Maybe there would be a day when there was a babe in my belly as well, and I could share that joy with my men.
“It’s all going to be okay,” Gigi said, resting her chin on my shoulder and wrapping her arms around my waist from behind. I would never let Wendi know about this bout of sadness in the middle of her joy, but Gigi knew me better than anyone.
“I know. It’s just hard.” I bit back the tears, cursing them for attempting to come out.
“He will come around. He loves you. He’s just torn right now, but eventually when he realizes you’re the only one who can mend him, he will give in. It won’t be long now.”
“Do you really think so?” I whispered back to her.
“I know so. Now, let’s get some cake in these men before they drag your friend upstairs and show her how they really feel.”
I laughed as Gigi turned me around and sounded like a gaggle of geese while she gave orders about cutting cake and eating to distract them all. Wendi’s mates had thousands of questions, but were so happy it was infectious. Soon, I had forgotten all of my own troubles and chose to be wrapped up in their joy instead. We ate until we were stuffed then Gigi tugged on the hem of my dress.
“It’s time to go.”
We said our goodbyes, and, before we got to the edge of the porch, I heard Wendi giggling. Yeah, their celebration was far from over.
Chapter Sixteen
Wendi’s party cheered me up although it didn’t change anything in my life. I was still torn between two wolves who refused to bend. Yet they both somehow thought they’d be able to mate me while still refusing to mend their fences. And that was not going to fly.
Gigi believed things would work out in the end, but somehow…somehow, I didn’t have the same vision she did, and many days I wondered if I was fighting a losing battle. But no matter what happened in my love life, no matter how many babies Wendi might produce for her mates, no matter how many of the pack were kidnapped, all my professors wanted was their chapters read, notes studied, and papers turned in on time.
I couldn’t decide whether the distraction was helpful or harmful, but with the same stubbornness I addressed to my mates, I sat up late nights and wrote those papers. I read textbooks until my eyes were so red Tris worried and Gigi made poultices. Education was important to me, and I never wanted to lose sight of that. Therefore, one beautiful cold morning, I was on my way to the library bright and early. As much as I loved my grandmother’s cooking and her company, as much as I adored lounging in bed with Tris until I only had ten minutes to get to class, neither of them created an atmosphere conducive to studying. Rather, they fussed over me so much, I couldn’t think.
Christie, come taste this soup. Does it need anything? She’d made the soup my whole life and my mom’s and probably her mom made it before her. She knew the recipe.
Don’t get up now, Christie. It’s raining out. Wouldn’t you rather stay home and watch a movie? Hell yes, I’d rather stay home, keep dry, and watch a movie.
But…no I was trudging through the rain, hugging my laptop inside my jacket because I forgot my umbrella, and planning on four hours of uninterrupted study in the library before my afternoon class. Not many others were running around campus at this early hour in a downpour, and I took it as a good sign I’d be able to find a secluded and quiet nook in the stacks somewhere.
Head down against the pouring rain, wishing I hadn’t been so absent-minded I’d donned my new leather boots that were probably getting ruined, I nearly bumped into a guy in a blue poncho. I apologized, and he muttered something before stepping aside. But he unexpectedly turned and trotted off in the opposite direction, shoes slipping a little on the pavement.
Weird.
A moment later, I was racing up the library steps, thunder and lightning encouraging me to rush. At least I didn’t have to leave for a while. Storms this heavy rarely lasted as long as the four hours I planned to stay. I could do five if I needed to and just skip lunch. I had a granola bar or maybe five or six in my laptop bag. I was always tossing one in there in case I got hungry and didn’t have time to take a break, and I almost never ate one.
Reaching the door of the old stone building, I happened to glance behind me and caught a glimpse of bright-blue plastic as the wearer disappeared behind a van parked at the curb. Same guy? Or maybe just a similar poncho. Probably one of those in a pouch you kept stuffed in a pocket in rainy season.
Shrugging off my contemplation, I headed inside and waved at the lady at the check-in desk. Wendi was off today, and I had a feeling if her guys had any say at all, she’d be giving up her little part-time job as they liked to call it—mostly because that was what it was—before she got much more pregnant. Her classes were starting into the pre-med stage and though she was hella smart, she
