I checked on Lucy. She was in the little area we’d made for her to play and sleep in. Then I headed outside. Callie was standing next to Quinn, both of them in conversation. The sun was starting to set, which meant he would need to leave sooner rather than later. Lina was planning to bring me jambalaya for dinner tonight, which I was quite excited about. She was also going to be teaching me how to play dice.
Callie walked toward me while I stood on the porch. Quinn was folding up the sparring mat. I flashed her a smile. Callie and I had gotten close in the last month. She often came over to hang out with us. She was two years younger than Quinn at twenty-one.
“Hey Zay, long time no see,” she said.
“Hiya, Callie, and it's been two days,” I said, before laughing.
“Yeah… and you smell… wow. I thought I smelt it on him, but a human can’t mask anything,” she said.
“We didn’t do anything,” I muttered.
“That’s what he said too… but those bright red cheeks and that sexual smell are undeniable,” she whispered.
“We kissed… okay… that’s it,” I whispered.
“Ya… but both of you wanted more,” she said.
“I can’t speak for him… and I’m not answering that.”
“Ya don’t have to. I can smell both of you, and I can smell you on him, and him on you,” she said.
“Ya know, I don’t think you’re my favorite anymore,” I teased her.
“Bullshit… by the way, I’m rooting for you two,” she barely whispered.
My eyes widened at her.
“What?” she asked.
“We… him and I… we can’t… there’s so much baggage and so many other obligations we have. He’s also five years older,” I said.
“And? Have the obligations together, carry each other’s baggage. Who cares about age? You’re both consenting adults, andyouhave a child,” she said.
“Had a child,” I muttered.
“You’re still a mom, that doesn’t change that,” she said.
“Yeah… I guess,” I said.
Quinn put the rolled mat into the tiny shed next to the house. It was the only thing that fit in there.
“We gotta go,” Quinn said.
“Why don’t you guys just shift here? It’s not like I haven’t seen it before,” I asked.
“I mean, sure, we could,” he said, then pulled his shirt off.
I tilted my head. “Why are you taking your clothes off?”
“Because we get naked before we shift. Clothes are too expensive to ruin every time. We also bring a backpack to store them and some extra stuff just in case,” he said.
“In that case, maybe the woods are best,” I said.
“Nothing you didn’t see a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
“Well… I’m going to go to the woods, because she hasn’t seen my body and I’d like to keep it that way,” Callie said. She walked over to Quinn’s truck and pulled her backpack out, slinging it over her shoulder. She headed toward the woods.
Quinn stepped up right next to me and leaned in toward my ear. “But I can stay and shift right here, if you want,” he whispered.
