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She rolled her eyes. “I decided to go five minutes ago.”
“Why don’t we get them at the same time? That way, we can fly to Austin together, then from there to New York.”
“But we have to come back here first.”
We’d spent weeks together when we were working the investigation. What was the big deal now? If she didn’t want to stay at my parents’ place after leaving Austin, either she or both of us could get a hotel room or even rent a camp. “Sure, Casper. If that’s what you want to do.” I knew I sounded pissed off, because I was.
“Casper.”
I looked up. “Why did you say your name?”
“You called me Calla last night.”
“And?”
“I liked it.”
“Shit, Calla…Casper…whatever you want me to call you. One minute, you’re saying we have to go dutch on everything and you want to go to both parties, but not spend any time together in between, then you’re telling me you liked what I called you last night. You’re giving me some major mixed signals.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away.
“I’m sorry for calling you out on it, but help me out here,” I added.
“A little over a week separates the Invincibles’ party and your parents’.”
“Yeah?”
“Christmas is in between.”
“You have big plans for it?” I asked.
“No, but…”
“But what?”
“Don’t you want to spend it with your family?”
I knew what I was about to say might make Calla call off both parts of our arrangement, but I couldn’t keep up the charade of her not mattering as much to me as she did. I drew in a fortifying breath, let it out slowly, then looked into her eyes. “I’d rather spend an ordinary day with you. Maybe get Chinese takeout or go for a boat ride. Hell, we could even go to an amusement park.” I waited for her response, watching her eyes dart between mine.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
She cocked her head and smiled. “Yes, Spider.”
5
CASPER
After he helped me with the dishes, Spider and I sat down at the bar with our laptops, agreed on which flight to take to Austin, then individually purchased the tickets.
“Wait, what seat did you choose?” he asked.
“I always sit in the exit row.”
“The exit row?”
“More legroom.” I looked over at his screen. “What are you doing?”
