Page 11 of Watch Me

“So suggesting she stay in Sonoma for her break won’t work,” I said and Ricky laughed. My wolf chuffed inside at making the man smile.

“Yeah, no. Never gonna happen.”

Needing to stop thinking about Ricky, I added, “It’s too bad Fowler and Riley are leaving town half-way into her spring break. I’m sure she misses them.”

Ricky rolled his eyes. “You’re such a dad. She’s less than two hours away without traffic. She comes home at least once a month.”

His mention of me being a dad was exactly what I needed to douse the rising tension between us. “I am a dad,” I reminded him.

“Sure you’re not a Daddy?” Ricky asked with a smirk, and it was almost a relief to have him back to the ridiculous flirting I was used to.

“Positive,” I grumbled and stuffed the rest of my sandwich into my mouth. I may have been a couple years from fifty with gray hair and a distinct ache in my joints when I woke up, but I was not a Daddy.

“We could also ask Kono and the tribe for help,” Ricky commented, surprising me.

Kono Dasan was the alpha son of the current leader of the coyote shifters in Northlake. The tribe was modern, with a casino and thriving reservation, but they also had a good amount of shifters among their ranks. He was next in line to lead them, and always sided with our pack in disputes with the bears.

“That’s…not a bad idea.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, papi,” Ricky replied with a word in Spanish I recognized.

“I know what that means. Still no,” I growled.

“Can’t blame me for trying,” Ricky shrugged and gathered our trash in the paper bag he brought. “Alpha it is then.”

Fuck me.

My admiration of Ricky’s seriousness at the beginning of this…meeting, was eclipsed when he flirted with me. I didn’t know what to do with him, but I still planned to keep my hands off.

My wolf grumbled at the idea and I pushed him down. I was in charge. No matter how tempting the beta was, I would stay away.

Chapter seven

Ricky

Aweekaftermylunchdate with Fin—I fed him and we flirted, it counted—I decided it had been long enough. We missed each other at the dinner welcoming Channing home for Spring break because I had a shift. Then he might have been avoiding me when we all went for a ride over the weekend, because Fin didn’t join us. Riley and King left the day before, and it was time to check in with the alpha.

At least, that was my excuse for showing up at Motorvated in the middle of the day. My wolf didn’t care that Fin clearly wanted space from me. The man had kissed me like his life depended on it, then acted like it was nothing. Like I didn’t matter to him beyond as a packmate.

Well, fuck that.

He may be in denial of his sexuality, in the proverbial closet. I wasn’t trying to pull him out. But he made it weird, and I was the kind of guy who said the awkward things out loud until I made them laugh.

Plus, he deserved happiness. I didn’t know anything about Fin’s life before adopting Rowen, but I knew he had to be lonely. I was around eight when Rowen showed up one day, hiding behind Fin’s leg at a pack meeting. Fin doted on him, not letting us pick on the smaller boy, and I was jealous.

My house was full of love and music when it was just me and my mom, but Dad brought yelling and fear. I hated being there, and spent a lot of time at Fin’s, Rel’s or the pack house to get away. Never once did I see or hear anything about Fin dating.

Shit. He might be demisexual or ace like his son. Rowen didn’t date anyone until Cam along, and that took him months to work up to. For Rowen to get to know the cute barista. Again, the guilt I might have pushed the older man into sex seeped from my subconscious.

No. He wasn’t asexual. Fin got hard for me and came quickly when we fooled around last year. And he’d kissed me after I rode on his bike. Also, Fin knew me. I wasn’t a new person he had to get to know. Hell, he was probably at my mom’s baby shower.

To be fair, some men weren’t into a big gap in ages. But I wasn’t some fumbling teenager. I was closer to thirty than twenty-five. He couldn’t kiss me like that and still think of me as a kid. Right?

Either way, my plan was to put myself in Fin’s path as often as possible until he kissed me again or said he didn’t want me. Obviously, I was hoping for the former.

Fin had the hydraulic motorcycle lift on, lowering a bike back to ground level, and didn’t hear me approach for once. Despite it being March, the day had warmed up already, and Fin had his jumpsuit rolled down to expose his upper body. No tanktop underneath obscured my view of his toned chest, a smattering of freckles under a fine sheen of sweat had me licking my lips.

He may think he’s old, but all I saw was the hottest man I’ve ever met. Leaning on the open doorway, I watchedand waited for him to notice my presence. Fin’s muscles rippled as he started to roll the bike forward off the lift, stopping short when he caught sight of me.