by L. P. Maxa
“Okay good. What about Coach Byrne?”
“What about him?”
“He’s mad that I’m here helping Ms. Molly and he isn’t?” Riley shoved his phone in his pocket.
Corey raised an eyebrow. “You planning on hitting on Molly?”
Riley chuckled. “No.”
“Then we should be good.” She smiled. She loved hearing that kid laugh. “Now about that field party?”
“What about it?” He tried to seem relaxed and unfazed by her question, but he was failing. His shoulders were tensed up to his ears.
“Why was it so great? Did you meet a girl?” Corey put the car in park and turned her full attention to Riley.
“Uh, it was just a fun party. Jace came and he did so well. You would have been so proud of him. He was social and he joked around and—”
“Let me stop you right there. While I am thrilled that Jace had a good time, I’m not stupid. I know you are trying to distract me, which leads me to believe that you did, in fact, meet a girl.” His silence was the only answer she needed. “Riley. I don’t know what the lines are here. I am your guidance counselor, but I love you like a little brother. You need to make sure that you are careful, because—”
He closed his eyes, trying to hide from this conversation. “Corey, I am begging you to stop talking. I get what you are trying to say. And everything is…fine. Okay? I’m good.”
Corey nodded. “Okay. I trust you.” Kind of. She was going to have to get one of the guys to have a little chat with Riley. She just needed to figure out which one would handle it the best. Sometimes it seemed that they had the same maturity level as the kids they coached. She followed him out of the car and into the studio where Molly was waiting for them.
“Hey, guys.” Molly smiled warmly when she saw them walk in. “Riley, thank you so much for doing this for me, you’re the best.”
“No problem, Ms. Molly. Are those the paintings over there?” He pointed to a stack of frames against the wall.
“Yes, and the ladder is over in that hallway.” She pointed to the opposite wall. “And I marked with tape where I want them hung. Okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Riley grabbed the ladder and headed over to the paintings.
Molly turned to Corey. “You want to run next door and grab some tea?”
“Oh yeah, that sounds perfect.” She called over to Riley, “Hey, kiddo, we’re going to go next door and get something to drink. You want anything?”
His eyes darted from Corey to the door then back again. “I mean this shouldn’t take long, I’ll come with you guys if you give me just a second.”
Corey frowned at him. “I will be fine. I am literally going to be on the other side of this wall. Now, what would you like to drink?” The panicked look on Riley’s face was tragic. Either Dom had the poor guy thinking she was his responsibility, or he really was that protective over the baby.
Riley huffed out a sigh. “I’ll take an iced tea, no sugar. And you should drink some water.”
Corey shook her head dramatically. “Iced tea without sugar is a crime.” She let the bossy water command slide. He was actually right about that. Dehydration had been causing some killer headaches lately.
When they were seated at a small table by the window with drinks in hand and Corey was devouring a chocolate croissant, Molly finally spoke up. “So, Riley is pretty protective, huh?”
Corey chuckled nervously. She’d never be able to explain the truth to Molly, and that made her somewhat sad. “He’s not the only one, such is my life.”
“Speaking of the men in your life, how is your gorgeous fiancé?”
“He is doing well, thank you for asking. He is feeling a bit too lord of the jungle and male since he knocked me up.” Corey smiled into her sugar-filled iced tea, waiting on Molly’s reaction.
“You’re pregnant? Congratulations. That is so amazing. Was this planned?”
“Did I plan on being pregnant in the middle of a murder investigation? No. Dom on the other hand? I’m pretty sure he’s been trying to get me pregnant from day one.” She popped the last bite of her croissant in her mouth and looked longingly at the bakery display case, already wanting a second.
Molly laughed. “So I take it he’s excited about the baby then?”
Corey grinned. “Excited is an understatement. Actually all the guys are pretty over the moon about the baby.”
Molly’s grin faded slightly at the mention of the rest of the crew. “So, how’s Keller doing?”
Corey felt for her friend; she knew the girl had it bad for Keller. And no matter how hard she tried to get him to stop, he’d been avoiding Molly for a couple weeks now. “He’s good. Super busy with baseball season and getting everything ready for the feds. They are due in town next week.” She didn’t know what else to say. She knew making excuses for him was lame. But she wanted to spare some of Molly’s feelings. Rejection hurt, no matter which way you sliced it.
“I get it, I know he isn’t into me and that’s okay. It’s just,” she shrugged, “I thought he was. I should take Linc up on his offer. He is jaw-dropping hot and he must be mind-blowing in bed. He’s slept with every girl who works at Moon Bar and they would all jump at a chance to go again.” Molly wiggled her eyebrows at Corey, trying to lighten the mood.
Corey sighed sadly. “You and I both know that even though Linc is, let’s face it, gorgeous AF, he doesn’t do anything for you. If he did, you would have slept with him by now.” Corey didn’t mention that the fact that Linc’s super-special wolf powers couldn’t get Molly in his bed brought up a lot of suspicions in Corey’s book. And Dom’s.
Molly’s shoulders slumped. “Ugh. Why doesn’t he do anything for me? It’s so frustrating. The guy that propositions me daily doesn’t turn me on, but the guy who doesn’t want anything to do with me makes my knees weak. Typical girl, I guess. Always lusting after what you can’t have.”
“Look, give Keller a little more time. Please. Don’t write him off just yet. Sleeping with Linc just to get Keller out of your head is a bad idea.” Not to mention a dangerous idea. Corey was almost positive Keller would kill Linc if he slept with Molly.
“I wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. It just feels wrong to even think about…” Molly’s words drifted off when Riley walked in, head down, thumbs flying over his phone’s keyboard.
“Riley.” Corey called him over to them, annoyed to see his damn phone out again. Was this what being a parent was like? “I swear to everything holy if you don’t put that phone away, I will smash it into a million pieces.” Yep, sounded like a parent to her.
“Sorry.” He shoved it in his pocket and sat down at the little table. “All finished, Ms. Molly. Do you want to go check it out and see if you want me to do anything different?”
“Nah, I’m sure it’s fine. And I have a class that should start trickling in any second.” She pulled some cash out of her tiny yoga pants pocket to pay Riley.
He held up his hands. “No, ma’am, you don’t need to pay me.”
“Of course I do, take the cash, Riley.” She shoved her hand forward.
“Um, well, Coach Byrne already paid me.” Riley glanced from Corey to Molly, his expression slightly weary.
“What? Why the hell did he pay you? How did he even know I asked you to do this for me? Egotistical, confusing asshole.” Molly shook her head and shoved the cash in Riley’s hand. “Please take the money. I asked you to help me, I want to pay you.”
Riley dropped the cash on the table and scrubbed his hands down his face, taking a deep breath. “I can’t take the money, Coach Byrne specifically told me not to. I’m sorry, he may be an egotistical asshole, but he’s pretty much the boss of me. He’s my coach, he’s my… I just can’t take the money, Ms. Molly, please don’t get me in trouble.”
Corey laughed quietly. Poor Riley, caught between a pissed-off woman and a hard place. She knew what he was trying to say without saying too much. Riley was low ranked in this little
makeshift family they had created. He was a wolf, and all the coaches were his alphas. Plus, Keller could make him run bases ’til the cows came home. “Molly, it’s a win-win for you. You aren’t out any money, you got the art hung, and Keller paid Riley to do something we both know he would have rather come over here and done himself.”
Molly shook her head, irritated. “Fine. Riley, thank you so much for your help. Corey, congrats again on the baby. I’m so happy for you guys. Call me later?”
Corey got up, hugging her one and only girlfriend. “Yes, ma’am.” Once Molly was out the door Corey whipped around and grabbed Riley’s phone out of his hands. “What did I tell you about this damn phone?”
“Corey. Please do not smash my phone. I am begging you.”
The pleading look on his face was comical. “Okay, but I keep it with me until we get home and you finish all your weekend homework.”
Riley pursed his lips, contemplating. “Deal. But we get to have Greek for dinner.”
“Deal. Greek for dinner.” Corey stashed his phone in her purse as they walked out to the car.
Chapter Fifty
Corey
Corey was sitting in her office the following Monday eating a candy bar when Baze poked his head in the doorway. She quickly threw the chocolate in the trashcan under her desk and swallowed the lump of nougat in her mouth. Dom had told her to cut down on the sugar when he had seen her drink a vanilla milkshake for breakfast. “Oh hey, Baze, what’s up? I was just grabbing a quick snack, love those granola bars.”
“You think I can’t recognize a Snickers wrapper?” He snorted. “I’m not here to bust you for eating garbage though. I was actually wondering if you would go with me to talk to the anthropology professor. I think he might be able to help us figure out why Riley and the baby are so connected.”
“Ugh. Why does that bother you so damn much? I don’t want to go talk to the anthropology professor. He doesn’t like me.” She looked down in her trashcan, wondering if it would be acceptable to finish the candy bar even though Baze already considered it garbage.
Baze put his hands on the back of the chair in front of her desk, his knuckles white. “What do you mean he doesn’t like you? What could you have possibly done in the short time you’ve been here to piss off a man who rarely leaves his office?”
“I made some jokes at the last staff meeting that he didn’t find funny.” Corey shrugged. The guys never came to those meetings, so she kind of felt obligated to attend for all of them.
“Werewolf jokes or Twilight jokes?”
“Werewolf.”
“It’s your own fault then. We have warned you over and over to not call shifters werewolves. I don’t feel bad for you.” He clapped his hands together once, loudly. “Get up. Let’s go.”
“I’m busy, Baze. You go. Here, take my phone and just record what he says. It’ll be like I was there the whole time.”
Baze rolled his eyes. “No. You’re coming with me or I’m telling Dom about the candy bars. The one you just ate and the stash in your desk.”
“I don’t have a stash of candy bars in my desk.” She glanced down to the guilty drawer without meaning to.
“Really, Corey? I am a wolf. Not only can I smell the chocolate but I can sense that you are lying. Now let’s go, you little hoarder.” Baze held the door open, waiting for her to comply.
She huffed. “You’re really irritating me today.”
“Feeling is mutual.” He smiled as he followed her out of the building. They drove in silence across campus to Thad Plimpton’s office. Thad had been the anthropology professor at St. Leasing for the last decade. He was in his mid-sixties with thinning wispy gray hair and thick black-framed glasses. The man had an almost nonexistent sense of humor and took shifter tradition and culture seriously. Or so he said when he’d scolded her about the werewolf jokes.
“We need his help, and he already doesn’t like you. Can you please try to be on your best behavior in there?” Baze scolded as they got out of his truck.
She sneered, but then nodded.
Baze knocked on Plimpton’s office door and waited politely for permission before entering.
“Ah, Baze, to what do I owe this pleasure? One of your players failing my class? Lincoln finally contract a rare shifter STD?” Mr. Plimpton looked up from the book he was reading and regarded them over his glasses.
Corey giggled at Plimpton’s last comment, and Baze shot her a look. “Actually, neither. I have a few questions I would like to ask you. That’s if you have the time. We can always come back.”
Plimpton motioned toward the chairs in front of his desk. “Please have a seat. I have a few minutes to spare before my next class. What can I help you with?”
“As you may know, Corey is mated to Dominic Hardy. And now they are going to have a baby.”
“Well, congratulations, Ms. Cooper. That is wonderful news, I’m sure.” His words were kind, but the expression on his face was less than.
“Thank you. We are thrilled.”
“I’m not really sure how to begin to explain the situation that has arisen here.” Baze cleared his throat and began, “I have the ability to sense change in others. I can usually sense a pregnancy before anyone else. But this time, one of our players sensed it first. Not only could he tell Corey was pregnant, he could tell that the baby was a girl, almost instantly. A few nights ago he told us that he can feel the baby growing stronger every day. He is innately and unnaturally protective over the baby as well. His reaction to someone touching Corey’s stomach shocked even him. Naturally, Dom is protective over Corey, and now the baby, but we can’t figure out why Riley is. What is this connection he has with the baby? At first I thought his senses, his talent, was just far better than anyone else I had encountered. But now I’m not so sure that’s it.”
Plimpton put his hands together, almost as if he was praying, and brought them to his lips. He was silent for several seconds. “This ballplayer, Riley, are you and he close, Ms. Cooper?”
“Yes, we are close. Not in a creepy, unhealthy way though. I mean we’ve been through some stuff together. We were attacked.” She was fumbling trying to put her relationship with Riley into words. She pursed her lips and tried again. “He’s a great kid, I care about him a lot. Not quite like a mother-son relationship. Maybe more like a brother-sister? Or an aunt-nephew?” Corey felt like she was on trial for some reason.
Plimpton nodded slowly. “Does Dominic like Riley? Does it make him angry when you two spend time together?”
“Not at all, he adores Riley. That’s part of the reason Baze got all bent out of shape and did this weird touching experiment. When Riley touches my stomach, Dom doesn’t react. When anyone else does it, he growls.”
Baze looked over at Corey. “Don’t call it a ‘weird touching experiment.’ That sounds gross and dirty. I was merely trying to show you guys that Riley’s connection with the baby is profound.”
“Profound? Merely? Who are you right now? Stop trying to impress Professor Plimpton.” Corey narrowed her eyes at Baze, and to her surprise, Thad started to chuckle.
“You two fight like siblings. You are close as well?”
“We’re all close. I am surrounded by were—uh, shifters all the time. We fight like siblings, but I love them.” Corey could feel her cheeks heating up from almost saying werewolf. That most likely would have killed Plimpton’s good mood.
“That’s part of my question,” Baze emphasized. “We are all close, we all love Corey, and we all love the baby. But I don’t care if anyone touches her stomach. I have the same talents as Riley but I can’t feel the baby getting stronger, and I couldn’t tell it was a girl. There has to be more to it, right?”
“Yes. There is more to it. It’s not common, but I think what’s going on here is that Riley and the baby are cosmically connected—”
“Oh my god, did Riley imprint on my baby?” Corey felt lightheaded.
“For fuck’s sake, Corey. Are you kidding me right now?
Imprinting is not a thing. No one imprints on an unborn baby in real life. That’s it, I’m telling Dom about the candy bars.”
“What? What’s imprinting?” Plimpton looked confused.
“It’s nothing. It is something stupid that Corey read in a book or watched in a movie that has no basis in real life. Forget she even said that, I beg of you. Continue with what you were saying, please.” Baze glared over at Corey, daring her to bring up one more Twilight term.
“Ah yes, well, as I was saying. Riley and the baby are connected. They are almost soul mates. But not in the same way you and Dominic are. They are like siblings, but it’s more than a blood relation, it’s a spiritual one. And it’s because the baby is a girl. Obviously the universe thinks your daughter is something extraordinary. Connections like the one you are describing aren’t so common anymore.”
“Anymore? So cases like this used to be common?” Corey still didn’t fully understand what Plimpton was trying to say. She hadn’t been immersed in all things shifter for any significant length of time, and a lot still escaped her. She grew up thinking the world was one way, only to learn that it was completely different. In shifter culture, the universe ruled all. The powers that be had everything mapped out, and free will only tended to fuck with the great powers’ plans.
“Shifters used to spend their lives in packs more or less. Family units that would live together, run together, work together. Whether you meant to or not, the six of you seemed to have formed a pack. Every so often, there would be girls born into these packs that were more than your average human female, girls that carry little snippets of the shifter DNA. They are special and rather rare.” Plimpton sat back and folded his hands on his desk. “Riley is her guardian. It’s who he is. Just like being Dominic’s mate is who you were born to be.” He took a deep breath. “In a world of science and fact, there are still some things that have no explanation.”