It was enough to turn my stomach and I’d been sick with the thought all week. Barely able to sleep. Hardly eating. My mind just ran over the events in that bathroom over and over until my head throbbed and my heart ached in my chest for her.
I heard the back door open just before my brother’s obnoxious voice greeted me.
“Hey, dipshit. Good to see you’re finally home.”
I heard a slapping noise and a grunt before Mom spoke up. “Don’t talk like that,” she chastised my brother.
I finally turned around to find Wes rubbing the back of his head and my mother eyeing him with contempt.
“Nice to see you too, brother.”
“Yeah, it is nice to see me. It’s always nice to see me, but you wouldn’t know that, would you? You spent all week in Raleigh, and when we finally get you home, all you want to do is sneak up to the lodge. You missed every meal with us today. We’re your family, Wyatt. You need to remember that.”
I blinked slowly at him before turning to my mom. “Ma, how did you throw your voice like that? And when did you shove your hand up Wes’ ass? He sounded just like you.”
Her lips twitched with a smile before she frowned and shook her head. “Don’t you talk like that either.”
Wes continued to grumble as he walked over to the table and set down a tray full of tea and snacks. I reached for a cookie, but he smacked my hand.
“That’s not for you.”
Mom turned around and smacked his hand before passing me the cookie I’d been reaching for. “There’s enough to share, Wes. Don’t be like that.”
My brother shot me a narrow-eyed look and I knew if Mom wasn’t out there with us, we’d already be fighting it out over the still-warm shortbread.
“So, where were you all day?”
“So, where’s Callie been?”
The first question came from my brother, the second from my mom, and they were asked at almost the exact same time. Which made it easy to ignore both of them simultaneously.
I bit down on my cookie and slowly poured myself a cup of tea as I did my best to avoid eye contact with either of them.
“Aah, you know what, Ma? I think those two questions are linked. What do you think?”
She glanced at Wes before settling her familiar brown eyes on me. I swallowed hard, the cookie suddenly dry and stuck in my throat. “Is that where you’ve been, son? With Callie?” I could hear the smile in her voice and wished I deserved it.
“No.”
“Then where were you?” Wes asked again.
I shrugged. “Around.”
“And where has Callie been? I haven’t seen her in weeks.”
I finally got the cookie forced down my throat and took a sip of hot tea, hoping I could drink long enough that they’d forget about their questions and drop this line of conversation.
“Wyatt? Did you two have a falling out?” she asked.
More sympathy from her that I didn’t deserve.
I shrugged and rubbed my chest, hoping to get rid of the ache in there. “Yeah, kinda,” I finally said, my voice low enough that I’m sure Mom barely heard me. Wes had no issue though.
“Oh my God. You fucked her, didn’t you?”
I whipped my head in his direction just in time to see Mom slap him on the back of the head. “Wesley Barnabas Carter! You will not speak like that in front of me and you will not talk about Callie like that!”
My brother reached up to rub the back of his head, his angry eyes narrowed in my direction. “Just look at him, Ma. He did fu– batter dip his corndog,” he corrected disgustingly. “Just look at his stupid guilty face.”
Mom turned to me, her gaze critical as she studied me in a way she hadn’t since I was little and I lied about chipping her favorite mug. Her lips pursed together, and she sighed. “Is he right, son? Did you two have relations?”
Wes snorted into his teacup but we both ignored him.
My stomach was knotting as I tried to dry my sweaty palms on my jeans. “Uh. Maybe.”
“I knew it!” Wes yelled, disrupting a nearby cardinal that took off with a huff.
“Settle down, Wes.”
“Yeah, pipe down, shit head.”
“Language, Wyatt.”
I dipped my head in apology and picked up my teacup again. I studied the murky brown drink, hoping for a way out of this uncomfortable-ass conversation, but there were no answers there.
“So, what happened? Did you not get her off or something?” my idiot brother asked.
“Wesley!” Mom reprimanded him. “I’m sure your brother did a fine job. Quit picking on him.”
I buried my face in my hands as it heated to volcanic levels. “Oh my God, Ma, please. Can we drop this?”
I never thought I’d be having a conversation about sleeping with Callie, but here we were. My brother assuming I was shit in bed and my mother sticking up for me when neither of them should know this much about my personal life.
“Have you tried talking to her, dear?”
I sighed and picked my heavy head up, only to rest it on my palm so I could look at her. “I’ve been texting her for weeks. She hasn’t answered any of them.”
My mother scoffed and shook her head. “What have I told you about this technology crap. You’re going to forget how to have an actual conversation! You need to go to her. Talk to her face to face. Figure out what’s going on and then fix it.”
Like it was that easy.
“I’m not sure this can be fixed, Ma.”
What
