“You think I don’t know that?” Riley laughed ruefully. “Sweetheart, I know this isn’t conventional, but I told you earlier, this is my life and, in my eyes, it’s perfect. If people in town have a problem, they can get the fuck over it.”
“Beautiful, we just want to keep you safe.” Brenton took one of her hands, kissing the knuckles in a soft gesture of care.
“I know but I’m not going to hide.” Riley put the hand on his cheek. “You are all mine and I’m yours. Who the fuck cares about that except us? As long as this pride stays together, who cares about what the town says? I guarantee, in six months to a year, none of them will even care anymore.”
The guys all looked around as if they were taking a secret vote. She watched a couple small head nods from Troy and Gabe but a small shake from Zachary. She couldn’t see Andrew’s response and frowned. She looked to Brenton, who was now looking at her.
“Is that what you want? Go public and make it work?” His eyes were searching her face and she nodded. “Then let’s do it.”
Zachary’s groan made her turn and glare. He seemed worried and he had his eyes closed as he leaned back in his seat.
“Zachary,” Riley grabbed a carrot and threw it at him, “you don’t want to be in a public relationship with me?” He snapped up at that, glaring back.
“Of course I fucking do, but we have a few things we need to figure out first,” he growled. “We can’t just go out there and start making out in the grocery section without being able to answer people’s questions.”
She stopped and thought about that. He was fucking right. They couldn’t. They couldn’t just say ‘we live together and have a lot of sex’. The people in town wouldn’t even begin to understand the pride and how close it was.
“We need something official,” Zachary grumbled, stabbing his fork into his pie.
“Are we not official?” Riley looked at him incredulously.
“I mean, we are but…” Zachary’s jaw clenched. “If someone asked you tomorrow what I was to you, what would you say?”
“I don’t really know where you’re going with this…” She looked around at all of them, and Troy shrugged at her but no one else moved.
“Are we your boyfriends? Lovers? Family?” Zachary hissed, and she felt her heart thump hard.
Boyfriends? Too casual. Lovers… she liked that. And she understood where Zachary was going with this. Were they just a pride fucking in the family, or was this serious? Was she in for the long haul, or would she one day find someone to settle down with. Were they all equal? She didn’t know the answers to all those questions, but she knew what she would tell Zachary.
“I consider you all my lovers. Boyfriends is what we can tell the town.” Riley took a shaky breath. “They don’t need to know about the pride and how I do consider all of you my family. We’re close, and we’re strong. And this is official, Zachary. I’m not just getting a hook up from you guys and not taking into consideration my or your feelings. I care about you all. I hope that is okay.”
She felt the wave of approval from all of them.
“Oh, baby, you have no idea how okay that is,” Zachary leaned over and growled playfully. “I’ve wanted to hear you say that for months.”
She smiled down into her lap, her heart full of emotions.
“So, we’re going to do this.” Andrew sounded like he was excited. “We have a pride girlfriend and she has five boyfriends.”
“Damn straight.” Gabe took a bite of food, grinning.
“Does this mean we get to start having real fights, then great make up sex?” Troy looked curious, and Riley rolled her eyes.
“Didn’t we do that a week ago, Troy?” She licked her lips, a grin breaking out on her face.
“Oh shit, yeah. We did do that, didn’t we?” Troy elbowed Gabe. “Brother, we had make up sex. Can only do that in a relationship.”
“Fuck yeah, we did,” Gabe and Troy gave each other a high five, and Riley laughed hysterically, tears welling in her eyes. These two were so wild.
Brenton even couldn’t stop himself from laughing a little into his plate, shaking his head as he turned to her. He wrapped a hand around the back of her head and kissed her passionately, making her moan. When it broke, she was dizzy from it.
“You are fucking wonderful,” he growled softly, holding her face close to his. “And we are a bunch of perverts.” He grinned devilishly, and Riley’s heart skipped a beat at his molten gold stare.
They wrapped up dinner in the new status quo, a real relationship with a girlfriend and her five boyfriends. Riley wanted to laugh at it. Had it really taken them all eight months to figure that out? How did that happen? She hadn’t even thought it was a problem or question about what they were, but she felt a wave of happiness of thinking of them as her boyfriends.
“Shit,” Brenton whispered suddenly, looking around at them as they cleaned the table off.
“What’s up?” Zachary looked over to their Alpha, and Riley frowned at Brenton. Nothing seemed wrong.
“Who’s going to let Sheriff know so he doesn’t kill us all?” Brenton was pale, and Riley slapped a hand over her mouth in surprise. Oh, shit he was right, Sheriff was going to blow a gasket.
“Riley,” was everyone’s responses.
Fuck me, she thought.
RILEY
Two days later, Sheriff was picking her up for dinner, all happy with himself. Riley had asked him to just get her out of the house, and Brenton gave his approval.
But she was having dinner with him to let him know about her and the guys. Wonderful. She was already nervous about it and she had just gotten in the car.
“So, we’re going in the police truck, huh?” She pointed to all the tech in the truck. It also had a cage between the back and front seat. Sheriff was nice enough to let her sit in the front with him.
“I’m off, but with the hunters around, I’m keeping my car, just in case. Haven’t seen them but I have a feeling that won’t last much longer.” Sheriff grinned at her. “How have you been, kitten?”
“Oh, good! Lockdown sucks but what can ya do?” She shrugged. She didn’t want to think about hunters out there, didn’t want to think about the two she had killed. Looking back, she was more scared about it than she had been in the moment. It was close. If the first guy had worn Kevlar or had his weapon drawn… it would have been the end of her.
“I can imagine. The wife is pretty upset I haven’t let her come home yet either, but I want her to stay with my eldest boy until I’m positive this has all blown over.” Sheriff drove them through town until they made it to the one nice restaurant in town, an Italian place called Taste of Italy. So creative.
They jumped out, and Sheriff asked for a table for two. Riley asked for it to be somewhere private.
“Kitten?” Sheriff looked at her with a small confused smile.
“I have something important to talk to you about, and I don’t want everyone in the restaurant to know.” She tried to smile back but she was getting anxious and it didn’t work. The waitress led them to a booth in an empty section, and they sat down across from each other. Once they got their drinks, Riley took a deep breath.
“I want to talk to you about the guys,” Riley said quickly. Once it was out there, it would always be out there. She knew she could possibly lose Sheriff’s friendship over this, but he needed to know. She didn’t want him losing his temper and hurting someone on accident if she could tell him everything was okay beforehand.
Sheriff’s brows raised, and he coughed into his water, needing to wipe his bearded face after.
“Is everything okay? Because if they are hurting you-”
“No one is hurting me, Sheriff.” Riley patted the bear’s hand, and he glowered at her. “Actually, it’s very much the opposite.”
The waitress decided to walk over to them at that very moment and Riley quickly ordered Alfredo chicken and broccoli. Something safe and simple. Sheriff got lasagna. When the waitress was finally go
ne, he pointed a finger at her.
“Are they going to let you date again? Let you be a normal fucking young woman and not lock you away? Maybe even get your own place again?” Sheriff seemed excited by the idea. He had never liked her habit of hooking up with random tourists, but she was safer doing that than being a member of the Kingson Pride.
“Actually, it’s not that. I am dating-”
“Who, Andrew? He’s the nicest one out of that lot so I guess-”
“Sheriff, let me finish,” Riley cut him off, glaring. She took a drink slowly and considered how this was going to sound as he waved her on to speak. “I’m dating all of them.”
She watched Sheriff process the words and kept her nose on his scent. Confusion, a small touch of disgust, a load of anger, more confusion and she saw the moment he put it together.
“I’m going to kill them,” he snarled, going to stand up. She jumped up and stood in front of him, pushing against his chest. “I’m going to end their miser-”
“No, you aren’t, Sheriff. I won’t let you do that.” She pushed hard one more time. It made her fall back more than it moved Sheriff. Looking at him, he hadn’t moved at all. Shit, she thought. Brenton was strong, but this guy was a brick wall compared to her. “Sit back down and let me explain.”
He growled but sat back down. She sat slowly, watching him in case he made a run for it. She would need to be able to call the guys before he got to the mansion.
“Explain and it better not be what I think it is,” he growled softly. She looked around the restaurant and saw one or two people staring, but they all looked back to their tables when she met their eyes.
“I am dating all five of them,” she explained quietly. “All of them. They are my boyfriends, not just my pride and family. We want to go public, we’re tired of hiding away in the mansion.”
“People are going to ostracize you,” Sheriff hissed. “Hell, I’m definitely not okay with this. The rumors-”
“Are both correct and incorrect. I am… sleeping with all of them but not for their money or anything. And I’m sleeping with them separately,” Riley emphasized. Not completely true. “But… I don’t care what the town thinks. I don’t care what the world thinks.”
“How can you not? Do you know what this looks like?” Sheriff was back to snarling. “It looks like they fucking took you in and keep you around as a sex toy! As their personal blow up-”
She slapped him before more could leave his mouth. A resounding smack echoed in the restaurant. Her hand stung and Sheriff’s eyes were wide in shock. The entire restaurant was silent, most of them staring in Riley’s direction. She put her hands in her lap and forced her chin up as the waitress put their food in front of them.
She couldn’t believe she just slapped him, but she didn’t want to hear the vile shit she knew people were going to say. And that was when people assumed the guys were in the wrong. Most would just assume she was after their money, a poor little girl who finally found a way to make her life secure. By spreading her legs.
“You will never insult them like that to me,” she hissed after the waitress left. “Never.”
“Riley-”
“No, you fucking listen to me, Sheriff. I’m twenty-fucking-four. I get to make these decisions in my life. If I say ‘fuck the rumors’, then fucking drop it,” she took another shaky, angry breath. She tried to ignore the red handprint on his cheek. “They are my family, they are my friends, and they are my pride. And nothing was ever forced on me. I was eager and willing because why the fuck not?” She stabbed her fork in her food, no longer hungry.
“I’m in charge of what happens and when. And they are mine. I even rejected my own mother, who wanted me to leave with her, for them. For them and everything they’ve given me and the life they’ve opened up for me. They have never gone back on their promises to me. They brought me in the pride and told me I would be treated like family, like someone who was needed and important to them. And they have proven that every day since. And I…” she trailed off, unable to say it. She wasn’t ready for it, not yet.
Sheriff was watching her intently, eating slowly as she spoke.
“And I’m telling you all this because God damn it, the entire town is about to start hearing about it for real. I want to go dancing at Rocker’s with them. I want to eat out and kiss them hello when they visit the diner. I want the fucking town to know I own half the Goddamn diner now because Andrew wanted me to.” She felt tears well in her eyes. “And I want you on my fucking side. Because you are like a father to me, all over-protective and wanting what’s best for me. I want you to see that I’m fucking happy and be happy for me. And I want my fucking guys safe from you. You wanted me to trust them, and I have. More than you wanted or expected, but I trust them with all of my heart. That should be enough.”
“Okay,” Sheriff sounded calm. “Give me some time to… get used to it.” Sheriff started to frown. “This makes so much more sense. How they all behaved at dinner and during the movie.”
“Yeah… that was an awkward situation.” Riley wrung her hands.
“Does Brenton often just grab you tongue like that?” Sheriff looked at her incredulously.
“No! Um.” Oh shit, she was not telling him what normally happened when she stuck her tongue out. “Let’s not go there.” She couldn’t stop the flood of pleasure at the thought, though. They knew how to put her tongue to better uses.
Sheriff choked for a second and they were both blushing over it.
“Alright.” he swallowed his food eventually and took a drink of his tea. “Do they treat you right? You don’t feel forced-”
“No, Sheriff, how many times do I need to tell you that? They don’t force me to do anything.” She looked at him, weary with the conversation suddenly. “And they treat me wonderfully. They are helping me build a career for myself and focus on my art when I want to. They just want me happy.”
“Okay, okay. Brenton had asked me to treat you like an adult and I will,” Sheriff sighed. “Are we done eating?” He pointed at her plate. “Something wrong with it?”
She hadn’t taken a bite, but she wasn’t hungry either.
“Yeah, let’s go,” she tried to smile.
“Then let’s get you back to your boys. I’m not going to do anything, but I want to have a nice long talk with them,” Sheriff pointed at her now, stern and unmovable in his position. She sighed and nodded.
Sheriff called for the check, and Riley forced him to let her pay. It was a five-minute argument, but she won him over by reminding him it was technically Brenton’s money. Sheriff was completely okay with spending Brenton’s money.
As they got in the car, Sheriff’s phone was ringing and his walkie in the car was screaming.
“Sheriff, there’s a fire at the diner!” The dispatcher sounded like she was in tears. Riley felt ice run through her veins, chilling her as she looked at Sheriff. “We need everyone!”
Riley jumped into the car, and Sheriff floored it.
“I would take you home, but I-”
“You’re taking me to the diner, Sheriff. I fucking own half of it, remember?” She snapped, glaring at the road ahead of them.
His sirens were on and Riley called Brenton.
“Riley, how’s d-”
“Fire at the diner! I’m with Sheriff, we were at the Italian place and are headed there now. Meet us!”
“We’ll be there, you stay close to Sheriff, and don’t do anything without him or one of us.”
She didn’t know who hung up first, her or Brenton, but that was the end of the conversation.
Sheriff pulled them into the diner’s parking lot and Riley cried out, covering her mouth.
It was burning in a giant blaze that was coming out of all the windows
“No…” she jumped out of the car and ran up, Sheriff following her. He grabbed her before she got too close.
“Riley, you can’t save it. The fire department is trying their best and you need to stay out of the
way.” Sheriff was carrying her from behind as she screamed. She wanted to stop it, she wanted to do anything. The diner was her second home. It was her sanctuary, and she was losing it.
The deputies, only four of them, were waiting for Sheriff at their huddle. Sheriff held Riley’s left arm to keep her plastered to his side. She didn’t try to run. She knew there was nothing she could do as she watched the diner slowly blacken, windows cracking and collapsing from the heat.
“Anyone still inside?” Sheriff snarled, looking at all the humans. Riley felt more shivers hit her. Oh God, people could be in there, dying or already dead. And she was worried about the fucking building.
“No, everyone got out.” An older deputy pointed to the small crowd in the parking lot. “That’s everyone.”
Riley relaxed, leaning into Sheriff, who just held her to his side. She felt the tears in her eyes fall but didn’t try to wipe them away or stop them.
As she listened to them talk, she watched the diner burn. She wasn’t truly listening, though. They would say all this again to Brenton and Andrew when they got there.
They drove up at that point, in one of the SUVs. She saw them jump out, and Zachary was the one who pulled her close.
“I’m not hurt, Zachary,” she mumbled into his chest.
“I don’t care,” he lifted her face and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. He held her damp cheeks, wiping the tears off them. He nibbled on her bottom lip, playing with her piercings, as if he was trying to stay connected to her.
Brenton looked to Sheriff.
“Anyone hurt?” Brenton looked to the crowd and back to the officers.
“No, everyone was able to get out. They set off the fire alarm and four people called 911.” Sheriff ran a hand through his hair. “You aren’t going to like this Brenton.”
“Let’s talk away from the group,” Brenton growled, low and a little menacing. Zachary kept holding her and people were finally getting over the burning diner, watching them. She just clutched him while Andrew pushed her hair back from her face.
Wild Fire (The Kingson Pride Book 2) Page 8
