Page 25 of Marked By the Pack
What a terrible way to describe a dinner party.
“A civil meal?” Callum asked. “How exactly do you figure? You and your band of merry men were planning on killing me last night.”
Shit, he knew about that?I really needed a side bar with Emma right now to know what Callum did and didn’t know. Like…did he know I was involved in that plan?
Otto laughed.
“We both know it would have been you who died if you tried to touch me,” Callum said.
“Callum,” Emma hissed.
“Oh really?” Otto said. “You wanna bet?”
Callum shook his head. “It’s not really a bet if you’re 100% sure of the odds.”
I stepped in front of Otto and put my hand on his chest. What was Otto doing? Was he trying to get himself killed? He knew that Callum was a vampire. “Stop it. Both of you. We’re all adults. And we’re going to sit down and eat my lasagna.” Which I now realized I’d forgotten to leave the garlic out of. I sighed.
“I mean…I’m an adult,” Callum said. “I’m not sure someone with Otto’s control level could really be described that way.”
“What the fuck, man?”
Oh my God.And I’d been worried about making a good impression on both of them. “Callum, Otto, seriously? This is ridiculous. Why do you guys hate each other so much?”
Neither one of them responded. They were just glaring at each other.
I pulled Otto into the dining room, not caring that neither Emma nor Callum were following us.
“Can you please just play nice with him?” I whispered.
“Zoey, he’s a murderous, blood-sucking vampire.”
I tried not to visibly shudder. I really needed to get used to talking about this. “But he’s also dating my best friend. Emma’s the closest thing I have to family. So if she’s dating him, I’m going to be friends with him too. And if we’re dating, you need to get along with him too.” I realized at the last second that I’d said way too much. I sounded like a total psycho.
Otto smiled down at me. “So we’re dating now, huh?”
“No.”Kill me now.“I misspoke. I just meant that this was a date. A double date actually. Super casual.”
His smile grew.
“Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You did with your eyes.”
He laughed. “I mean, it’s not the first time a girl has fallen head over heels in love with me after only speaking to me a few times.”
“I’m not in love with you, you pompous ass.” For some reason I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Then why are we dating?”
“You’re ridiculous. I told you I misspoke. I need some wine. Do you want some wine? Let’s go do that.” I stepped around him and went into the kitchen. God, what was wrong with me? I removed the cork, poured myself a glass, and then downed half of it.
“Full disclosure, I can’t date you, Zoey.”
I nearly choked on my sip. I turned around and Otto was leaning against the kitchen island staring at me. I’d forgotten that I told him to come with me. I expected for his eyes to still be dancing with humor. But he looked completely serious now.
I put my glass down. “Good. Because I misspoke. Get it through your thick skull.”
