Riordan scoffed at him, reaching out to ruffle his fingers through Wade’s hair because not touching him right now was impossible. “You’re driving.”
Wade ducked his head but didn’t try to step back. “That means you’re playing tour guide.”
“Gladly.”
“I want lobster rolls this time.”
“Okay.”
“Lots of them.”
“I saw how many tacos you ate.” Riordan took Wade’s hand and didn’t let himself think about the implications of doing so, turning back toward the main lobby and the hotel exit, tugging Wade after him. “I’m taking you to James Hook.”
“Like in Peter Pan? Is this a Disney-themed restaurant?”
“What? No. It’s a Boston institution.”
“My niece would be so disappointed.”
“Is she into Disney movies?”
“Yes,” Wade said vehemently before proceeding to talk all about her favorite ones and the tea parties they’d have while waiting for the valet to bring the car around. He clearly adored his niece, even if there was no blood relationship involved. But pack, much like clan, wasn’t always based on the family one was born into but the one you chose.
The valet pulled up in Wade’s rental and handed over the keys. Riordan was forced to let Wade go so they could get in the car and on the road. Inside, even with the air-conditioning running, he could sense the warmth that Wade exuded, a heat that made Riordan want to soak it up.
“You can plug in the address,” Wade said.
Riordan reached for the screen on the dashboard. “Head east. It’s near where we had lunch.”
“You act like I know this city.”
Riordan bit down on what he wanted to say—I wish you did—and shrugged. “I won’t lead you astray.”
“That wasn’t in doubt.”
Wade glanced at him, sunglasses nowhere to be found, gaze open and curious before he returned his attention to the road. “Why’d you come back? It couldn’t be just to feed me.”
Riordan stared straight ahead and fought the urge to lay his hand over Wade’s thigh. He didn’t have that right. “I gave an order to my clan that no one travels alone right now. You don’t have anyone with you.”
Wade chuckled, but it didn’t sound as if he was laughing at Riordan. “Trust me. There isn’t anything Niall could throw at me that I wouldn’t be able to win against.”
He didn’t smell like magic or werecreature or any of the numerous creatures that made humanity fear the dark. Wade came across as completely human to every single one ofRiordan’s senses just then—but he remembered that scuffle in Beacon Hill and the weight of a presence that could only be described as predatory.
Wade wasn’t human, but he was kind. In Riordan’s long-lived experience, that was worth everything.
“You still shouldn’t be alone,” Riordan said.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing you decided to continue playing tour guide.”
“I’m always up for showing off Boston.”
“So how come you don’t want to go back to Ireland?”
“My clan is safer here. And we like Boston.”
It had the Boston Harbor and the vast Atlantic Ocean beyond it. Maybe it didn’t have the green hills of Ireland, but there was something to be said for the redbrick homes and Fenway Park, the universities and the way the city looked when it snowed.
Boston was home now, and Riordan had made his peace with that years ago.
