No, because we’re not really a couple.“He was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret,” she lied.
Liv huffed. “If he gives me something embarrassing, I will kill him. First degree murder right there while I’m standing at the altar.”
Min shook her head. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. He’s not going to try to embarrass you.”
“Oh shit,” Liv said, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. “Now that you’re dating him, does this mean that if my brother and I are fighting, you have to take his side?”
Callie barked out a laugh. “Absolutely not. You’re my person.”
“Damn straight I am.” She hooked her arm through Callie’s on one side and Min’s on the other. They continued walking in silence for a minute before Liv spoke again. “Can I say something mushy for a minute?”
“It’s your wedding, Liv. Be as mushy as you want,” Min said.
Liv kept them moving, her eyes focused straight ahead and Callie knew that whatever she was about to say was going to hurt.
“I’ve never seen my brother so happy,” Liv said quietly, her voice almost drowned out by the sound of their footsteps on the pavement. “You’re really good for him. I hope he’s good for you, too.”
“He is,” Callie said around the lump in her throat.
“I hope he knows how lucky he is to have you. That’s all.”
Tell her. Tell her now.
“Noah’s a smart guy,” Min said. “If he doesn’t realize it yet, he’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“I don’t know whether to hope he gets this job with Wolf or not,” Liv said, her tone lightening. “I don’t know how I feel about him leaving my best friend for months on end while he galivants around some flyover state with a film crew.”
“What are you talking about?”
Liv glanced at her, concern etched into her features. “If Noah gets this commission, Wolf wants him to go on the road with the film crew. Three months. They leave the Monday after next. He must have told you about it.”
“Right,” Callie said, blinking and forcing a weak smile on this face. “Sorry, the way you said it sounded like you thought he was going to be gone for longer.”
“Three months is long enough. Who is going to make me chocolate chip pancakes at two in the morning?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s Daemon’s job now,” Min said.
Liv’s smile stretched across her face. “That’s right. Because I’m getting married in two days!”
Min and Liv continued to chatter about the wedding, but Callie hardly heard. He was leaving for three months. Was he even going to tell her? Was he just going to leave?
Why would he tell me? He’s not really my boyfriend.
The thought made her want to cry, because Noah Van Aller might not really be her boyfriend but he had really kissed her like she meant something to him. He had really held her while he slept and called her ‘love.’ Was any of it real? And if he left for three months, would she ever get the chance to find out?
Chapter 15
Callie was exhausted, physically and emotionally, her mind repeating the wordsthree monthson an endless loop. She was also out of time. She should have been dressed by now, her hair dried and makeup in place. But no. Instead she was still standing in the shower, staring at the pink plastic razor in her hand like she could make it magically shave her legs on its own if she looked at it long enough.
“Are you alright in there?” Noah called through the closed bathroom door over the sound of the shower.
“Fine!” Callie called back. Her voice was bright—too bright, almost brittle.
“You’ve been in there a long time.”
That was an understatement. She’d been in the shower so long it was sporadically shooting out bursts of cold water, unable to keep up with her demand for water hot enough to fog up the glass shower doors and mirror.
You can do this.
