Page 132 of She Wolf

“Thanks, Callan.” He raises his left eyebrow in question.

“I need five minutes, okay? Five minutes away. From the questions and the noise and the heartfelt pleas. I just need some quiet,” I huff out. He stares, like he’s trying to read my mind and then, after what feels like forever, he nods and gestures for me to move further into the house which I now realize I’ve never been in.

As we walk, the lights and lamps come on automatically and when we reach the kitchen it’s spotless, but…used. Well worn.Huh.

“Do you like to cook? This kitchen is enormous. And are those cookbooks? Wow, this is insane,” I blurt out. “Have you… have you baked a…cake?” My eyes have gone so wide I can feel my eyebrows nearly touching my hairline.

“I thought you wanted quiet?” Callan goes for annoyance, but a tiny smirk pulls at the corner of his mouth.

“Well, yeah, I do but Callan this is bizarre. You’re like, totally housebroken,” I snicker, and he scoffs. While I was getting over excited at seeing this side of him, I hadn’t noticed he’d poured out what looks like very generous amounts of alcohol.

“What's this?” I say gesturing to the tumbler.

“Tequila,” he practically grunts.

“And what’s that?” I say pointing towards his darker liquid.

“Scotch,” he says bluntly.

“Why do I have a different drink?” I don’t know why I’m asking him so many questions—I feel off-kilter, like I’m in an alternate universe or something.

“Because you like margaritas. I haven’t re-stocked the ingredients to make you your favorite and I just drank my last beer.”

What is going on?“O-kay. Thank you.” I take a gulp of the liquid fire and then blow

out a breath.

“Phew, I haven’t had neat tequila in a long while.”

He nods and frowns which is much more like him and then says,

“So I’m not being funny but why are you here, at ten in the evening, when your best friend lives seven doors away, your boyfriend five, and your brother across the road?”

“Like I said I needed some peace, but I had my slippers on so couldn’t go for a walk and I left my car keys at Gunner’s.”

“What did he do?” he says folding his enormous arms across his equally enormous chest.

“He asked me to move in with him for real,” I say and take another sip of the Patrón.

“And that’s terrible why?”

I roll my eyes. “Callan, it’s notterrible,it’s just soon. Too soon. So soon?” Now it’s a question. What?

“Four years is too soon?” For goodness sake, what’s with this four years business?

“What. What are you talking about? We just started dating.” I hear the petulance in my voice, but I don’t care.

“Technicality,” is all he offers.

I feel like I’m talking to Jack, I should never have come here. “Technicality?”

“Yes, you heard me. You’ve been a couple without the coupling for years.”

“I…how do you figure?” Even as the stupid question leaves my mouth, I know it’s stupid. Gunner had a car seat fitted into his truck for Jack for god's sake. These boys love my son but when he came home and I found he’d done it like it was no big deal, I knew he was special.

He scoffs and finishes his drink. “I get it though. You went from college to living withDick. Then straight into Casey’s and now this summer you’ve lived like a gypsy.”

I think he might have smiled when he said that.

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