She shook her head and propped a hand on her hip. “You know today’s a big day. I don’t have time for anything but work.”
I took a step closer, my hands fisting at my sides. “It’s not just today, it’s every day. You’re always putting off plans with me. Why?”
“No, I don’t. I see you every day. You spend every night in my bed.”
I scoffed. “Yeah and I’m not allowed to come over until everyone’s asleep. You only want to see me when no one else can see us. Isn’t that right?”
Her spine stiffened as she clutched the sheet to her chest. “Wyatt, you know I don’t want to deal with my family when it comes to us. You know how I feel about that.”
“Yeah. I do. But it’s been months. How long do we have to keep doing this?”
She shrugged and turned away again. “I don’t know, but I don’t have time for this today.”
“Callie, you’re gonna make time. I think I deserve that much at least.”
“Why are you pushing this? Why are you pushing me? Aren’t you happy with the way things are?”
“No. I’m not.”
She flinched and I instantly regretted my words, but they were out there and there was no taking them back now. “If you weren’t happy, you should have said something.”
I waved a hand between us. “This is me saying something. I’m sick of only seeing you in the dark. I don’t care what your family says. I don’t care what the pack says. I love you and I want everyone to know it. I’m done hiding us.”
“Well, I’m not.”
I ran a rough hand through my short hair. My mind spun with accusations and insecurities and I tried so hard to swallow them down, but they’d been pushed aside for long enough. The boiling mess inside me was pushing them up and out and there was no stopping them now.
“What’s this really about?”
She frowned and turned to me, her eyes focusing somewhere near my chin. “What do you mean?”
“I mean your family isn’t that bad and I know you don’t give a fuck what most of the pack thinks, so why are we still in hiding? Is there something more to it?”
She rolled her eyes and jutted that hip out further. “Like what, Wyatt?”
I didn’t want to say it out loud. I didn’t even want to think it, but years and years of conditioning had led to this and it was all I knew. “Are you embarrassed to be with me?”
Her eyes widened as they finally met mine. “No! Why would you say that?!”
I laughed humorlessly and shook my head as I swept a hand around the room. “Look around, Callista. Really look. I’m a dirty little secret.”
“You are not.”
“No? Then let’s go tell your sisters right now that we’re seeing each other. We’ll go down to breakfast together and tell the rest of the pack.”
She bit her lip and turned away, giving me enough of an answer without her having to say a word.
“That’s what I thought.”
She turned back around, her eyes blazing. “You don’t get to decide those kinds of things, Wyatt. You don’t get to choose what I say to who or when. It’s my life and it’s my decision.”
“You don’t think it affects me too? You don’t think I get a say in this?”
She shrugged. “No. You don’t.”
I pressed my lips together as the hurt and anger competed for dominance inside me. My heart though, all it felt was pain as I watched the woman I loved more than anything stand there and give me the same excuses I’d heard all my life.
I didn’t want to say what I said next, but it was almost like I didn’t have a choice. The words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them. “I’ve been in this position before, Callie. I know what it means, and I know where it leads.”
Her spine stiffened again as she turned narrow eyes toward me. “You think I want to hear about all the other women you’ve slept with? You think that’s going to help in this situation?”
I threw my hands in the air. “I wouldn’t be bringing them up if you weren’t acting exactly like every single one of them!”
Her mouth fell open in shock, but I wasn’t done.
“You think I don’t know the sister of the alpha has no business shacking up with a half-breed? You think I don’t know what people will say? You think I don’t live every damn day of my life knowing you don’t belong with me? But here I am, crawling in your bedroom window every night because I can’t be without you. Because I love you too much to let you go. But every morning I wake up and crawl back out that window with my tail between my legs and my aching heart on my sleeve knowing I’ll do it all again because I can’t stay away. Because I fucking love you.”
She just kept watching me, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. When it was clear she wasn’t going to say anything, I drove the last nail in the coffin, knowing where it would lead and also knowing it was inevitable.
“Just tell me one thing, Callie, and I’ll drop the rest. Just do me one favor and I’ll stomach the secrecy for a little while longer.”
She kept quiet, but her throat bobbed with a harsh swallow and her hands gripped the sheet even tighter.
I licked my lips and looked at the floor for a moment, noticing the space between us. I wondered if we’d ever be closer than this again after what I had to say next.
With all the bravery I had in me, I
