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“No. I haven’t seen him since high school,” I said, taking a bite of taco. I wasn’t going to inflate his already big ego, but these were amazing.
“I drove my little truck down from Rochester, and it didn’t sound too happy after. He’s a mechanic at the shop over at Guardian Moon, and he asked me to dinner so we could catch up.”
“What are your plans for the day?” Jo asked when we were done eating.
“Nothing, actually. I finished some of my work early and was thinking of heading into town. I need a few things I had to leave behind.”
“Oh, we were going to the mall today. Care to join us?” Jo answered.
I looked around at everyone. Cory was looking down at his plate, not looking at anyone. I didn’t remember him being this shy or grumpy before. The hangover must be big. James was waiting for my answer while he shoveled his taco into his mouth. Meli looked... hopeful.
“Sure, if you guys have room. I’ll go get my list?” I asked.
“Great. We’ll wait for you outside,” Jo said before he turned to his mate. “Go get your purse, baby.”
I ran out and went to grab my tablet and my purse.
“Hey, honey, where are you off to?” Mom asked.
“I’m off to the mall. I’ll be back later.”
“Are you taking Dad’s car?” she asked.
“No. I’m going with Jo, Cory, James, and Jo’s new mate Melinda.”
“Oh! I didn’t know you guys were friends again. Have fun!” she said, but her words made me stop.
“We were always friends, Mom. We just didn’t hang out as much,” I corrected her.
“Oh. Ok, sweetie. My mistake.”
I frowned and walked back towards the pack house. When I was thirteen, and I was moved up two grades, I decided to make new friends. It wasn’t because I hated these guys, but everywhere I went, I was Cory’s friend, Bell’s friend, the future Alpha’s friend. I just wanted to be myself. I wanted to be seen by people. I never actually meant to make people feel like I had ditched them.
“You okay, Evie?” Cory asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. I didn’t realize I had made it to the pack house already.
“Yeah, I’m alright. Just trying to figure out if I forgot anything.” I smiled. He opened the door to the SUV, and I climbed up. At five foot four, I was of average height for a female, but all these guys were so tall that they made me feel tiny compared to them. I always felt so small, and sitting between James and Cory now, it was like I was ten years old again and hanging out with Bell’s big brother. I sighed.
You’re not ten years old anymore. You’re a grown woman, and these are your friends. You’ve made your own life, and it’s okay to keep them in it, I told myself, trying to shake off old feelings of inadequacy.
I shopped around for the stuff I needed, and then we went to another few shops for Melinda. I found out that Jo only met her a few months ago, and she moved here from Mexico shortly before the boys took over the pack, so she still needed a lot of things that she wasn’t able to bring with her.
As an introvert, I’m not a huge fan of shopping, but her energy was contagious. We had the men carry her bags, and with Jo’s credit card, we shopped until we were literally close to dropping. After we carried everything to the car, we decided to grab dinner at a restaurant within the mall.
Halfway through dinner Cory’s eyes glazed over, and the rest of them continued talking as if it wasn’t happening. Every now and then, he would smile or frown, and I wondered who he was talking to. When his eyes finally cleared ten minutes later, he smiled shyly at me and apologized.
“How’s Bells?” Jo asked.
“Good. She passed her finals.”
“You can talk to her from Montana?” I asked.
“The twin bond. It doesn’t matter the distance. We’re still connected,” he explained.
“Does that happen to all twins?” I asked. I’d never heard of long-distance mind-link.
“I…am not sure. I’ve never asked anyone, to be honest,” he answered sheepishly.
We finished dinner and drove back. Everyone was well-fed and exhausted from all the shopping. I was wedged between James and Cory again, and I leaned back as a comfortable silence filled the car. James’ heavy scent of citrus and Cory’s smell of apples and something floral soothed my senses. Today had been a long but happy day, and I didn’t realize how tired I was until I felt someone rubbing their hand on my arm to wake me up.
