When he heard the ping and felt his phone vibrate, his heart skipped a beat, and when Mik saw what Axel said, he didn’t waste any time. Mik used the map on his phone to direct him to the address, and thankfully, he didn’t even need to go to the car park to grab his car since the address seemed to be close by in the city.
Mik followed the directions, and it took him to a café about a ten-minute walk away from his hotel.
“You can do this. You can do this.” Mikhail murmured repeatedly to himself.
But, instead of walking into the café, he ducked into the bar across the street. He figured one drink to boost his courage would do the trick. Mik glanced around the bar before heading straight to the counter to order himself a shot of Jack Daniels.
It was less than ten seconds before the bartender approached and asked, “What can I get you?”
“A shot of JD please,” Mik said. He pulled out his wallet, got twenty quid out, and slid it towards the bartender. His drink was placed in front of him, then the man grabbed up his money. Mik sat and stared at his drink for a second before he tossed his head back, downing the shot. He shook his head as the strong taste and burn of the alcohol slid down his throat.
Even though it would take way more than one shot to get him even close to tipsy, the whole point was to stall a little longer.
Mik put the shot glass down and got to his feet. It just might’ve been the courage he needed to face Rowan.
The bartender slid a tenner and couple of coins his way, but he didn’t bother to reach for them; he simply nodded at the young man.
“Cheers mate.” The bartender smiled at him.
The word ‘mate’ seemed to go through like the sound of nails against a blackboard making him flinch.
Well, if he wanted to meet up with Rowan, he couldn’t keep procrastinating. He wasn’t sure how long his mate would be there.
Mik headed back out, giving himself a pep talk with every step. He had just stepped out of the bar and into the fresh air when he spotted Ro. His mate stood on the pavement outside the café. Mikhail took a deep breath before stepping off the footpath to cross the road ready to face Rowan, then the café door suddenly opened, and another man walked out of the café and straight towards Ro.
Mik hesitated and watched the two of them. Rowan seemed to pause, but then the man pulled Rowan into a hug and appeared to be whispering into his ear.
Mik froze and his jaw dropped, especially when the man pulled away. There was a familiarity that he just couldn’t place, but that got lost in the back of his mind as his eyes tried processing exactly what it was he was seeing. The man pulled Rowan back into a hug before walking him into the café hand in hand. Pain gripped his chest and he swayed. It was like someone reached in and was squeezing his heart.
His wolf howled like the wounded creature he was at that moment, and Mik was five seconds away from shifting. He dug his nails into his skin to stop from giving in to what his body wanted to do, which was to get as far away as possible.
With his back against the wall of the bar he’d just exited, Mikhail dug his phone from his pocket and called Malek.
“Hello?”
“I’m not sure I… he… Malek,” his brother’s name came out as a whisper.
“Mik, what’s going on?” He didn’t miss the sudden seriousness in Malek’s voice.
Mikhail’s brain couldn’t seem to get words together. “I just saw… Rowan… I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”
Thirteen
Rowan
Rowan was going to be sick. His palms were sweating, his chest constricting as Zac hugged him. He literally wanted to claw himself out of the hug. There was a part of him had wanted to ask Zac why they needed to meet in person. They could have had a conversation over the phone, and he could have got some answers and spared himself this meeting.
Instead, here they were, and it looked like he had to keep going through the awkwardness that was sure to arise.
You should have said no to the invitation.
He’d been going to, only his mouth and brain seemed to have a disconnect because instead of the word “no” coming out, he said it was fine when Zac said he would text him the address to a nearby café and see him there. Zac insisted on today so Ro wouldn’t change his mind.
Looks like he knows you, Baines.Because there was a good chance if he’d had a day, he would have. Although he clearly didn’t know Rowan had changed hospitals and no longer worked in the city.
“I didn’t think you were going to show up.” Zac pulled back and met his gaze before hugging him again.
Through all of it, Rowan stood as stiff as a board. Still, even though he would have liked to be anywhere else at that moment when they finally parted, Ro allowed himself to take Zac in. His eyes scanned over him, and he had to admit that the emotions weren’t what he thought they would be.
