“What the hell, man?” Liam slowed down to help Sloane. “Rían, you could have hurt her.”
“He’s not wrong.” I propped my chin on my arm, watching the show. “You couldn’t wait five minutes?”
“I’ve waited long enough.”
“Hey.” I leaned back, laughing. “What happened toMr. I’ll Wait For You Forever?”
“That was before you told me you were all in.”
“Actually, I said that to Liam?—”
Based on the smoke curling from his nostrils, that might have been the wrong thing to say.
Whoops.
eleven
Rían’s lipscrashed into mine with bruising force, and tingles coasted down my arms from the possessive curve of his hands on my waist. He nipped my bottom lip before pulling away, and I was sure I had been about to say something, but I couldn’t remember what or why it had been important a minute ago.
I also wasn’t sure when he had stopped running, but I hung on for dear life when Liam—with Sloane riding piggyback—careened into us, knocking us into a shrub. Rían twisted so the brunt of the impact was his, but I got a few scratches out of the deal. Nothing major, since shifter healing would fix both.
“Oops,” Liam yelled over his shoulder while Rían set me on my feet then climbed out of the bush.
“Yeehaw.” Sloane slapped Liam’s butt. “Full speed ahead.”
“Spank me again,” Liam growled, teetering, “and see what it gets you.”
“Remember my boo-boo?” She leaned in, her chin resting on his shoulder. “How bad you felt about your mean old cousin knocking down a lady? And stealing her bestie. And jumping over her possibly dead body. And running off without looking back? Let that righteous anger fuel you, Lizard Lips.”
Back on his feet, Rían knelt, indicating I should climb on his back like Sloane had done with Liam.
“Does this mean I get to slap your butt straight to victory?” I gripped his shoulders, enjoying the view over the top of his head. “Should I invest in a crop in case this becomes the clan’s new way to settle disputes?”
“You can’t reach my butt, and no. I’ve done enough damage to my reputation without allowing the clan to watch my fiancée ride me through town…” He cleared his throat. “Okay, that got out of hand fast.”
Insta-love wasn’t guaranteed, even with a mate bond. Pretty sure until I could shift and unlock that half of my powers—of myself—neither of us would fall prey to the maddening obsession that often came with it. And I liked that.
I liked that he and I had time to figure out how we felt about each other before we learned what it meant to be mystically tied to one another. I liked that we were airing our dirty laundry now, before it was too late to decide something in our pasts was a dealbreaker. Which reminded me…
The bargain.
God, I wished Rían had never struck it even if it meant I had never met him. I had feared that the burden his parents placed on him would result in him fulfilling their wishes at the expense of his own, and he was well on his way to doing just that. The pressure had broken him once, and I didn’t want to shatter him again.
All in. That was what I had said, and it was what I meant too. I cared for Rían, more every day. I believed in him. That meant I had to trust that the futures we both envisioned for ourselves could merge into a cohesive whole. A dream we could share with the rest of the clan.
Ahead of us, Liam plodded to a stop, his head canted to the right, and Sloane slid down his back.
“Do you hear that?” He checked behind him. “Sounds like an ambulance is at Lake Harris.”
Concern that the reason might be Old Man Jenkins pricked me with a sense of responsibility.
“We’ve come that far?” I tapped Rían’s shoulder, and he set me on my feet. “Should we investigate?”
“We might as well.” Sloane strolled right up to the gate leading into Lendman Park. “Looks like the EMTs are packing up.”
“No police,” Liam reported after scanning the area, waiting for Rían and me to catch up to them.
Laughter rang out, surprising the heck out of me, and I approached the ambulance with caution.
