Epilogue
Ricky
Six Months Later…
“What new drink has Cam concocted this time?” I asked Fin as he held the door of Perk Café open for me. He always heard about the latest drink from Rowen, and I knew they chatted the night before because it made my man late to bed.
“They’re trying out a snickerdoodle iced coffee,” Fin told me as he followed me inside.
“You’ve heard about it already?” Cam piped up from behind the counter with a broad smile. I admired how they were always positive and welcoming. It meant I paid for coffee and treats more than I ever did before Cam was a barista.
When I told Fin I thought Cam’s cuteness increased sales, he’d grumbled that they were basically his in-law and that made Cam my in-law. When he realized the insinuation that we were as good as married, Fin had turned red and I’d given him an amazing blow job.
“Rowen was raving its praises last night,” Fin answered, stepping up to the counter.
“Ha, I’m not sure how honest my taste-tester fiancé is, but I think it’s tasty with the cinnamon sprinkles,” Cam added. Rowen was for sure biased with everything Cam did. “Do you want two to go, or one to share?”
“We can share,” I piped up, liking the idea of sharing a straw.
Fin glanced at me sideways and I could tell he knew my plan and wanted to call me a brat. “Let’s get a regular iced espresso, and some croissants as well. Both to go.”
“Fair,” Cam nodded and rang us up on the touchscreen. “Always good to have a backup plan.”
Nodding, I thought about my own backup plan, which Fin had helped me turn into a reality.
He talked me into believing in myself, and was beside me throughout the process of applications and training the state required to be a body art practitioner.
This week, I had opened my fully licensed tattoo parlor built out of an underused bay of Motorvated.
Shift Tattoo was my baby, but I never could have done it without Fin’s support.
We let Cam get to mixing our drinks and turned to find two of the town’s biggest gossips at the corner table. Riley’s mom, Patty, and our nosy neighbor, Pam, had their own half-finished drinks and pastries between them, but their full attention was on us.
“Patty, Pam,” Fin greeted them both with a nod. We saw Patty all the time, as she was part of the pack, but she also knew all of the town gossip since she cleaned the hotels and many houses around Blue Lake.
“Good to see you, Clark,” Patty replied with Fin’s first name, a twinkle in her eye telling me we’d be the topic of conversation as soon as we left. Or maybe we already were before we walked in.
“You two are adorable,” Pam added and I was a little surprised. She wasn’t as old as Merle King, but she wasn’t as young as Patty or Fin either. I should have guessed she’d be accepting, since she adored Cam and had practically adopted them.
“Thank you,” I replied with a grin, grabbing Fin’s hand and giving it a squeeze.
It had taken him a little getting used to.
This casual intimacy. Besides being repressed for decades, he truly was oblivious about relationships.
We had our fights like any couple, mainly when stressed and not thinking, but our wolves could usually sense how the other was feeling.
Knowing when your partner was unhappy or annoyed helped when you were still learning how to communicate.
Like when I’d said at a pack gathering that I basically lived with Fin, and could take shifts with him indefinitely.
Rel and King had only chuckled at Fin’s shocked expression and the conversation had moved on.
Instead of brushing it off or teasing him about it, I could feel his confusion and anxiety.
Instead of joining the others for a run, I’d pulled him aside to talk.
“Do you not want me to live with you?” I had asked. “Because I haven’t slept at Rel’s in over a month, and most of my clothes are at your place.”
“I know,” Fin had nodded to himself and sat on the front steps of the pack house. “I guess I just assumed I had to ask you to move in.”
After trying to wait him out, I grew impatient. “So ask me.”
Fin let out a startled laugh and cuffed the back of my head in one of his big hands. “You’re a brat, but you’re not wrong. And the thought of you not sleeping in my bed makes me want to tear something or someone apart. Will you move in with me permanently?”
“So the anxiety I felt from your wolf wasn’t regret?” I asked, my own nerves creeping into my voice.
“No, baby,” Fin reassured me, moving his hands to cup my face. He laid a sweet kiss on my lips that had me leaning in. “I never want you to be away from me. It’s why I’m turning part of my shop into a space for you.”
“You sure it’s not so you can keep an eye on me while I tattoo naked people?” I teased with a smirk.
“That too, brat,” Fin had pushed me back and stood up, extending his hand for me.
Taking his help, I stood and pulled him into my arms, “I love you.”
“Love you more.”
We kissed until the front door banged open and we heard a sigh. Channing was standing there in a loose sun dress and her arms crossed. “Are you too done being sappy? Fowler said I can only run with others and I’ve been waiting behind this door forever.”
“Teenagers,” Fin said with a chuckle, but I could tell he loved it. Channing was safe and sassing us again after her ordeal. We all put up with anything she doled out.
“I’m twenty next month,” she pointed out, pushing past us while dropping her dress on the porch railing. Before we could reply, she’d shifted and run off, making us strip and chase after.
The memory had me wondering if Fin wanted to adopt more kids. I’d always been happy to be around kids in short bursts, but wasn’t sure I wanted my own.
Cam handed us our drinks, interrupting my wondering thoughts. “See you for the fitting next weekend, Ricky?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” I was going to be one of Cam’s wedding party attendants while Fin was standing up for Rowen at their upcoming wedding. Then they really would be in-laws. I found myself excited to be included like family, since my blood relatives were gone or far away.
We left the café with farewells for everyone and I saw the women leaning their heads closer as soon as we were outside. “So, how’s the drink?” I asked, reaching out for my turn.
“Tastes like a snickerdoodle cookie,” Fin answered, swapping drinks with me.
Taking a sip I hummed, “It’s good, but too sugary for every day.”
“Agreed,” Fin nodded, holding onto the espresso. Who was the brat, now?
“Do you want more kids?” I asked and Fin stopped in his tracks on the sidewalk.
Looking down at me, I could sense a mix of surprise and curiosity from him.
He’d often wondered at the beginning of our relationship how it would work with us at such different stages in our lives, but it had rarely even come up.
We were both shifters in the same pack who’d recently mated, we weren’t that different.
“Why? Do you want kids of your own?”
Shrugging, I clasped his hand in mine and faced him fully. “I never really considered it. Between being a beta and how I was raised, I figured I’d just be the fun uncle some day.”
“What about grandpa?” Fin asked, and I could see the smile he was trying to hide.
“Kind of hard to be a grandpa without the kid part,” I pointed out and started walking him across the street since the coast was clear. It was past tourist season, the trees changing colors with winter only a month or two away.
“Rowen and Cam plan to foster children to adopt soon after they get married,” Fin said as we reached the side of the street where our businesses had ‘Out to Lunch’ signs on the doors. “I’ll likely be a grandpa in a year or two.”
“Shit, would that make you Super-Gramps?” I teased and looked over to find him grinning wider. “Excited about that?”
“I am,” Fin nodded and stopped me in the shade of the building. “That would also make you a grandpa at thirty.”
“What?” I felt like a mental record scratch. Cam and Rowen were getting married. They were going to have children who saw Fin as their grandpa. Fin was my partner. As my mate, he was never getting away from me, so we were essentially ‘married’ in the shifter world. That would make me… “Grandpa?”
Fin laughed at my expression and pulled me close to kiss my nose. “Are you going into shock? Do I need to cancel your next client?”
What he wasn’t saying was that he planned to keep me forever, too.
Throwing myself into his arms, Fin caught me despite holding a drink and the bag of food before kissing me soundly.
We heard someone honk their horn from the street and I remembered the shop was only feet from Main Street.
Sliding down his body, I still held Fin close with the snickerdoodle coffee likely cold against his back.
“My next client isn’t for an hour,” I whispered against his lips. “Wanna have old man sex in the shop for the rest of our lunch break?”
“That’s unsanitary for your clients, brat,” Fin growled and smacked my ass.
Moving back to reach for the door to his side of the building, I used my key and opened the door wide. “But your garage can get as filthy as we want.”
Without waiting, I darted inside, knowing Fin would chase me. When he grabbed me from behind and pinned me face first to the workbench, I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face.
My mate would follow me anywhere. Always.
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