wanted to fuck Ricky into next week.
Mark his body with bites and hickeys so everyone knew he was taken.
But I didn’t want the same. Right?
It didn’t matter what I wanted. The beta was off-limits.
I needed to have some distance from him like I maintained for months.
We’d make a plan for when Jed MacTaryn died, and go our separate ways unless pack business had us working together.
There was no reason for us to be alone together any time soon.
My resolve was shattered when I put my jacket on the next day.
His spicy, citrusy scent wrapped around me and I swayed with the memory of Ricky’s mouth giving way under mine.
The way he’d moaned into my mouth, begging for more.
I knew he’d let me do anything I wanted, ask for anything, and my wolf had been fully on board.
The morning had been spent distracted, wondering if and when Ricky might appear, until Fowler told me he was headed to lunch. I could tell he noticed my mood, but I was glad he didn’t say anything. He knew Ricky and I were going to plan more today.
That was if Ricky showed up. He hadn’t left in a good mood the night before, and his ‘whatever’ wasn't really an agreement to meet up. For all I knew, he was sulking and refusing to work with me. If I didn’t see him by five, I would go to the barn to see if he was working.
And I knew where he lived with Rel in a cabin off Wolf Creek Road.
With that decided, I was able to focus on the Honda in front of me. It belonged to a woman passing through the area, and needed to be done today. I was putting it back together after changing the battery when someone whistling caught my attention.
Before I saw him, I could smell Ricky approaching. It was a testament to how I’d been basking in his scent while wearing my jacket that I didn’t notice the food he was carrying until I saw him holding the bag as he stepped into the garage.
“Brought lunch, since I know you rarely take time to eat,” Ricky said, setting the bag on a mostly clear workbench. He wasn’t wrong, but I was more surprised by his nonchalant tone, as if I didn’t cross all the boundaries the night before in kissing him. “You like cheesesteak, right?”
“Uh, yeah,” I nodded, licking my lips at the smell of red meat, melted cheese, and the sautéed peppers and onions. Standing to join him, Ricky pulled a stool up and started unwrapping his own sandwich. “No cheesesteak for you?”
Ricky paused before taking a bite. “This one is chicken, bacon, and avocado. I’m fine with either.”
“No, the one you got me is great. Thank you.” I pulled up my own stool and sat facing Ricky as he started eating. “No work today?”
“I have a shift tonight,” Ricky answered, not flirting like he normally did. He didn’t add that I should stop by for a drink, or what time he got off. Hell, he loved that line, always turning it into innuendo.
The garage door was open, but we were still alone together and talking for the first time since I’d let him blow me last year. It felt weird, but also nice.
“So, we have a few things to discuss,” Ricky said after polishing off half of his sandwich. I realized belatedly that they weren’t from some sub shop, but likely made at home. He remembered what kind of sandwich I liked, and made it especially for me.
Keep.
My wolf needed to shut the fuck up. Setting my sandwich down, I wiped my hands on a clean rag. “We can do more patrols ahead of getting word about Jed.”
“Yeah, but we might need to focus on the pack house instead of the whole town,” Ricky said before pulling two bags of chips and bottles of water out to set between us. “Our numbers are still low.”
Realizing why this felt weird, it occurred to me that it felt like a date. I hadn’t been on a date in years, so I almost hadn’t noticed the similarities. He prepared food and brought it for me, and we were eating it while chatting.
Clearing my throat, I grabbed a water bottle and chugged it down before replying. “We can handle it, especially with Fowler back.”
“Him and Riley will be gone in a week, which gives us one less omega to protect, but also one less alpha on patrol.”
Watching as Ricky chugged his own water, his throat bobbing in a positively sensual way, I almost forgot to respond. “Rel can join us. And Rowen on his bike.”
“True. But Channing will be home for spring break tomorrow,” Ricky pointed out, opening his bag of chips. I don’t eat my own, not wanting to be distracted again.
“We should have her stay at home with Merle once Fowler leaves town. The pack property is easier for us to defend than if she and Merle are in two different places all over town.”
“She does tend to become his caretaker when she’s home,” Ricky agreed. “But Channing isn’t the type to listen when told to do something she doesn’t want to.”
“So suggesting she stay in Sonoma for her break won’t work,” I said and Ricky laughed. My wolf chuffed inside at making the man smile.
“Yeah, no. Never gonna happen.”
Needing to stop thinking about Ricky, I added, “It’s too bad Fowler and Riley are leaving town half-way into her spring break. I’m sure she misses them.”
Ricky rolled his eyes. “You’re such a dad. She’s less than two hours away without traffic. She comes home at least once a month.”
His mention of me being a dad was exactly what I needed to douse the rising tension between us. “I am a dad,” I reminded him.
“Sure you’re not a Daddy?” Ricky asked with a smirk, and it was almost a relief to have him back to the ridiculous flirting I was used to.
“Positive,” I grumbled and stuffed the rest of my sandwich into my mouth. I may have been a couple years from fifty with gray hair and a distinct ache in my joints when I woke up, but I was not a Daddy.
“We could also ask Kono and the tribe for help,” Ricky commented, surprising me.
Kono Dasan was the alpha son of the current leader of the coyote shifters in Northlake.
The tribe was modern, with a casino and thriving reservation, but they also had a good amount of shifters among their ranks.
He was next in line to lead them, and always sided with our pack in disputes with the bears.
“That’s…not a bad idea.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, papi,” Ricky replied with a word in Spanish I recognized.
“I know what that means. Still no,” I growled.
“Can’t blame me for trying,” Ricky shrugged and gathered our trash in the paper bag he brought. “Alpha it is then.”
Fuck me.
My admiration of Ricky’s seriousness at the beginning of this…meeting, was eclipsed when he flirted with me. I didn’t know what to do with him, but I still planned to keep my hands off.
My wolf grumbled at the idea and I pushed him down. I was in charge. No matter how tempting the beta was, I would stay away.