Page 41 of Wanderer

Our kiss was longer and more passionate when he dropped me off at my cabin, which almost felt like home. I knew deep in my heart it was Gareth’s house that was my true home, though.

The bar was bustling with activity when I opened the door, stepping from the bitter cold into a sweltering room. It wasn’t a big place. Probably only held about fifty people, leaving room for a tiny dance floor.

Fen was waiting for me in a booth, a plate of nachos and two beers sitting in front of him. I shook off the snow in the doorway and headed over to join him. “Hey,” I called as I drew closer.

His eyes, warm brown with hints of silver and gold, lit up when he caught sight of me. “Hey! I’ve been hoping you’d reach out. I want to hear how things are with Gareth. The town is buzzing about you two.”

The heat rose in my cheeks. “I’m sure we aren’t that interesting,” I scoffed.

Fen laughed, drawing eyes from the patrons at the bar. “I think you underestimate the lack of gossip in this town. And the interest in fated mates. We have so few true pairings here. Everyone wants to know if you’ve bonded, when you will bond if you haven’t. Everything.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. They’ve been talking about how quiet Gareth was the other day when he was teaching his classes and helping out at the greenhouses. He didn’t look upset, so they weren’t too worried, but—”

“But they’ll get worried if they don’t see us together soon?” Fen nodded. “Well, I’m sure our dates will hit the gossip chain soon.” I jumped into a long rant about small towns, then told my… friend about what had been happening with Gareth. Of course, this led to explanations about why I wanted to slow things down, including shit about the curse and my fears. It was so fucking uncomfortable. I’d never really been taught to express my feelings as anything but happiness, and that was always the restrained kind, or anger. So, spilling my deepest fears and regrets? Out of my comfort zone.

I pushed through. Greyhaven was where I wanted to settle, small town gossip aside. Eventually Gareth and I would be old news. Hopefully, we’d be one of those golden couples that were the shining example of what fated mates were meant to be. It was a secret hope that one day I could live peacefully as a metamorph and be accepted. After seeing the museum, I felt more positive about Greyhaven being that place for me.

“I’m so fucking sorry that you had to live like that, Riley. Shit, metamorphs are rarer than unicorns. You know you’re safe here, right?” Fen sat forward in the booth, looking so genuine and sympathetic that tears welled in my eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Yeah. I thought Tatsuya might have said something before.”

“Suya knows? Fucker didn’t say!” His indignant expression made me burst out laughing. “Fuck off!”

I laughed harder. “Sorry!” When I calmed down, I turned to the reason for meeting Fen, aside from catching him up on the last few days and getting to know him better. It felt like I had another ally here, aside from Gareth and Oscar. Which reminded me, I’d need the witch for my plan too. Oscar had been conspicuously absent the last few days. “I need your help. I want to set something up for Gareth.”

Nineteen

Gareth

Iwoke on Wednesday, curious about what Riley was up to. He’d gone mysteriously silent the evening before. Not even a goodnight text. A tad suspicious. After our lunch date, I’d dropped him at his cabin. As much as I’d wanted to stay—he’d given me signals he wanted that too—I’d returned to the college to teach a class, then spent my evening in the greenhouse, checking on our crops. Riley had met Fen for a few beers, which rather than making me feel jealous, actually gave me hope that Riley was forming friendships in Greyhaven. He was putting down roots.

Riley’s brother was coming to town soon, which gave me anxiety, quite honestly. I needed Paxton to like me. Meeting his brother would be strange, but I was happy that Paxton was coming to us rather than waiting for us somewhere else. Once we left Greyhaven at the end of Riley’s month here, I wanted us to head straight to Boyce so we could end this once and for all.

The space and dating thing had been good for us. It had given me time to speak to other magic users in the town. There were a couple of warlocks who were willing to try breaking Riley’s curse. I would help Paxton myself since I wasn’t limited by a mate bond. It would heal the wound that being unable to break it for Riley caused in my heart. Maybe my pride was getting in the way. It just felt important to be the one to do that for Pax.

My alarm buzzed, and I turned to switch it off. I picked up my phone and saw a message from the college, which informed me that my classes had been covered for the day. It was the last week of the semester, and some of my classes had done their exams the week before, so really, this week didn’t cover much new material. Still, it was strange that they’d given me the day off.

Besides that message, I had another one from the greenhouses also saying they had everything in hand and to have a great day off.

An entire day off with nothing to do.

I’d promised myself I would leave Riley alone until the evening. For once, I wanted him to come to me. The familiar loneliness bit at me, but I tried to ignore it as I got up and started my day.

The doorbell rang as I finished loading the dishwasher and putting the laundry in the dryer. I’d spent a couple of hours pottering around my house and getting showered, though after all the cleaning, I’d want to shower again before tracking down my mate.

A glance through the peephole had my heart hammering in my chest. Riley was outside. I threw open the door without thinking. “Is everything okay?” I asked, panicking at his sudden appearance on my stoop.

His grin stretched across his face, picking up a dimple I’d never noticed before. Perhaps I hadn’t seen him smile so widely before. “I’m here to take you on a date.”

“A date?” Why the fuck was I questioning my good fortune? Riley had come to me!

“Yeah, you’ve planned two pretty nice dates so far, so I thought it was my turn to surprise you. I’ve got us a picnic, and there’s a spot set up for us. Maybe not as nice as the gazebo, but I think you’ll like it.” Of course I would. Riley had gone to a lot of effort for this. “Even borrowed Fen’s car since mine isn’t ready yet.” His grin hadn’t slipped, the dimple still out in full force, but there was a tinge of worry in those warm brown eyes.

A whole day with Riley? “That sounds great. Let me get my coat.”

“Wear comfortable shoes. We’re going to be outside a lot,” Riley called from the doorway.