Marked Northern Shifters 1

hadn’t arrived and Ira’s anxiety burst forth again.
    Liam silently cursed Alec.
At three-forty Ira said, in a woebegone voice, “He’s not coming, is he?” “I don’t know. He may just be running late.” Alec had said three o’clock, but
    perhaps he didn’t know about little boys and expectations, at least outside the library. Ten minutes later the doorbell rang and Ira literally leapt into the air. They both rushed to the door. Liam couldn’t help but think Alec would laugh at their
eagerness, but when Ira opened the door, a sodden, rather grim Alec stood on their step.
    Alec and Liam stared at each other, only for a few seconds, but Liam’s heart went bang, thumping in his chest. It had never occurred to him Alec wouldn’t or couldn’t drive over.
    “You’re wet,” Ira declared.
Alec wiped his dripping face with a hand. “Yep.”
Liam collected himself. “Shit, come on in. How’d you get here?”
“Bus,” said Alec rather curtly. Which meant a fairly long walk into the suburb where
Ira and Liam lived. Stepping in, Alec shook off the rain. He wore a jacket, but his jeans were soaked through. “Sorry I’m late, Ira. The bus took longer than I thought.”
    “That’s okay,” Ira boomed, ecstatic at Alec’s presence, wet or not. Alec gave him a quick smile before pulling off his jacket.
“Here, let me hang that up.” Liam made a point not to crowd Alec, even though he was so happy to see him.
“Well, it’s nice to be somewhere dry,” Alec told Ira.
“Why didn’t you drive?” asked Ira, puzzled.
“I don’t drive.”
“You mean you don’t have a car?”
Alec paused for just a moment. “That, too.”
Ira looked at Liam in amazement.
“Not everyone owns a car,” Liam explained.
Ira chewed his lip thoughtfully.
“Look.” Liam redirected his gaze to Alec. “Can I give you a pair of my sweats while I throw your jeans in the dryer? They can’t be comfortable.”
“Okay,” said Alec diffidently.
“Do you want a drink?” offered Ira. “I bought beer.”
Amused, Alec’s face relaxed. “I think that’s illegal, buddy.”
“Root beer,” Liam elaborated. “We have regular beer. As well as other drinks. Ira, take Alec to the kitchen while I find some sweats.”
Jogging up to his bedroom, Liam found a warmth growing in his chest. Despite the bad weather—it would have been easy to phone and cancel—Alec had made his way over to see them. To see Ira , Liam corrected himself. As he pulled gray sweats out of the drawer, he brought them to his face and breathed them in.
Unworn since the wash. His nose wrinkled at the lingering smell of detergent. Well, soon they would hold Alec’s scent.
Liam had to be careful. When he liked someone, he tended to be overly physical and scare them off. Right now he liked Alec very, very much.
That thought brought him up short. This afternoon was not about Liam, but Ira . And Alec was Ira’s friend. Liam didn’t want to mess with that relationship. Couldn’t afford to given Ira’s paucity of friends. Friends. Liam blinked, as he staved off a wave of loneliness. Then he set the ache aside, bunched up the sweats and walked back downstairs.
Walking through this rich subdivision, Alec had toyed with the idea of turning around, getting back on that bus and going home to his cheap one-room apartment. He’d never thought he’d care about money—he’d certainly grown up in a place similar to this house—but now that he lived without, he found himself embarrassed by his finances, or lack thereof.
But Ira was counting on him and Alec refused to be a coward today, so he’d trudged up to their house, his wet sneakers squeaking, and rung that doorbell. Obviously Liam’s business was doing great. Alec hadn’t known woodworking could pay so well.
It felt odd wearing Liam’s sweats. They bunched slightly at the ankles. Though the same height, Liam had longer legs. It had been a while since Alec had worn anyone else’s clothing. His last boyfriend had been quite a bit smaller. Alec wished he weren’t attracted to Ira’s brother who didn’t like to be kissed.
Feeling more comfortable, at least physically, Alec emerged from the washroom in dry clothes. Ira was waiting for him in the kitchen. “Can you stay for supper, Mr. Alec?”
“Why don’t you call me Alec, since we’re not at the library?”
“Okay.” When Ira ducked his head with pleasure, Alec decided that Ira couldn’t possibly pull more heartstrings than he had. Alec tried to