Riley was boneless as he leaned against the wall, his legs quivering. “Now I’m the one who needs a nap.”
Sterling grinned and then frowned. “Where’s Bacon?”
Riley tucked himself back into his pants. “I’ll go get him.” He left Sterling as he went in search of Chey. He knew that he wasn’t going to get any rest until his mate knew his pet was safe from Iam and his posse of pork eaters.
Chapter Seven
Riley smacked his cell phone on the palm of his hand, cursing when he still had no bars. He would have to be in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. How was he supposed to call his pa, smoke signals? He walked around the village, holding his hand high up in the air as he tried to catch a signal anywhere.
“You look like you’re worshiping a cell phone god,” Sterling said with a wide grin on his face as he walked over to Riley. “You better watch out or Iam will try and roast that next.”
“He might as well. It’s useless.” Riley lowered his arm, smacking the phone with his hand again. “The damn thing has never lost signal before.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had one.”
Riley’s brows shot up in surprise. “Never?”
Sterling shook his head. “Nope.”
“How in the hell do you live without one?”
Sterling shrugged. “I can’t miss what I’ve never had. Besides, who was I going to call?”
God, Riley would go nuts if he couldn’t use a phone when he needed to. He remembered the time before cell phones were invented. It had been a pain in the ass to try and find a pay phone, and he had to drive all the way back to the house when out and about if he wanted to talk to anyone at home.
Of course, back then, he hadn’t lived in a rural community like this. But he still had a signal on the ranch.
“Eagle, Max, and Chey have a fire going. They’ve invited us to sit with them. Maybe one of them has a phone that works.” Sterling offered Riley a small, shy smile, and then he walked across the village to the spot where a fire was brightly crackling.
Riley swallowed hard.
He’d had sex with Sterling. He had claimed his mate. He even received some damn good head. But now was the time to put up or shut up. He was either going to openly cuddle his mate with witnesses or run and hide in their hut.
He was sweating bullets.
Riley shoved his cell phone into his pocket and glanced around. He saw a few fey mingling with each other, talking quietly, and a few laughing at what the other said. He glanced over at the fire and saw how Eagle held Chey in the apex of his legs as Max leaned close and whispered in his ear.
He also saw Sterling sitting across the fire by himself, looking a bit nervous and so damn breathtaking that Riley’s chest hurt. Sterling was trying to smile as he replied to something Chey said, putting all of his attention on the small piglet cradled in his arms as if that was all he needed in the world.
Riley shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked across the village to the roaring fire. He saw Sterling’s eyes flicker up to him and then dart away, and he wished more than anything that he hadn’t put that hesitant look on his mate’s face. Sterling didn’t know what to expect from him, and it seemed that the gorgeous little man was too afraid to ask.
Riley sighed. He had done this. His standoffish ways had made his mate hesitant to ask for what he wanted. Sterling wasn’t asking for the world. He wasn’t even asking Riley to run around the village professing his love. He just wanted to be shown a little kindness and affection from his mate outside the bedroom.
You can do this, Riley told himself as he walked past the fire to sit on the log next to Sterling. He just had to figure out how to do it. Open displays of affection were not something Riley was used to, despite having grown up with his father and his brothers. He didn’t mind the occasional slap on the back, but he knew nothing about cuddling with his mate.
And that kind of sucked now that he needed that knowledge the most.
Especially since Sterling kept shooting him little looks under the fall of his hair as if waiting for something. As the minutes passed, Riley could see Sterling’s shoulders start to slump as if he realized that Riley wasn’t going to cuddle with him. Sterling drew in a deep breath and straightened his shoulders, hugging Bacon closer to his chest like a lifeline.
And then he smiled as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
Riley glanced across the fire to where Eagle sat with Chey cradled between his legs. Chey was talking to Sterling, and Sterling was even replying. Eagle and Max just kept looking at Riley strangely.
Riley couldn’t stand it anymore. The inch or two between him and Sterling seemed a mile wide. He scooted over just a little and nudged Sterling’s shoulder with his thigh. Sterling glanced at him, his face flushing furiously before he looked away.