“If it’ll help, I’ll volunteer with you,” I offer before thinking, because he looks so buried within himself. His normal polite mask is replaced with something distant and lost.
My heart grows soft when Kaleb smiles down at me. It’s small but real, his eyes crinkling in the corners.
“You don’t have to do that,” he replies gently. “It’s my responsibility.”
It occurs to me that Kaleb never really asks for help…or that anyone really offers it to him. He’s the steadfast, dependable one that everyone leans on, including me.
I lift my chin in the air and give him a mock snooty look. “I’m doing it, and you’re just gonna have to deal with it.”
He laughs. It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite sounds, his deep voice like distant thunder rolling through my entire body.
Yeesh, down girl. First his muscles and now his voice.
I’m choosing to blame my constant distraction on the fact I’m going through over three years’ worth of puberty all at once. On top of the nails I have to file down every couple hours, my hair grows a foot a day, and my boobs, hips, and butt have grown to a degree where I can’t button my pants and I’m spilling out of my bra. Also, my back aches, I’m bloated, and I’ve dozed off in both of my morning classes.
Nothing is ever easy.
“Thank you,” Kaleb responds quietly, disrupting my internal rant.
I nod in acknowledgment, not trusting that something stupid won’t fall out of my mouth because I’m apparently running on hormone brain.
Is this what it’s like for everyone else all the time? How does anyone do anything?
We walk the rest of the way toward the cafeteria in silence, his hand remaining on my shoulder, and I’m way too aware of the heat radiating off his body. He still seems pensive, but no longer distant—at least with me. There’s still a wall around all that’s going on within him, but I feel like he made sure to leave me a door to get inside this time. Soon, I’ll need to set aside time to really talk to him. It’s his turn for someone to listen.
When we reach the cafeteria, it appears the weather is thankfully agreeable, only mildly overcast, so we start weaving our way around the lunch tables toward our tree. Right now, I really need some normalcy, like hanging out with my friends at lunch like normal teenagers instead of supernatural beings that killed demons and an Alpha, and destroyed a good amount of trees and local wildlife over the weekend.
We’re almost to the door that leads outside when some asshole grabs my wrist. The feeling of a stranger touching my skin is like thousands of ants crawling all over my body, and I immediately tug my arm away.
Falling into Kaleb, I shout, “Let go of me!”
Kaleb catches me and quickly pulls me behind him, using his impressive size as a wall between me and Handsy McGee.
With the sound of violence in his voice, he growls, “Don’t fucking touch her.”
I’m so shocked by Kaleb’s reaction that I’m literally startled out of my anxiety.Yeah, we need that talk very soon.
“Easy,” Handsy replies with an ugly smirk, raising said hands up in surrender. “Just wanted to introduce myself. Callie, right? I’m Nick.”
He’s average looking, with brown hair, brown eyes, and kind of on the pale side, but his gaze doesn’t really have that ‘I’m just being friendly’look to it. Might have something to do with the fact that he’s focusing on my chest as I peek around Kaleb. Plus, all the guys at his table look like they’re just waiting for the punch line of whatever Handsy has planned.
Why can’t idiots just leave us alone?
I give him a noncommittal hum that I heard him.
Kaleb starts leading me away, uninterested in whatever else the guy has to say, when Handsy calls out, “Aw, don’t be that way. I heard you were a girl that couldn’t be satisfied with just one guy.” He winks and his smirk turns into a grin. “So, what are you doing tomorrow night? I think we should get better acquainted.” He gives me a slow up and down. “Promise to show you a good time.”
It’s the snickering of his friends that really gets under my skin. Whether or not the rumors are true is irrelevant. To them, I’m not a person, and I’m getting fucking tired of it. The Bastard. Gina and her Barbie squad. The Alpha. Neva. The Council. I’m just a thing to all of them.
A droll expression washes over my face while I hook my arm through Kaleb’s, leaning into him like a girl that’s claiming her man. Placing my free hand on his chest, I fire back, “I’m sorry. You have to be at least this hot to ride this ride.”
Kaleb chokes, and Handsy’s friends turn on him, hooting with laughter and yelling, “Need some ice for that burn?”
It’s my turn to lead Kaleb away since he looks too dumbfounded to know what’s going on.
I guess we’ll just keep shocking each other back and forth until we start acting normal—or go mute. Whichever comes first.
Unfortunately, when we turn around to walk away, Kaleb’s ex-girlfriend, Rachel—who resembles a Disney princess if they dressed like a well-kept suburban housewife—stands there frozen. Her expression looks like we murdered an entire litter of puppies in front of her.
