“You first,” I shot back.
She pinned me with a narrow-eyed glare, but I just smiled. Getting under her skin was as fun as ever.
Mom came bustling over, already talking a mile a minute, fortunately breaking the spell between us. I shook my head as she grabbed Callie’s elbow and led her to the door, chatting her ear off the whole way.
I needed to get it under control.
I had no business flirting with Callie, no matter how much fun it was. We were friends now, and that meant I needed to keep things platonic.
But was it my fault her tight jeans hugged her ass like a dream?
I rushed to catch up with them before they left the house. “Ma, let me make sure no one’s out there first.”
She sighed, but I ignored her. I’d kept her safe this long by being cautious, and I wasn’t throwing that away today. Taking her out of the house and off pack lands was already hard enough on me. I wasn’t going to make matters worse by letting her be seen by someone here.
I confirmed the coast was clear and ushered the women out ahead of me before locking the door behind us. When I made it to my Jeep, Mom and Callie were standing outside arguing.
“Nora, I’m not taking your seat up front.”
“You’d be doing me a favor.”
“I’m not making you sit in the back!”
“That’s where I want to sit!”
“Ladies! Can y’all just get in? I don’t care who sits where.”
Callie tried to wedge herself closer to the back door, but Mom wasn’t having any of it. She grabbed her elbow and spun her around before giving her a little nudge toward the passenger seat.
“I’ll get car sick if I don’t sit in the back,” Mom said.
Callie shook her head, but her shoulders slumped with defeat as she climbed in the front.
“Since when do you get car sick?” I asked as soon as everyone was in the Jeep.
“Since always. Keep up.”
Shocked at her tone, I glanced at her in the rearview mirror, but all she did was wink at me.
“Women,” I muttered as I shook my head and brought the engine to life. “Ma,” I said louder this time, “Can you please slouch down until we’re off pack lands?”
I heard overprotective and hardheaded grumbled from the backseat, but I ignored it. Compromising on her safety was out of the question.
When I turned to Callie, I found her slumped down too and frowned her way. “What are you doing?”
She shrugged. “It’s called solidarity.”
“My mom doesn’t need you to hide too.”
A nervous giggle slipped from her lips. “It’s okay. It’s just until we’re off pack lands.”
I was still frowning as I drove away from the pack houses and toward the lodge. What was going on here? It wasn’t the first time she’d done this. Who was she hiding from? What was she hiding? Did she not want to be seen with me?
Those questions and more spun through my brain as I traveled down the steep gravel drive and onto the road. When we were out of eyeshot, Callie sat up with a small glance my way. I did my best to ignore her gaze and act unaffected, but underneath the façade, I was anything but.
“You can sit up now, Ma.”
The leather seats creaked as she rearranged herself before speaking up. “So, Callie, I did some research on local nurseries, but I thought I’d see if you had somewhere you liked.”
“Actually, there’s this one place my mom used to go all the time. It’s a bit of a drive from here, though.”
“Wyatt doesn’t mind,” Mom said for me.
“Are you sure?” Callie directed her question at me.
“Whatever you guys want,” I said, my voice gruff. I caught Callie frowning at me out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored it. I was too busy dissecting her odd behavior back on pack lands.
“Okay, then you’ll want to get on the highway going south.”
I followed her directions as Mom took over the conversation in the car. She fired question after question at Callie as I drove and stewed. By the time we made it to the nursery, I’d come to the conclusion that the only reason Callie would hide like that was because she was embarrassed to be seen with me.
That shit was like a salty knife right to my chest.
“Ooh, I see hibiscus from here! This place looks great, Callie,” Mom gushed as I pulled into a parking spot.
Mom and Callie jumped out of the Jeep, but I took my time, not really in the mood to be social. The two women linked their arms together as they walked through the gates into the nursery.
When they were out of sight, I folded my hands on top of my head and let out a deep breath.
I needed to let this shit with Callie go. So what if she was embarrassed by me? That was nothing new in my life. I’d been someone’s dirty little secret more times than I could count. What was one more?
I grit my teeth and turned my back on the nursery.
The problem was, Callie was nothing like any other woman I’d ever been with. Or that was what I’d thought. Maybe I was wrong though. Maybe she was just like all the others. That would make getting over this… thing with her a lot easier.
I blew out a breath and let my arms drop to my sides.
There was really nothing I could do about it either way. She was just my friend and that didn’t give me the right to pry into her actions. I’d just have to accept the way things were and move on.
Or at least try to.
Done with my pity party,
