Page 86 of A Lesson in Obedience
Icould count on my hand the amount of times Grayson had ridden on the back of my bike, but any time it did happen made me smile so hard that my cheeks hurt. When Riley was back there, she would press her entire body against my back and wrap her arms all the way around my middle. I could practically hear her heart beating rapidly in her chest, even over the noise of the motorcycle.
Grayson simply held onto my sides, going sans helmet because he liked to claim he was arebel. That just meant I took it easy on turns and didn’t go my usual fast speed all because he wanted to, I don’t know, feel the wind in his hair or some shit.
I turned off the engine when we got to Marth Moon, the smell of the marth instantly hitting my nostrils. I inhaled, letting the scent overwhelm me in the best way. It had been a little bit after seven when we left and Asher still wasn’t home. Cars were piled close together in the gravel lot and the sign over the door was lit up in neon yellow.
I tucked my keys into my pocket and Grayson walked in step with me while we passed by smokers and plenty of patrons already a little too wasted to flirt properly. I opened the door for my best friend, following him inside.
“Amigos! Entren!Finally!” Mateo yelled from behind the bar.
A few people looked around, focusing their eyes on us but then looked back at Mateo. All the stares ceased as if their friendly demeanor towards us was good enough for them. I recognized a few faces from school, but mostly everyone was a stranger to me. That didn’t deter me; there weren’t many people that disliked me, so turning strangers into friends wasn’t much of a challenge.
We sat on the barstools and Mateo started preparing two glasses.
Grayson pointed towards where they tilted one of the glasses towards a spout. “Pretty sure we haven’t even told you what we want.”
Mateo chuckled. “That doesn’t matter. I already know what you want.” They tapped the side of their head. The button-down shirt they wore had half the buttons undone and their sleeves were rolled up to their elbows. Small stains already decorated their clothes.
They placed one of the glasses in front of me and started filling the other. I picked up the glass filled with the deep brown liquid. I brought it to my nose, sniffing. It smelled like utter perfection. I waited until Grayson had his and we clinked glasses.
Mateo threw a hand towel over their shoulder and watched us while we took a sip. Their eyebrows raised expectantly.
“Well fuck, that’s good,” I complimented, taking another drink. “Are you sure this isn’t your partner’s witchy touch that makes it so perfect.”
Mateo shrugged. “Mi amoris very helpful and yes, she is perfect. She is much prettier than me, so I am fine with her receiving more credit.” One of the groups behind us started getting loud and a deep growl came from Mateo’s chest had them settling down. “Cálmense, idiotas.No tengo miedo echarlos,por el amor de Dios.”
Grayson had already downed half his beer. “Are you babysitting us?”
The wolf shifter moved to the side for another bartender to come behind them. “No, not really. Your lady is away, so I assumed you two would either be mopping around or fucking around with each other. I am hoping you have already done the latter because our bathroom is off limits for that kind of activity.” They winked at us. “Well, it is off limits toyou. Me, on the other hand, I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
I licked my lips, letting them take my glass and refill it. “You don’t have to keep watch on us, you know? I have a healthy assumption your pack leader doesn’t love that you are just delegating wolves to do menial tasks.”
Mateo shook their head, wagging their finger at me. “Corrin loves Riley. And I love Corrin, so it’s an instinct to keep whoever she loves protected. Dante knows what’s happening and he’s—he hasn’t made too much of a fuss. He’s been busy anyway, always on his phone.”
“Dante?”
Mateo wrinkled their nose. “The alpha. He wasn’t a super fan of Corrin helping out at first, but clearly the beer is much better, so he hasn’t opened his mouth about her coming and going.” They started to wipe down the counter. “He leaves me and Jade to help out with this place so it’s basically ours. Our parents are a friend of his, so he’s like family, but I only speak to him when I have to. It’s complicated.”
I clucked my tongue. “I know a thing or two about complicated relationships. I think we all do.” I peeked over at Grayson who glanced at me from over his glass while he took a drink.
Mateo rapped their knuckles on the counter; tiny dark curls fell into their forehead. They opened their mouth but stopped to glance over our shoulders. “Por fin!Now it’s a party.”
Grayson and I looked behind us to see Ike walking out of the bathroom. He gave us a tight smile, sitting on the barstool next to me. He nodded at Mateo who started to make his drink. “Iprofusely apologize about my very abrasive twin sister who can’t seem to keep her nose out of things that don’t involve her.”
I hummed. “I mean, you can always say no when she asks for your help.”
Ike tilted his head from left to right, thanking Mateo for his drink. “She’s my sister, so I complain about her, but I’ll never say no to helping her. Especially when Ted got a broken wing and she healed it.” He looked down into his drink, mumbling, “and she never lets me fucking forget it.”
“Ted?” Grayson inquired.
“His familiar. A peskypajarothat almost pecked me in the eye,” Mateo explained, throwing a glare in Ike’s direction.
Ike waved his hand dismissively. “Anyway, you don’t have to be a telepath to hear the whispers about your girlfriend.”
With my dampener I couldn’t use my powers on campus, but I didn’t need to. The looks that were thrown in Riley’s direction right before she had left with Corrin were enough to know what people were thinking. And the minute I could hear, I just shut it out.
“She’s handling it well enough from what I can tell. And joining Celica is a…choice. Chancellor Fowler must be pleased with himself.” Ike’s voice was full of disgust towards the man.
Grayson huffed. “He told her he’d back off if she did. Any small things to keep her close.”
