Page 135 of Marked By the Pack
Chapter 35
Thursday
Emma
“Hey, buddy,” Zoey said. She stood up and punched Callum’s arm. “Funny seeing the two of you here of all places. What a coincidence.”
“Were you spying on me from behind this bush?” Callum asked.
“That doesn’t sound like something we’d do.”
He raised his eyebrow at her. “It sounds exactly like something you two would do.” He turned his attention to me.
Shit.I stood up and brushed the dirt off my knees.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Zoey said. “We were just on a walk and I dropped my necklace and we were looking for it.”
“The necklace around your neck?”
“Yup.” She put her fingers against her choker. “We…um…found it.”
“Emma,” he said, his attention turning back to me. “What’s going on?”
“I…” my voice trailed off. “I just…” We’d already talked about this. A few times. I wasn’t sure why I couldn’t shake this jealousy thing. Callum was going to think I’d completely lost it. But I didn’t have to think of what to say. Because Zoey cut in.
“Ithought maybe Kebe had a crush on you. So I convinced Emma to come with me on a stakeout,” Zoey said, taking the hot seat. “And clearly I was right.”
Oh God.This was already awkward enough. I didn’t want to add in this awkward confrontation too! But I was grateful Zoey said it was her idea. Because even though she’d recommended it, there was a high probability I would have been doing this on my own anyway.
Kebe laughed. “So you followed us? Why didn’t you just ask me? Callum is like…the little brother I never had.” She elbowed him in the side and Callum laughed.
Little brother?I stared back and forth between them. I was pretty sure she was younger than him. Especially if you counted the whole him being alive for hundreds of years thing.
“Then why were your hands all over him?” Zoey asked.
Great question!I could feel Callum’s eyes on me. But I kept mine trained on Kebe.
“We were just having a personal conversation,” she said. “And I’m a touchy feely person. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Your hand was on his face,” Zoey said. “Friends don’t touch friends’ boyfriend’s faces, Kebe.”
That was bad. But my mind stuck on the “personal conversation” part of her response. Callum found it easy to talk to her. And I couldn’t help but wonder if he was talking to her about something he didn’t feel comfortable talking about with me.
Kebe pressed her lips together. She looked guilty. “I’ve lived so many places, it’s always hard to remember what’s okay where. I’m sorry, Emma. We were just talking. I swear.”
“What were you talking about?” I asked. I had to know. I had to know what he could only talk to her about. And why he wouldn’t just come to me.
Callum sighed. “Apparently the two of you told her my secret last night. Even though I specifically asked you not to.” He gave me a stern look.
Oh, shit.Yeah…we had done that. I needed to stop drinking so much wine with Zoey. God, that’s what this was about? He was going to think I was completely nuts.
I had thought their conversation looked intimate. But I knew how Callum felt about being a vampire. He thought he was a bad person. A monster. She was probably just comforting him. Telling him the same things I always did.
“I was just telling him I understood,” Kebe said. “Since my daddy is a professor. He’s studied all these things.”
“I thought you said he was a curator?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah. He has tons of interests.” She shrugged like what she’d just said was normal.
