Riley’s stomach turned. Jason had needed to fight for his life?
“Fuck,” he said, and hugged Jason close. “It doesn’t happen often, does it?”
Jason was squirming, and Riley realized his arms were like bands of steel around Jason’s ribs. “Sorry,” he said, and loosened his grip. Slightly.
“It’s the first time I’ve witnessed it,” Jason said. “But it does happen sometimes.”
Riley was still holding onto him, reassuring himself Jason was unhurt, safe, and alive. And, he realized, he didn’t want to let him go. Jason washis.
He closed his eyes briefly, wondering what had happened to him, because he didn’t do possessiveness. He didn’t do serious. But right now, with Jason, it seemed that he did.
Chapter Fifteen
RILEY
Rebelling at the prospect of watery coffee and stale muffins from the motel lobby, Riley took himself over to the diner for breakfast the following morning. He’d thought last night about venturing back out to the town’s bars and seeing what more he could pick up from Lennox and Cole, but he hadn’t wanted to. Now that he knew about Jason, he didn’t want to hear people talk about shifters like that.
More pertinently, he didn’tneedto. He’d be able to gather all the information he needed directly from Jason. And as long as Jason didn’t know that was what Riley was doing, there was no reason for that funny feeling in his chest when he thought about it.
He walked over to the diner, needing some exercise, and was about to cross the street when something crawled up the back of his neck. Not literally, as he found when he slapped his hand to his neck, but something felt off. Glancing around, he saw MattUrban was propped against a big, black truck farther down the street, watching him closely.
It was as if his thoughts of using Jason to get to the pack had summoned him, Riley thought wildly. He had to remind himself that, however inexplicable shifters were, they weren’tsupernatural.
He forced a grin to his face and raised a hand in greeting. Urban’s nod in response wasn’t unfriendly, but it wasn’t exactly gushing, either.
Riley hesitated before crossing the street, hyper-aware of Urban’s gaze and fighting the urge to run. He didn’t know what Urban would do if he knew Riley was planning to betray his pack. He just knew that hereallywouldn’t want to find out.
Though as he opened the door to the diner, hearing the now-familiar jangle of the bell, he reminded himself that Urban had bought his cover story. He’d invited Riley out to the pack’shome, for God’s sake. He had nothing to be worried about.
Still, that slight sense of unease stayed with him, not helped when Sam informed him it was Jason’s day off. Had Jason told him, and he hadn’t remembered? Or maybe Jason was avoiding—no, that was ridiculous. Jason had enjoyed yesterday as much as Riley had. He wouldn’t ghost someone, in any case. He was too honest and sweet to do that.
He messaged him.Want to do something?
Almost straight away, he got an answer.Sounds good.
Give me five,I’ve got an idea but need to check some things out first.
He sat and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu—minimizing his expenses gave Amy one less thing to shout at him over. Then he pulled up local hiking trails. He didn’t want to spend the day in Elk Ridge, where they might run into Urban or one of the other pack members at any time.
JASON
He parked at the diner, and Riley walked straight over to his car and kissed him, right there in the middle of the lot. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like they were a real couple.
After that, it was almost impossible for Jason to keep the grin off his face, though it wavered slightly when Riley asked which of two trails he’d recommend.
“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I’ve never hiked either of them.”
“Is there somewhere better then, somewhere I’ve missed? I was looking at places for my book that were close enough for a day hike and had different levels of difficulty to suit different fitness levels, but maybe I should be looking somewhere else.”
Jason shook his head. It wasn’t that. He only ever left the ranch to come into town. And he was only now realizing how weird that was. Or was it? The ranch was safe. Familiar. He had everything he needed there. But standing here with Riley, hearing him talk about different trails, about exploring, Jason suddenly felt small. As if he’d built walls around his world that he hadn’t even noticed.
Riley was waiting for an answer. “I don’t really go hiking,” Jason said. Then he noticed Riley’s sneakers. Looked like Riley didn’t either.
“Yeah, I didn’t exactly pack for this,” Riley said, noticing the direction of his gaze. Then he made an odd little noise, like a cross between a gasp and a gulp. “What I mean is, I figured I’d just send a drone up instead of actually hiking. But that”—he leaned in—“was before I met you. Can’t think of a better way to spend the day than somewhere quiet with you.”
Jason wanted to ask about the drone because he didn’t know anyone who flew them, and he’d always thought they’d be fun. Butwith Riley looking at him like he really did want to spend the day with him, he parked that thought for later.
“I’m guessing with my lack of gear and your lack of hiking, this is going to be more like a stroll than anything else,” Riley concluded.
