They ended up driving to the cooking school from Davian’s mansion, both splitting into pairs for the drive.
A Mafia King in public was rare enough, but two simply never happened.
The parking lot was sparse but they attracted attention nonetheless.
The cashier was less startled by the sight of Asher, she had already seen one Mafia King, what was one more? It also helped that Mafia King Asher wasn’t the one registering for a class but his pretty mate.
"What do you usually do when Davian has his classes?" Caspian asked, sticking to the towering Alpha.
"One of Davian’s companies is nearby, I get some work done," Lake replied without much thought.
Asher’s eyes widened a fraction, he hadn’t been expecting that response.
"Why don’t the both of you join us for our first class?" Caspian was quick to suggest, brimming with excitement.
Lake didn’t mind, he wondered if it was safe to have two have two Mafia Kings in a single class though.
Davian mirrored his thoughts, the Alpha vocalizing it. "Yeah no, Asher’s going to set the place on fire."
Asher frowned, straightening his shoulders. "No, the fuck I’m not, I’m a pretty decent cook..."
Caspian coughing at that moment didn’t help his claims.
With laughter, Lake interrupted their rapidly escalating argument. "We’ll both join you guys, I just need to make a quick call."
"Let’s head in first," Caspian latched onto Davian’s hand to excitedly pull him towards the class, "Let’s sit next to each other."
Asher frowned at this display, his disapproval clear to see. He made a move to go after them and then stopped, Lake was still outside, he would hang around.
Lake had just stepped outside at that point, he just wanted to make a quick call to Rosie. He really didn’t need to as if there was any issue, the secretary would call him but he also didn’t want to foist all of his responsibilities on her.
He put his phone to his ear, distracted enough to bump into someone. "I’m sorr-"
Lake’s apology dried up in his throat at the familiar face looking back at him, pale blue eyes sparkling.
"Lake," His handsome face broke into a smile, "I didn’t think I’d be lucky to see you again."
The last time he had seen the Alpha had just been last night, but too much had been going on for them to even have a simple conversation.
"Me neither. What are you doing here?" He blurted out, hanging up instead of using Rosie to ditch the conversation.
"Oh, I go to that cooking school," He jabbed a finger at the building behind Lake. "You didn’t teach me how to make those sandwiches so I had to make do."
Of course he did. "Right," Lake said with a grimace, wondering why the conversation felt so tense.
He had only met with Clint a couple of times prior to this, they really owed each other nothing.
"So you’ve got a mate," Clint brought up, making the atmosphere even more awkward.
Asher appeared out of thin air at that point, the Alpha’s blazing hazel eyes narrowed as he put himself in between them, staring Clint down.
Clint’s eyes shuttered at that address, taking a step back. "I could say the same to you."
Lake had once again forgotten that Clint was a pretty important figure in Haines. All he could see when he saw the Alpha was him stuffing his face at their picnic, and Freida throwing a book at him although he had never seen that in person.
"Caspian and Davian are waiting for us," Asher said to him, not bothering to give Clint a response.
Lake wanted to say something more but there was really nothing else to say to Clint, it was best if the strange Alpha just forgot about him. They were no more than acquaintances, after all.
As they started for the building complex, Lake wanted to turn around but he didn’t. He expected Asher to ask him questions but the Alpha didn’t, not even after they joined Caspian and Davian.
While Caspian chatted their ears off, Lake’s eyes kept drifting to the door. There was no other cooking school in this building, it meant that Clint had been talking about this one.
He was oddly quiet as Asher bickered with Davian, he couldn’t explain the faint guilt that clung to him. It wasn’t like he had deliberately been trying to deceive Clint when they first met.
Things just happened the way they did...
"...ake? Lake?" Caspian’s voice interrupted his thoughts, his friend moving close enough to hold his hand. "Are you alright?"
Lake’s brown eyes drifted to Davian and then to Asher who still kept his lips shut. "I’m..."
Clint chose that moment to stride right in for whatever reason but Lake didn’t let it bother him, slapping a smile on his face.
"Never better. The teacher is here, we should go to our seats."
Caspian had eagerly snagged a seat beside Davian, still bubbling with excitement over finding someone who also liked to cook.
Asher was quick to take the table next to his mate, leaving Lake to take the next row.
The last time they had been here, the class had a bunch of people, now there were only two stragglers in the back, leaving most of the cooking desks empty.
Without looking up, Lake knew that Clint was heading in his direction, ignoring Asher’s covert glance at him when Clint chose the desk right next to his.
"Are you alright?" Clint’s quiet voice made him flinch.
Lake glanced over at him, "What?"
"Are you in danger?" The Alpha enunciated, his pale blue eyes serious in a way Lake had never seen before.
"W-What?" He had to repeat, just as confused.
Clint glanced at the trio in front, they were listening intently to what the teacher was saying. "It doesn’t matter what kind of hold those Mafia Kings have on you, I can help you out."
Lake understood then, and with how things had gone, he could kind of see why Clint thought he was being held against his wish.