Page 56 of Stargazer

I took another moment to watch it all, still not quite believing my eyes.

‘The tether between the two’. That’s what mum had said.

By the time training was over, Billie and Kit had gravitated towards Skylar like I knew they would. She was another fierce, powerful and bubbly woman and I had a feeling they’d get along straight away. Just like they did with Cel.

After giving everyone a day to settle in, it was about time that I caught up properly with the girls, since I didn’t get a chance yesterday when they arrived. We had a lot to discuss, and I had been going crazy not having them here to confide in.

We left the guys to their own devices when it came to dinner and I brought my girl’s to the diner I loved for some overdue quality time. To make things easy, I was taking them all to dinner: Kit, Billie, Celeste and Sky. It was the perfect way to keep them all in the loop while simultaneously providing an opportunity for further bonding.

The other remaining Knights, along with Carter and Griff, wanted to head back and rest up, saying they’d order something to the house—although, the two males from our usual group may have been forced into staying behind and making themselves scarce. Kitana could be hard to argue with and the boys were better off not bothering.

I didn’t really want Griffin around when I confided in them about my current romantic predicament.

Saying “Hi” to Maxine and TJ on our way in, I herded the girls into the back booth that the pack and I had been using for years. We all ordered burgers, fries and shakes.

I had seriously missed the southern fried chicken burger here—Cel and I had been getting it since we were kids and nothing I had in the city quite lived up to it. Likely due to my own prejudice but hey, I was a creature of habit.

The second Maxine had left with our order, Kit stared into my eyes with all the seriousness she could muster.

“Alright, spill.”

I cringed at the expectant looks they all gave me but managed to say, “Always straight to the point, Kit. I missed you.”

“Missed you too, honey bun. But I am dying! It’s not every day your bestie, who is dating your other lifelong bestie, leaves to go back to their hometown to see their murdering wolf-boy ex, who isn’t actually a murder. And then the previously mentioned lifelong bestie—who was left behind—comes to confess his undying love for her.” She said the words in a mumbled rush of excitement, impatience and frustration. I just blinked at her, trying to process it all.

“Geez,” Celeste cackled. “Well, when you put it like that.”

“Way to make it way more dramatic than it actually is,” I groaned. “No pressure at all.”

“Let’s not sugarcoat it. It’s a whole telenovela,” Kit said, her grey-blue eyes conveying her seriousness.

“For the record, he did not confess his undying love for me,” I reiterated.

“May as well have.” A dark brow lifted as if to dare me to challenge her.

I ignored it and added, “and we were not dating.”

“Oh please. It’s all semantics,” she shut down without hesitation. “You have no idea how hard it’s been not knowing all of the details of what’s been going on down here since Griffin made his grand romantic gesture.”

Maxine came back with our shakes. When she left, Billie spoke, shaking her head. “She’s honestly been driving me crazy.”

I immediately knew she was referring to Kit, who did not do well with the virtue of patience. I cringed at the thought of what she’d been putting poor Billie through this last week. I hadn’t meant to keep my texts about the whole situation so vague. I just knew it would be easier to recall it in person. Plus, I needed the time to mull and hope it would bring me closer to making a decision.

“I can only imagine,” I laughed, squeezing Billie’s hand across the table to offer her my support. Knowing Kitana, she would have been more than a handful in a situation like this, but if anyone could handle her, it was Billie.

“I am truly sorry for keeping you in the dark, Kit,” I said, my mouth pulling up into a smile at my friend’s dramatics.

Kit pretended to contemplate the apology for a second before straightening and replying, “Apology accepted,” with that charming grin of hers.

I chuckled, shaking my head.

Billie directed her kind eyes to me. “So what’s been going on? Tell us everything.”

Kit took a sip of her shake before adding, “Yes. Everything.”

Sky’s body shook with quiet laughter beside me as she sipped from her own drink.

I explained what had occurred, going into as much detail as possible, from arriving back in Saint Claire and feeling like I was thrown back in time, to being at the picnic where River kissed me, only to be interrupted by Griffin’s arrival at the pack house.

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