15. Cal
CHAPTER 15
CAL
We took turns showering. I went first, which I was grateful for, because I needed to jerk off in the worst way. Though that was fucking weird because I’d already done it once today. I’d woken up this morning with the hard-on from hell.
I didn’t make eye contact with Greg when I exited the bathroom. I didn’t want to know if he could tell what I’d been doing in the shower. Not that it was anything to be ashamed of. It was just another natural bodily function.
I put on jeans and a purple button-down over my “Middle Earth Hiking Club” t-shirt and called it good enough for dinner with Greg’s family and friends.
While he showered and changed, I sat on one of the twin beds with my laptop and checked my work emails, which fortunately were dwindling due to Kurt’s impending promotion and my out-of-office autoreply.
Greg came out of the bathroom looking good enough to eat in dark jeans and a gray henley that made his eyes almost glow. His cheeks were flushed. Had he been jerking off in there too?
“Ready?” I asked .
“Give me one minute.”
I nodded and busied myself putting my laptop in my newly repaired backpack. I couldn’t believe how nice it looked. Aileen had done more than fix the broken strap. She’d reinforced all of the seams, removed the stain along one side where I’d spilled a Dr Pepper on it in high school, and she’d even covered the bottom with a new piece of suede. Where she’d produced it from on short notice, I’d never know. And she’d told me the backpack would be more resistant to damage going forward.
I zipped it shut and glanced around to see if Greg was ready. He was standing next to the door with his eyes closed, and I was pretty sure he was doing breathing exercises. Was he worried about dinner? He hadn’t seemed uncomfortable at lunch earlier, but there’d only been six of us. Maybe it was his mother? She did seem like she could be a lot to handle, but she’d been making accommodations for him up to now.
I fiddled with my phone for a moment until Greg moved.
“Sorry,” he said. “Thanks for waiting.”
I stood up and shook my head. “No worries. I’m certainly not going down there and facing your mom on my own.”
He chuckled. “Understandable.”
We went downstairs. As soon as we exited the stairwell, we heard voices. Lots of voices.
Greg squared his shoulders and led me to the great room. About ten people with wolves as their second selves were scattered around talking. I only recognized Lloyd. They waved at us but didn’t approach, though that may have been due to the way Greg was walking swiftly and with purpose toward the kitchen .
Delphia was standing at the kitchen island with Silvia, and they were putting together a pan of enchiladas. Behind them, the winged red-haired guy was tending to a few pots on the stove. He wore a t-shirt with a wide collar, and his wings poked out of the material behind his head. Pretty smart way to keep from getting your wings burned or whatever while you were cooking.
The three of them greeted us, and the red-haired guy was introduced as Max. I waved and he saluted me with a wooden spoon.
“Mom,” Greg said. “I thought we were having a quiet dinner with just a few people.”
She held up a hand. “We are. Lloyd wanted some of his pack members to meet Silvia. Most of them have already left, and the rest are on their way out.”
Greg relaxed. “Got it. Thanks. Sorry.” He said to Silvia, “How did it go?”
She smiled, but to me it seemed a little strained. “They were very kind, but there are so many of them.” She shook her head. “It will take me a while to learn everyone’s names when we visit.”
Greg said, “Maybe you can invite them to Bent Oak a few at a time. Then it won’t seem so overwhelming when you come here.”
Relief flashed across her face. “That is an excellent suggestion, Greg. You are very smart.”
He went around the island, kissed his mother on the cheek and then did the same to Silvia. “Cal, you want a beer?” he called over his shoulder.
“Please,” I said .
After opening the refrigerator, he held up two Jester King Wytchmaker IPAs, and I nodded.
We chatted with Delphia and Silvia for a few minutes, then Edgar and Bettina showed up. Greg took up a position next to the wall about six feet from the island, but he didn’t look distressed. I reminded myself I wasn’t his keeper, and he could leave the room if he felt he needed to. It was getting harder to remember I didn’t like him, that he didn’t like me.
Eventually we moved into the dining room. Max, wings released from their t-shirt prison, set the food out family-style while Delphia poured water into everyone’s glasses. We ended up with twelve people around the gigantic table.
I ended up seated with Greg on my right and Max on my left. Across from me, between Bettina and Lloyd, was a large dude named Bloom who had a craggy face and gray skin. I wished I had a discreet way to ask Greg what kind of Wonders people were, because many of them, like Bloom, didn’t have a second self.
We passed dishes around for a few minutes. Once everyone started eating, Max said to me, “Hey, uh, my sister is Annie. You saved her life yesterday. I just wanted to say thanks.”
“Oh! Um, I’m glad she’s okay.” What the hell else was I supposed to say?
“She was seriously freaked out, especially after that Wonder Thomas was killed.” He shivered and gazed down at his plate.
“We’re working on figuring out who’s behind the deaths. That’s why we’re here.”
He nodded, looking up at me fiercely. “Let me know if I can help. I’m willing to fight. ”
“Youngling,” Bloom interrupted from across the table. His voice was deep and gravelly. “Do not be so quick to choose fighting as the solution. The enemy is still unknown.”
Max threw his fork onto his plate. I reared back, jostling Greg.
Max hissed, “Look, you sedimentary rock, you might be old, but you’re not my parent!”
“Okay,” I said soothingly. “Max, I appreciate your willingness to help. We might need it once we figure everything out.” I eyed Bloom to see if he would contradict me.
Delphia called down the table. “What’s going on, Max?”
Bloom said, loud enough for his voice to boom through the house, “Everything’s fine. Max’s youthful temper just got the best of him for a moment.”
Fuck. Way to not deescalate, dude.
“I’m sixty-three years old, you fossil!”
I whipped around to stare at Max, my mouth hanging open. No fucking way.
Before I could ask any questions, a wolf shifter opened the door from the great room and stuck their head inside. I thought they might have been in the room with Lloyd earlier. “Is everything okay in here?”
“We’re fine, Marley,” Delphia called. “Y’all can go on home.”
They shook their head. “We’re playing Twister!” Everyone laughed. They said, “After you’re done eating, come on and play!”
Thankfully they shut the door behind themselves.
Bloom turned his attention to Greg. “Tell me, Greg, are you still practicing your French?” He said to me, “I was one of Greg and Dominic’s tutors during their school years. I taught them French and mathematics.”
“Oh, Greg mentioned he’d been homeschooled.”
Bloom waggled his hand. “I’m not sure it was as organized as you make it sound. Delphia had many responsibilities after her husband passed. She did her best, but there were many Wonders in need at the time, and Greg and Dominic were often left to their own devices.”
I felt stressed just thinking about it. Poor kids. “Are there any children here now?”
Bloom eyed Max, who pointed his fork at him and said, “Don’t you say it!”
Objective accomplished, Bloom smiled and told me, “No, Dominic’s daughter Callie was the last, and after her mother passed, he sent her to live with Greg so she could go to a formal school.”
I turned to look at Greg, eyebrows raised. “How old was she?”
“Fourteen,” Greg said tersely. He told Bloom, “She goes by Caroline now.”
Bloom sat back in his chair and nodded. He eyed me. “Makes sense.” Turning back to Greg, he asked, “Is she enjoying her new role?”
“She is. She?—”
The door to the great room slammed open, and I wasn’t the only one to jump in my seat. A woman shouted, “Sorry!” and pulled it shut again.
Damn, Greg was right about this place being chaotic. I was super tense, my heart beating a million miles an hour just waiting for the next thing to happen .
But the feeling was... odd. Like it wasn’t my heart that was beating so fast.
Oh, shit.
I casually turned to look at Greg. He was staring into the distance, one of his hands clenched in his lap, and the other gripping his water glass hard enough to turn his fingers white.
Fuck.
Okay, okay. I needed to get Greg out of here, but without sending everyone else into some sort of tizzy worrying about him. He wouldn’t want to be the center of attention right now.
I put my napkin next to my plate, then I slid my palm over Greg’s shoulder. When I was sure he was paying attention to me, I said, “Do we have to stay for dessert? Because those cookies earlier were enough sweets for me for one day, and I want to do some research before we go to bed.”
He trembled under my hand, so I put my arm around his back and said, “I’ll make it worth your while.” I wiggled my eyebrows, and Lloyd and Bloom laughed.
Greg breathed out, his tension lessening. He gave an awkward chuckle. “Sure.”
I squeezed him once, then, leaving my hand on his shoulder, stood up from my chair. Conversations halted. “Delphia, Max, Silvia, thank you so much for the delicious meal. I’m sorry, but I’ve got some work to do, and I’m taking this one with me so he can help.”
Max said, not at all quietly, “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”
Everyone laughed and whistled .
No one suspected a thing.
Under the guise of helping him move his chair back, I got Greg to his feet. “Uh, which is the best way to get back to our room?” I did not want Greg to walk through the Twister-playing wolves.
“We can cut across the courtyard,” he said, nudging me toward the other side of the room where double doors led outside.
We walked into the humid night, my hand on Greg’s lower back. When the door shut behind us, cutting off the din of the conversation, Greg’s shoulders came down and he exhaled loudly. The anxious feeling coming through our connection diminished.
“Is it still helping to have me touch you?” I asked.
He nodded but didn’t look at me. “Yes, thanks.”
An animal of some kind—or maybe it was a bird—made an eerie laughing sound in the distance.
I said, “If we have time before we leave, I’d love to see some of the animals.”
“Sure. There’s a road that winds through the property, so at the very least we can see them on the way out. Most of the Wonders live in cabins or small houses on the other side of the animal enclosures, so you won’t meet any more unless you want me to ask Mom to take you.”
I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’d like to leave before dinnertime tomorrow if we can.”
Greg folded his arms across his belly. “Sorry, I’m making this harder.”
I slid my hand up across his back to grip his shoulder. “You didn’t have a great childhood. I’m impressed you can even be here at all. I don’t think I’d want to come back if I were you.”
“I don’t blame my mom, not really. She tried, but there wasn’t anyone else to be in charge after my dad died.”
We went through a door into the hall that led to the stairwell. As we climbed, I said, “At least your mom tries to make things easier for you. I’d have given a lot to have a mom who cared like that.”
He glanced at me as we headed down the hall toward the bedroom. “Yeah? What were your parents like?”
I grimaced. “Well, I never knew my dad. And I didn’t get the impression my mom was very happy to be saddled with a kid, you know?”
We went into the bedroom, and I finally dropped my hand from Greg’s back. He didn’t look at me, busying himself with plugging his phone into the charger.
I kicked off my shoes and climbed onto the bed I’d been sitting on earlier. There wasn’t anywhere else to sit. I’d left my backpack on the foot of the bed, and I pulled it toward me, holding it on my lap like a teddy bear.
“Steve’s mom gave this to me when he and I started middle school. She told me the store had had a two-for-one sale, but I’m pretty sure she paid full price.” I stroked my hand over the nylon. “My mom never got me anything outside of the list of supplies the school gave her.” I cleared my throat. “Anyway, that was the year my visions started.”
Greg got on the other bed and sat against the headboard. “Were they bad?”
I sighed, not looking up from the backpack. “Not at first. They were all pretty minor events. When I realized they were more than dreams, I told Steve first, then I told my mom. ”
I aimed a sardonic smile at the backpack. “She kept saying I was making it up, so I stopped mentioning the visions to her at all. Steve was the only one I talked to about them.” I heaved a big breath. “But one night when I was thirteen, I had a vision that Steve’s mom died.”
Greg made a pained noise and swung his legs off his bed. He came over and sat next to me, putting his warm hand on my arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah.” I blinked rapidly, swallowing against the lump in my throat. “I got up and ran to tell my mom. I was crying. She told me it was only a nightmare and to go back to sleep.” I threaded the strap of the backpack through my fingers. “But in the morning Steve called and said his mom was dead.”
“Oh, Cal, that’s horrible. I’m so sorry.” He put his arm across my shoulder, and I leaned into him. He might be an asshole, but it was still nice to get a hug sometimes.
“Yeah, and it didn’t help that the next day after school, my mom was waiting for me at home with a priest.” I snorted. “She didn’t even go to church, and she never claimed to be Catholic.”
“Did the priest try to do an exorcism?”
I shrugged. “I got away and ran to Steve’s house. I never told him I had a vision of his mom dying though.”
“I don’t think I would’ve either. Did you go back to your mom’s house?”
I made a face. “Yeah. Steve’s family was in mourning. I couldn’t stay.” I stroked the fabric of the backpack. “My mom gave me the silent treatment for a week and then she pretended nothing had ever happened.” I looked at Greg. “But I knew she might turn on me at any time. I started taking any odd job I could to get money. Most of it I kept at Steve’s house with my birth certificate and some clothes, but some of it I used to buy computer parts. I built a PC and taught myself how to code. I wanted to have a skill that would get me a decent job when I got out of high school.”
Greg’s forehead creased, and his grey eyes seemed darker than usual. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry you had such a difficult childhood.”
I rubbed my eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make this about me.”
Greg chuckled darkly. “I don’t mind. I kind of like knowing someone else had just as shitty an upbringing as I did.”
He squeezed my shoulders, and I turned to look at him. His beautiful face was right there . I could’ve kissed him, and I thought he would’ve kissed me back.
But this was the same guy who ran away yesterday when he realized we were compatible.
I sat up, letting Greg’s arm fall away behind me. “I’d like to go to bed so we can get an early start tomorrow. I’ll take the bathroom first.”
I pretended to already be asleep when he got into his own bed.
“Frank-N-Furter’s farts!” Steve shouted. His fingers moved furiously on the controller as he tried to fight off whatever enemy was on the giant TV screen in front of us. I didn’t know what game he was playing, but the graphics were gorgeous, and the avatars moved seamlessly as they interacted with each other and the background .
He threw a wicked grin at me before whipping his head back to the screen. “Dude, this shapeshifting weapon thing is hilarious! Did you see me take that guy out with a rubber tire?
On his other side, Felix groaned, dropping his controller and throwing his hands in the air. “Dang it, the one with the mace got me.”
“I’ll make sure she regrets it,” Steve vowed. He manipulated his controller with renewed determination.
We were sitting on a huge brown leather sectional sofa. It was four recliners across facing the TV, then it cornered on each end into another seat. The room we were in was enormous, with big windows on three sides. It looked like we were on the second floor. This room was about the same size as the great room at TWIST.
Steve glanced over at me again. “What are you doing? I need help over here!”
I stared at him. I’d had this vision before.
He paused the game, his forehead scrunched up. “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”
Felix leaned over to peer around Steve.
In a few seconds a man was going to kiss my cheek.
What if it was Greg?
Shit, what if it wasn’t ?
I sat up in bed, gasping.