Coyote Wolf

18 | A DAY WITH ADYEN

NAYLAN

Downtown Toronto was always rowdy, and even more so during the afternoons on the weekend when most people didn't have work. Most of the street was covered in slow-moving motorcycles and stalls that had been erected on pavements, forcing people to walk on the main road. I was at the front of Georgiou's pizza place, listening to the buzz of the city as I thought about the new information Georgiou had given to me before I headed out with Adyen to grab our bikes.

"Our trackers have a scent. It shouldn't be long until we find them. We're more worried that they're kids or teenagers who are just hungry, but we don't know how they'll react," he had told me as I had sipped on the juice box Leigh had offered me earlier.

Georgiou's reassurance that the search would be over soon made me angrier at Mavis for overreacting. He still hadn't reached out to me—

"Damn, you're so stuck in your head that you're not even paying attention to me."

My brother's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I sharply turned to look at him, blinking a bit before muttering a small apology. "Sorry." My tone was apologetic. "I really am."

I moved to sit on my motorcycle before looking over at him. "There's just a bit on my mind," I mentioned, smiling a little as flashes of the argument I had with Mavis went through my mind. It's been a few days, and he never called or texted, so I didn't, and when the weekend came, I drove over to Georgiou's to meet Adyen. I had agreed to go on a drive with him on Saturday, and on Sunday we would just relax at Georgiou's since I was staying over in a spare room they had through the weekend.

Adyen smiled, sighing as he adjusted the level of his motorcycle seat. He was decent at riding about now, but his boyfriend still refused to ride a motorcycle with him because he felt they'd crash. I smiled, thinking about Len. He couldn't make it today because he has a project to finish for presentation by Monday, so it was just me and Adyen.

"I know you have pack issues to worry about, but you promised that you'll spend time with me today, so try to concentrate." He reminded me, getting onto his motorcycle as well before putting on a helmet.

"I will, I will," I said, laughing a shot as we both raved our engines and took our bikes to the main road. Hanging out with Adyen was something I had planned out weeks ago so that I didn't disturb his university schedule, but it was turning out to be a huge stress relief regarding everything that was happening. I've been so pent up, so it was nice to just relax.

Adyen started driving first, and I followed behind him, letting him lead me through the streets. The air was cool, and the feeling of my clothes flapping in the wind as I tried to keep up with Adyen felt nice.

It wasn't a long ride, and soon we were making our way back to Georgiou's place.

"Does Len know you drive this fast yet?" I asked when Adyen swerved at a speed a little too fast for someone who hadn't been riding a motorcycle for too long.

"Yes, and that's why he won't get on," Adyen said over the sound of our racing engines. I laughed, as we both slowed down when we started to see crowded streets again. We parked at the back of the restaurant when we reached it and slipped into the kitchen from the back door.

"I'm fucking starving," Adyen announced as he took off his helmet. I did the same, before wandering to the bread box on the kitchen counter.

"Do you mind taking out the peanut butter?" I asked, looking over at him. He shook his head and wandered to the fridge for the jar, and soon we had made a batch of sandwiches and wandered over to the kitchen island to enjoy them with juice boxes.

We talked through the meal. I mostly asked about how Ayden's classes were going even though I didn't understand any of the terms he was using in his answers. Something about an internship, and something about trying to manage his track team sports scholarship since his practice hours clashed with his class schedule.