“Well?”
I chuckled again and shook my head. “Nah. That was all courtesy of my mom. I guess she’s drilled those things into me so many times they’re leaking out of my mouth.”
She smiled wider. “Do you see her often?”
The humor shriveled up inside me as I realized I was flirting with revealing the biggest secret I’d ever kept. The secret I’d had to keep since as long as I could remember. Now, though, it was so much worse. I wasn’t just hiding the fact that she was a human, I was hiding her entire existence.
I didn’t want to lie to Callie, but I also couldn’t tell her the whole truth.
“She, uh, lives with me actually.”
Callie’s brows furrowed. “Your mom lives on pack lands? How come I’ve never met her?”
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Oh. Um. You haven’t?”
I sounded like a moron, but my brain wasn’t moving fast enough to play defense in this conversation. I needed to either come up with a plausible story or change the subject before Callie dug too far.
Her frown deepened. “No. I would have remembered if I met your mom.”
The lightest shade of pink colored her cheeks for a moment, but I barely had time to admire it.
“Yeah, I guess you would, huh?”
I was stalling.
And I was an idiot.
“Is that why you and Wes don’t live in the lodge?”
I reached up to rub my neck again. “Yeah. We wanted to stick together.”
Callie leaned back against the booth and nodded. “I can understand that. Especially after losing your dad.”
“Exactly.”
Silence descended again and I wracked my brain for a way to diffuse it. Thankfully, Stubbles came to my rescue.
“Here you go,” the waiter said as he placed our food on the table. “Does everything look okay?”
His eyes were on Callie, but I answered for us. “Looks great. Thanks, Stubbles.”
The waiter shot me an irritated look before turning and leaving us to our food. Thankfully, Callie was a werewolf like me which meant, when food was involved, everything else took a backseat. Including the monster of a secret I was desperately trying to keep.
This had been a close call. Closer than I’d had since joining the pack. I knew it was only a matter of time, but I was hoping I could put it off for as long as possible. Maybe if Callie got to know me first, she wouldn’t look at me differently when she found out I was half human. Maybe for once in my life, I’d have a normal relationship with a woman and not feel less than.
It was a long shot, but I was willing to try.
Chapter 9
Wyatt
Thankfully, the rest of our lunch was uneventful. Callie ate more than I thought could fit in her slim body, but other than that, it was blissfully ordinary.
Conversation flowed easily and we got along like we’d known each other years and not months. I didn’t know what was happening between us, but it was somehow right. Natural.
I was feeling good. Like things might actually work out for me for a change. Like I might be able to worm my way into this woman’s life and figure out why I felt this unexplainable connection with her.
There was even a tiny part of me that thought there was a chance Callie might not care I was only half werewolf. Or that my mother was human. Maybe she’d accept me and all my baggage as easily as her other two siblings had.
But would it be enough?
Being packmates with a half-breed was much different than dating one. I knew that all too well. There had been a whole slew of women in my last pack who thought I was good enough to sleep with, but not good enough to be seen with in public. It used to sting, but after a while, I just started using them too. It was easier that way.
But maybe things with Callie could be different. It already felt like it was.
The check came and I snatched it off the table before she could.
“Wyatt. Let me see that.”
Man, I loved the way she said my name. “No.”
She let out an irritated huff. “I just want to pay my half.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Why the heck not?”
I pressed my lips together to stifle a smile. I found it adorable that she tried so hard not to cuss. “I invited you to lunch, so I’ll pay.” Besides, I’d been working as an enforcer for Abraham for a couple months now and had some money left over after all the bills were taken care of. That was a rarity in my life, and I figured I deserved to enjoy it a bit.
I fished out my wallet and dropped a bunch of bills on the check before sliding out of the booth. Stubbles might have pissed me off by staring at Callie too much, but I couldn’t really blame the guy. She was stunning. And besides, he deserved a nice tip after he saved me from that conversation about my mom.
My lunch churned in my gut as I remembered the lie I was keeping, but I did my best to ignore it.
Callie stood up next to me and lifted her chin in my direction. “Next time, I’m paying. I don’t need a handout. I’m perfectly capable of covering my own lunch and I don’t appreciate the macho crap.”
I knew she’d said a lot of stuff just then, but my brain was stuck on one thing. “So, what you’re saying is I get a second date?”
A bright blush washed over her pretty face before she spun around and stomped off. “This wasn’t a date, Carter.”
I laughed before running to catch up
