Page 14 of You Otter Know
So finally, his desperation to know what Bohdi wanted with him overrode his good sense, and he plugged the number into his phone, with Bohdi’s name as a contact, and then dialed it.
“H-Hello?” When Bohdi answered, told him that the man knew exactly who was on the phone and that he was worried about what River might say.
“I got your email. Well, Branson’s email. What is it you want, Bodhi?”
“I needed to talk to you about two things. Do you have a minute?”
The sound of Bohdi’s voice sent a wave of longing through him. But it also relaxed every muscle in his body, and he realized how long it had been since they’d actually spoken to each other. Mates shouldn’t go that long without hearing from each other, and he was pissed off all over again but also so happy to hear Bohdi on the line.
Putting the phone on speaker and setting it down on the side table, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself because it was cold. Even in the heated pool area. “Yeah, I’m okay. I can hear you out. What’s going on?”
“I wanted to apologize for the way I left. I was scared. You were so amazing, and it freaked me out. I can’t shift, River. I’m a shifter who can’t shift, and that makes me an oddity. I wasterrified that you wouldn’t want to see me again after our time together.”
He blew out a breath because he’d known Bohdi was really self-conscious and worried about shifting, but he had no idea how bad it was. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, Bohdi. Like I wouldn’t want to see you again. You made me incredibly happy while we were together, and I don’t think I hid how I felt about that.”
There was a wry laugh on the other end of the line, and Bohdi just soldiered on. “It wasn’t you, it was me. And I know that’s one of those things everyone says, but it’s true. The other reason I wanted to call you was because there’s something I really need you to know.”
He wondered what it could be wildly for a moment. Was Bohdi going to tell him that he was in love with him? Was he going to tell him he had some kind of venereal disease? Which was kind of difficult for shifters, but he supposed it could happen. Was it that he had left a million dollars in Bohdi’s suitcase? What?
His mouth dropped open, and his stomach dropped into his feet, though, when Bohdi said, “I’m pregnant.”
“Holy shit, are you kidding?” Probably not the reaction Bohdi wanted to hear from him, but it was what came out.
“I took a test, and my mom says I should take another test just in case. That’s something she tells people, but it was a pretty strong plus mark.” Panic was starting to make Bohdi’s voice rise, and he didn’t want that, so he made shushing noises.
“Hey, it’s okay, just breathe, all right? Where are you right now?”
“I’m at my mom’s place in Colorado. I’m here for the Christmas gift exchange, believe it or not. I’ve kind of been avoiding everybody since the actual holiday.”
“How you feel? I haven’t talked to my folks in person since then either. I know my mom would take one look at me and know something was up that I didn’t want to talk about.” River stood up and grabbed his phone, so he could go to the dressing room and get some warm clothes on.
Thankfully, the pool was deserted today.
“Where are you?” Bohdi asked.
“I had a conference in Oregon, so believe it or not, I’m back in the same state, anyway.”
“Do you think you could meet me at the lodge?”
He almost snapped out an immediate negative, but the cautious hope in Bohdi’s voice told him maybe that would be a terrible idea. So he breathed in and then out and then stopped before he got to the dressing room door because depending on how this went, he might want to do some more laps. “Yeah, I think I could do that if you could get a flight up here.”
“I totally can. I’ve got the time off anyway, and it’s not like I haven’t exchanged presents with Mom and Dad. So I could come up for a couple days.”
“I’ll get a hold of Branson then at the lodge and get him to give us a room or a cabin or whatever.”
Bohdi’s little laugh warmed his heart. “You should get cabin number thirteen. It’s right next to the stream, after all.”
“I think I might have known that.” He chuckled too. While this was a clusterfuck, somehow or another he felt way more optimistic than he had even an hour ago. “See you, what, tomorrow?”
“I’ll be there. Thanks for this.”
“Don’t thank me yet, I still might kick your ass for running off on me.”
“I don’t think you’d kick a pregnant guy.” Bohdi laughed again. The sound was kind of a nervous trill, and then he hung up, leaving River staring at his phone.
River headed back to the pool, dropping his towel and his phone back where they’d been before. He really wished this wasn’t a public hotel pool room so he could shift and swim as an otter, but he would make do.
Tomorrow he would go meet with Bohdi, and then, if he had to, he would kidnap the guy and take him home. No way was his pregnant mate going to leave him sleeping again and run off.
