That was exactly what he had been doing, but Baker knew no one was around. Reno was too careful and wouldn’t let anyone witness their intimacy. That was until his dad showed up.
“Dad, this is Reno.” Baker waved a hand at his mate’s chest. “My, uh, boyfriend.”
His dad gave Reno a withering glare as he raked his eyes over him. Baker had a feeling Reno came up short in his dad’s eyes. The man was not an easy person to please since Baker’s mother died. Accepting Reno wasn’t going to be in the cards.
“You think it’s all right to molest my son in public?”
“No, sir,” Reno answered. Baker could tell his mate was holding back and he appreciated the effort. Most grown men wouldn’t allow another to talk down to them that way. Reno was standing there taking it and Baker owed him big-time. “I was merely giving him a kiss to show your son how much I care about him.”
“That looked like more than a kiss to me.”
“Dad,” Baker said, wishing he could cover his face and make the man go away. “Please.” He really didn’t have to answer to his father. Baker was a grown man. But even though his dad had changed, Baker still respected him.
He just hoped like hell they didn’t get into another one of their arguments that seemed to happen a lot lately. Not with Reno here to witness it.
His dad grunted and turned, but not before saying over his shoulder, “Stop acting like a harlot in public.” He strode away and Baker noticed his dad’s car parked by the diner.
Fuck! He wanted to shout his frustrations as he watched his father drive away in his battered old car. Was there anything he could do to make the man proud of him? Getting caught with Reno sure as shit hadn’t scored him any brownie points.
“Nice guy,” Reno commented, although Baker could hear the suppressed resentment in his tone. “A little uptight though.”
“You have no idea,” Baker muttered as he looked away, a pulse of anger skittering along his spine. He was going home where he could wallow in misery. Walking away, he had the urge to kick something. What had started out as a beautiful, playful evening had ended in a mood-killing funk for him. He just wanted to be left alone right now.
“I’ll walk you home.” Reno matched his strides as Baker walked with angry steps down the almost deserted street.
“I don’t need anyone to walk me home,” he bit out, feeling the fury mount at what his father had just done to him. “I just need some time to myself.”
Reno slowed, his expression inscrutable. “No problem.”
Baker turned to tell his mate he was just in a pissy mood from an unreasonable father, but Reno was nowhere in sight. Baker swore before he pinched his lips together. That was all he needed, an offended mate. Great. His night was ending with a bang.
With a heavy sigh, he turned back around and began to walk home. On the way, he let a slew of curse words fly from his mouth, uncaring if anyone heard him.
He rolled the thoughts over and over in his mind, trying to figure out a way to get his dad off of his back and Reno to forgive him for being mean to the guy. He should have reined in his emotions before he took them out on Reno. All his mate had been trying to do was be there for him.
Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, Baker wondered where Reno lived. If he knew, he would go over there right now and apologize, maybe even grovel. But he had never bothered to ask and Reno had never bothered to tell him.
His gut began to clench as he felt pain in the back of his throat. Baker had gone from being extremely pissed off to feeling guilty as hell for the way he had treated Reno.
Climbing the steps to his apartment, Baker let himself in, slammed the door behind him, and dropped onto the couch. “What the fuck am I going to do now?”
His thoughts were tumbling, splintering into pieces as they ran back and forth between his father and his mate. They were both mad as hell at him.
When it rains it pours.
Sighing dejectedly and slumping his shoulders, Baker fell over to his side, hitting the cushions and closing his eyes. To hell with it. He would figure out a way to get Reno to forgive him and maybe even his father.
At the moment, he just didn’t care. All Baker wanted to do was sleep the rest of the night and forget he had a fucked-up ending to his evening.
But first he needed to get out of his sticky pants and take a shower. Too bad his dad hadn’t seen Reno actually bite into him. That would have stunned him into silence.
As Baker undressed, he smiled. What he wouldn’t give to let his father know Reno was really a coyote. But his mate had warned him not to tell others, to keep the secret of Brac Village. His mate had told him that the world didn’t know about shifters and they were better off not holding that knowledge. Their relationship with the humans was more harmonious that way.
He still didn’t get why his dad had a stick up his rear. His life wasn’t bad. Baker had a job, a mate, and a cozy apartment. Why was his dad all over his ass?
Tossing his dirty clothes into the basket by his bedroom door, Baker felt a low throb in the front of his head.
Great, a fucking migraine. It was only befitting since everything else seemed to be going wrong tonight. But even though his head felt like a sledgehammer was coming down on his skull, Baker couldn’t help but think of Reno’s thick, masculine chest, strong, sure hands, or the way he could use one glance with
