Page 27 of Big Bad Wolf

Ruby glanced at Callie in her trusty overalls and then down at herself in her dirt-covered work clothes. She wasn’t sure which one of them was the beautiful princess, but somebody needed to save the day.

“Okay,” she said, dusting her hands off. “Let’s let him sleep for now. He’ll be safe here. If he still can’t walk off on his own in the morning I will call Animal Control.”

Callie raised a blonde brow, and Ruby knew exactly what she was thinking. Animal Control in Maple Hollow consisted of two brothers, Freddie and Steve, who happened to own a net and had no qualms about facing off with a skunk. That was the bulk of their business. Removing skunks from under people’s porches or decks or gardening sheds. Ruby was quite confident that neither brother had encountered a wolf, but she couldn’t very well domesticate him and keep him here forever.

Right?

“You can’t keep him,” Callie said as they backed quietly out of the garage, as though she could read Ruby’s mind.

“I know that.”

Callie laughed. “Do you, though? This is basically a dream come true for you. Don’t you remember watching all those werewolf movies as kids?”

“Okay, first of all, you say that like I stopped watching those movies at some point. Which I most certainly did not. And secondly, he’s not a werewolf. He’s just … a … very large regular wolf.”

“Right. Of course.”

“It’s just you didn’t see how … tame he seemed. It was like … it was like he knew me or something. Or at least like he was trying to protect me. Is that insane?”

Callie blew out a long breath, leaning her back against the side of the garage as she looked up at the starry sky. “I might have thought it was insane before, but not anymore.”

“Do you want to tell me about it now?” Ruby asked, mimicking her pose against the garage, so they were side by side.

“I learned a lot about myself while I was away. And a lot about my family. And I guess I know now that things aren’t always what they seem on the outside.”

“Deep.”

Callie nudged her shoulder against Ruby’s. “Oh, shut up.”

“And the flannel?”

Another long sigh.

“It’s Sawyer’s.”

“Sawyer? Wait … no way! Sawyer? That Sawyer? The Sawyer!”

“Shush, you’re going to wake the wolf,” Callie said dryly.

“I cannot shush! You were wearing the shirt of the boy who starred in all your pre-teen fantasies! The boy whose name you secretly always wanted to come up as your husband in every game of MASH! The boy who you always claimed to be just friends with!”

Callie shrugged but Ruby caught the subtle smile playing on her lips. “I guess we’re not just friends anymore.”

“Oh my God!” Ruby squealed. “And how was it?”

“Ruby, come on…”

“No way, you have to give me something. It’s Sawyer. I watched you doodle that name on every notebook you owned.”

Callie giggled, and it felt like they were twelve all over again.

“It was and still is amazing.”

“Still is?! This wasn’t a one-time thing? You’re like … a thing?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. My. God. And it took you a full fucking week to tell me?!”