Chapter 7

I tried to hide my smile when I saw him at his work place and stepped away from the window. The bell chimed when I entered and he lifted his gaze to see who had come in; when he realized it was me, he gave me a shy wave before he got back to wiping the bar with a towel.

I walked straight towards him, ignoring everyone else, just like I'd done last time and I sat in the same spot I had on my previous visit.

"Hey," we greeted each other simultaneously and we both laughed.

"One extra large with extra cream?" He suggested and I nodded. "With a wolf again?"

"If it is not too much trouble."

"Nah, I like doing this." He began pouring the coffee in a big mug. "I've worked in other cafés before I came here and I always played with the cream; it's how I got good with it. Well," he took his eyes off the white liquid he was using to decorate my drink with, "kind of good."

"You are good at it," I contradicted and he lowered his gaze back to his work, a grin playing at the corner of his gorgeous lips.

He liked it when I complimented him.

I could give him more of that, I was sure I'd find many sincere words to praise him with, but that would have to wait until we were a couple. This was only the third time we saw each other after all; I did not want to overwhelm him or worse - to scare him away.

"How is your day so far?" I asked an innocent enough question, my mind back on his beautiful lips and how much I wanted to run my thumb over them, to slip my tongue between them... To hear him moan against my mouth as we kissed and I caressed his skin...

"So far so good." He slid the mug with the chubby figure of a wolf cub in it towards me. "Afternoons are busier so more patrons will show up."

"Do you always work on afternoons?" I asked, aiming for a casual tone as I took out my phone and snapped a picture of my drink. I sent it to Kennedy straight away, partly to show off what Riley could do, partly to have one more copy of it in case something happened to my phone.

"Not always." He leaned sideways on the bar, displaying his slim profile. I tried not to flinch as I remembered how I called him too thin the last time I was here; I really hoped he was not hurt by my comment.

"I usually work mornings on Mondays and Wednesdays - I changed shifts today because a colleague of mine has a dentist appointment - and afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are the busiest so we have a rotational schedule then. It's mostly teenage part-timers who work during the weekends though," he added. "Mr. Philips - that's the owner of the Milk & Cream - knows they are busy with school during the week so he lets them work then. And their friends visit so they can all hang out here; Mr. Philips doesn't mind them chatting as long as it doesn't get in the way of them working. Am I babbling? I think I'm babbling."

He finally stopped to catch his breath. I raised the mug to my mouth to hide my grin; I liked him like that, I liked him sounding breathless, it made me want to do things that would leave him breathless...

I felt the blush creeping into my cheeks and attempted to concentrate on the hot, creamy coffee swooshing down my throat instead of my carnal desires for my mate. I had to get my mind out of the gutter before Riley realized where my thoughts were taking me.

"I don't mind," I replied, placing the mug back on the counter, praying he wouldn't notice the pink hue on my face. Thankfully, it was then that two teenage girls placed their order and Riley stepped away to serve them.

I missed him he moment his eyes left me. He was only a couple of steps away, but I desperately craved his attention even though this distraction provided my face with the opportunity to return to its normal color.

The girls were giggling while the taller one told him about some guy flirting with her. Riley was listening and nodding politely at the narration while he served them, but his eyes flickered my way.

I couldn't help but smile.

I just had to, he obviously wanted to return to me.

The corners of his own lips angled up in that split second he saw my smile and then his gaze returned to the teens. They thanked him for the flowers - did he draw flowers on their drinks? He must have; what else could it be? - and left to join a small group of girls their age who had already sat down at one of the tables.

"Fans of yours?" I teased when he got back to me.

He got back to me.

I mentally shook myself and tried to get rid of the grin. Of course he would; I was sitting at the bar and he worked at the bar. But he was still smiling and he looked like he wanted to be here, like he was enjoying my company.

"They come here often and always ask for a flower in their coffee." He bit his lower lip and I clenched my jaw so I wouldn't groan. The sight of it - this simple activity of covering his lip with a line of straight white teeth - made me groan and want to jump up, grab him by the nape and cover his mouth with mine.

For how long will I be able to control myself around him?

He leaned forward over the bar and for a moment I thought he'd seen the desire in my eyes; for a moment I thought he was coming closer to kiss me, that he wanted to kiss me. Instead, he lowered his voice and said:

"I actually forgot their names." It took me a few seconds to realize he was talking about the girls. "So many people come and go and they sometimes don't even introduce themselves; they just expect that I would know their names because they talk to each other and use them to address one another. I just go along with it because I don't want to make things awkward, but I feel a bit guilty sometimes; these two come here every other day and I still can't remember what they are called."

"Don't worry about it. As you said, this is a popular place with lots of patrons; you can't remember everyone." I wanted to reassure him, but my voice came out breathy. Riley's eyes slipped from mine to my mouth and then back up. He bit his lip again, cleared his throat and backed away.

"And how was your day?" He asked, his voice slightly shaky.

Had I made him nervous?

Was that a good thing?

Was it bad?

Should I try and flirt?

Should I back off and give him space?

What was I to do?

Why was I never sure of how to read his reactions?

Why did I have to doubt everything I did and said around him?

Inexperience.

That was why.

I had no experience with any type of relationships. Part of me wished I had so I would be more confident around Riley and give him what he wanted. The other part was proud I had kept myself pure for my mate.

But that brought so many insecurities.

Would I be able to make him feel good the first time we were together?

I'd fantasies about that moment, about what we could do, but what if I ended up disappointing him?

What if I did not perform well?

I had not even kissed anyone; what if I was a bad kisser?

He lifted his eyebrows.

"I'd understand if you don't want to or can't talk about it. It was just that you asked me..." His voice trailed off and I remembered he had inquired about my day.

"It was good." I shrugged casually.

Up until this moment and me doubting my abilities to please you.

"I drove my youngest brother - Kennedy, to school; my second youngest - Carter, is still mad at me because I berated his..." mate "... girlfriend the other day. She was rude and selfish," I explained. "She's an only child so her mom spoils her a lot and she's used to be the center of attention. She's not a bad person though, just... Well, a spoiled one. I hope she glows out of it; she and Carter are serious about each other."

As a matter of fact, they'd go through the mating ceremony when they turned eighteen. But I kept that bit to myself.

"So, there's Everett - the eldest, then you, then Carter, and then Kennedy ?" He enlisted and I nodded.

"Do you have any siblings, Riley?"

He looked away, his lips quivering. My heart stopped; what had I done now?

"One. A brother." His tone was clipped. "Older than me. He stopped speaking to me when I came out. So did our parents." His mouth formed into a tight-lipped, humorless smile. "Not before they told me that I'd burn in Hell and to get out of their house though."

I fisted my hands, but that did not stop them from shaking. My muscles strained as it took me every ounce of self-control not to jump over the bar and hug him. Not to tell him that he didn't need them, that he had me. Not to kiss him on the forehead and let him cry while I held him, if crying was what he needed to do.

I couldn't do that; not yet.

Not yet - I was starting to hate those words.

I couldn't wait; I needed to show my mate I was there for him and convince him that I would always be there for him.

I was in pain.

Mental pain from holding myself back, from staying away, and it was taking on a physical form.

I ached.

I ached to touch him, to console him, to... to... to do whatever he needed at the moment.

"I'm sorry."

The phrase sounded silly, hollow.

It was not enough to express the storm of emotions brewing inside of me. Not the pain or the sorrow, or the sympathy at how he was hurt from the very people who should've showed him unconditional support; not the anger at how they'd hurt him. How they'd hurt my mate. My. Mate.

He shrugged.

"It was a long time ago. Sort of. Two years."

"You were..."

"Sixteen." He helpfully supplied and attempted to smile. "And I figured that if they didn't love me the way I was, then I shouldn't be bothered with what they think of me."

He was so brave.

So very brave. To have been betrayed by his family and to have still found a way to go on with his life... I wouldn't have been able to do that; I wouldn't have been able to go on without them.

So brave and so strong.

I wanted to ask him about what had happened to him after he'd left his home, but I had no desire to upset him further. Each frown, each saddened gaze or faked smile were like a nail to my heart; I couldn't be the one to upset Riley further.

I took a sip of my now somewhat colder beverage and looked at the time on my phone.

"Do you have somewhere to be?" He asked and I shifted my gaze to him.

"I have to pick up Kennedy after his soccer practice." I pocketed my phone. "He's crazy about the game. I think the only reason he agreed to go to summer school was so he could have practice after the classes."

"Agreed?" He leaned forward, elbows on the bar, genuinely interested. "Your parents asked him about it?"

"Yes. He knows they preferred both Carter and him in the summer school, but they wouldn't have pushed if the boys didn't want to go. Carter went because of Melanie - his girlfriend, and Kennedy because of soccer."

"Is he any good?"

"Good?" I laughed. "The boy is practically a rocket. You blink while he is on the field and you'll miss him. He can play any position too, but he likes scoring the most and it is what he's best at, that little devil."

"Devil?"

Riley was smiling. For real this time. He liked me talking about my family in spite of what his had done to him.

I returned his smile.

He wanted to get to know me.

"He can be rather mischievous sometimes. Well, most of the time. He's always doing something, always going places, meeting with people, earning new admirers... You have no idea how many girls from our... neighborhood crush over him."

He raised an eyebrow at my pause.

"We, our community so to say..." I tried to explain, but was at a loss of words. What else to call us other than a pack?

Would he understand who the community was?

"The Silver Bullets gang?" He asked, straitening up.

"We are not a gang," I hurried to contradict. "We have our own rules and are a private community, but we are not a gang. You got the name right though."

His eyebrows furrowed, probably in an attempt to understand why a non-gang would need a name.

"So we, the Silver Bullets, all live in the same neighborhood, at the edge of town." I finished my previous thought; I would postpone explaining what we were until I figured out a good way to do so without calling us a pack.

"How did that happen?"

"A few generations ago, several families who were friends and had common interests and beliefs moved together to Woodbury, bought some land close to the forest and build houses. As their children got older and formed families of their own, they bought more land and built more houses and so on, and so on, which is why now we have a neighborhood of our own."

Thanks to the Sentinels, I added in my mind. Them and the funds they gave my ancestors to help them move here. But then again that's one of the Sentinels' tasks - to help supernaturals stay hidden from ordinary humans. There were too many shifters at the same place back then; some had to branch out and form a pack in another town. One day I will explain this to you, Riley; one day you'll know everything about us.

"Wow! A whole neighborhood just for your gang... Community, sorry!" He quickly corrected himself, worried that he might anger me when he saw my frown. I wasn't angry at him though; I just didn't want him to think I was a part of some criminal organization.

"It's okay." I gulped what was left of my coffee and swiped the back of my hand over my mouth. "I'm off to pick Kennedy up, but I'll come back tomorrow. Unless you don't want me to."

Please say you want me to.

"No, no!" He shot out. "I mean, I don't not want you here. What I'm saying is that I'd like to have you here... I mean... I'm babbling again." He covered his face with his hands. "Sorry about that."

"Stop apologizing so much." I reached into my pocket for my wallet when what I really wanted to do was reach for his wrists instead and pull his palms off his face so he'd look at me again.

Riley lowered his arms and his mouth was already preparing to utter another apology when he caught himself and closed it shut.

I took out enough money to cover my bill plus a small tip and saw him discreetly sign in relief when his eyes landed on the small sum I placed on the bar.

"See you tomorrow then," I uttered.

My knees went week and I almost sat back in the stool for support when he answered with the most radiant smile.

*****

A/N: Holly funky monkey, synching the timelines and data in You are the Answer and We are the Answer is a lot of work! I seriously have to re-read YATA chapters and take notes on them to work on WATA.

Anyway, what do you think of this chapter?

Too sappy/touchy-feely?

Please give it a vote if you enjoyed it!