Page 44

“Listen, you told me a few nights ago that you were going to Jaxon’s to stay. After that, you said you were “studying with Skyler” for two nights. Calla, I’m not stupid. I know you spent more than one night with him.
I dry my hands on a washcloth and then turn to my mom. I shouldn’t feel bad about spending time with my boyfriend; I’m 18 and can spend time with whoever I want. But I do feel bad for leaving her alone to take care of Maisie. She doesn’t have anyone to help her with the 6-year-old, and she’s a lot of work. Speaking of Maisie…
“Calla!”Maisie screams and jumps toward me. I scream at the sudden intrusion and catch her in my arms. She hugs me tightly, and I hug her back.
“Hey, “I missed you,” she says, and then she frowns.
“You were gone for a long time. Don’t go away for that long again. I missed you! Check out what I made in class today!”She is suddenly back to her happy self as she shows me the simple bead bracelet she made in school today. I put her down as I continue to chop veggies, occasionally nodding and adding “mhhm’s” while I listen to her elaborate stories. She talks about fairy princesses and magic and ponies, so I smile and nod at the tales she makes up. Her imagination is remarkable.
My mom finally finds a way to get Maisie out of the kitchen. She asks her to draw a picture of the fairy and pony for each of us, which gives us time to cook in peace. I can hear Maisie’s soft humming as she colors, which makes me feel good. She’s so cute!
My mom puts the chopped vegetables in the oven to cook with the chicken breasts.
“Calla?”My mom looks at me and smiles a little, and I smile back, but I’m not mad at you. I’m glad you found someone you care about so much. I know that my relationship with your father wasn’t the best.
When I hear that jerk’s name, I get angry. My mom left him because he was physically abusive to us. He would always yell at me and my mom, but when he hit me, my mom left him. That’s why we moved to Redwood all those years ago. I haven’t seen him since then, and I hate thinking about him.
“Jaxon’s nothing like him,” I say with strong conviction. Jaxon is the exact opposite of my father. I was only 13 when I last saw my father, but Jaxon is kind, loving, and gentle, which is not what my father was like.
“Yes, I know, dear. I know how he acts around you. I really wish I could have the love you two have for each other.
I hug my mom and hold my arms out wide. We don’t usually talk about serious things. We usually joke around and talk about the books we recommend to each other. This is something new for us.
“Mom, you’ll find someone. I believe you will. “Any guy would be crazy not to want you.” I smile at her, and she blushes a little.
“Thank you, honey.” But that’s enough about me! Please promise me something.
I nod at her and wait for her to speak.
“Don’t lie to me about where you are. You can see Jaxon whenever you want. You can stay over; just let me know when so I can get ready. “I want you to be happy.”
I can’t believe she accepted me. It may not seem like a big deal, but I’ve never had this kind of freedom before. In high school, I never hung out with friends on the weekends because I was always too busy working or taking care of Maisie to have my own life.
“But what about Maisie? Do you really need me to keep an eye on her?”
My mom shakes her head and smiles right away. “I didn’t get to tell you before because you were gone, but I got a big promotion at work!” I get paid more to work less now, and I get the best routes. I don’t get it, but who am I to turn down free money?”
I laugh and cheer at the top of my lungs. I start dancing, and my mom joins me. We laugh as we do a happy dance at the news. I know we’ve been a little short on cash, so this news couldn’t have come at a better time. Maisie can go to daycare now, and I can take fewer shifts at Steamy Bean Cafe to focus on school. If we’re financially stable, I won’t need to give her any extra money.
Maisie sees us dancing from the living room and joins in. She has the two drawings she made for us in her hands. She doesn’t even know why we’re happy dancing, but she wants to join in. She shakes her b**t and starts the chicken dance, which I guess is one of the only dances she knows. I laugh and do the chicken dance with her.
I look up when I hear a light pinging sound. My jaw drops and my eyes widen in disbelief when I see my mom recording us! That little brat!
“Mom, don’t record me!”I scream and run up to her phone to cover the lens.
“Oh, come on! You two are really cute. Please do the chicken dance for me.”
“Pleaseeeee?Maisie begs as she jumps up and down with joy.
I shake my head and let out a big sigh. “You better not send this to anyone,” I say.
*****
I finally get to see Maisie’s drawings after the three of us eat dinner. The pony is lavender with rainbow hair, and the fairy woman has long black hair and a red dress. To be honest, Maisie might want to be a fashion designer when she grows up. Even though the drawing was clearly done by a six-year-old, the dress looked like something I would buy with a low v-neck and a slit up the right leg. I’d buy it.
Maisie told me in great detail how the fairy floated through the air in a blue bubble. I agreed that she must have flown down in a blue bubble like Glinda did in the Wizard of Oz. There’s no point in me telling her that her imagination isn’t real; I can’t crush her dreams.
During dinner, Jaxon sent me texts. I didn’t answer the first two because I was listening to my mom talk about her new job, but when the third one said, “Text me back or else I’m coming over,” I quickly replied that I was fine and eating dinner with my family.
I’m getting used to Jaxon’s need to stay in touch with me all the time. If he ever decides to mark me, I think he’ll text me less often because he’ll know right away if something’s wrong with me.
I’m amazed that we can connect on such a deep level. People don’t have anything like that, but I feel like I’m ready for something like that with Jaxon. I’m always thinking about him, so why not be able to tell when he’s upset? I could call him and cheer him up when he’s sad, tired, or bored.
Sadly, he has to bite my neck to feel that connection. Ugh.
I get a text from Felix while I’m texting Jaxon before bed. I perk up and open it right away. We haven’t talked since he broke the spell, and I’ve been meaning to see how his coven reacted to him reversing his magic.
Hey, how are you?
Me: I feel a lot better now. Thanks for saving me, even though it was kind of your fault.
Felix: I’m sorry you had to go through that because of me. The ethics were making me feel bad.
Me: It’s not how you use the word “ethics” in a sentence, but okay, lol.
I move around in bed while I wait for him to respond. A minute goes by, then two, and I wonder if he’s done talking. Jaxon has told me many times how much he hates witches and warlocks. They don’t care about how their actions affect other creatures, they use magic in front of humans even though it’s illegal, they kill without feeling, and they don’t respect other people’s customs. He says they’re dangerous.
If all of that is true, shouldn’t Felix have been made fun of? Hurt? Killed? He broke one of the coven’s rules and saved a human they wanted to kill. I need to ask him how he is. He saved me, so the least I can do is ask if he needs saving too.
Me: Are you all right?
I believe that text is clear enough. He answers right away.
Felix: No
Felix: But I will be
I try to call him, but every call goes straight to voicemail. He doesn’t answer any more of my texts. This freaking warlock is driving me crazy! I just want to know what’s wrong. I consider him a friend- even if our friendship has been a little rocky. He obviously needs a friend right now, and he won’t let me be there for him. Hopefully, on Friday, I’ll get to see him and Ethics class so I can interrogate him on his feelings. He doesn’t seem like the type to have the “feelings talk,” but I can be very persuasive when I want to be.
The rest of the week went by quickly. Every day was the same: I went to class, Jaxon picked me up and drove me to Cafe to get a coffee and a snack, and then we either went back to my house or his to do our work. I have to admit that it’s really hard to work when a Greek God is around.
Every time he stretched his arms above his head, his triceps would bulge out and distract me. Why on Earth would I focus on Calculus when I can look at Jaxon’s muscles? I found myself looking at him quite frequently while he typed on his computer doing God-knows-what. What does an Alpha even do as work?
There were a few times when I knew he was messing with me. He said he “spilled something” on his shirt twice and then took it off because he didn’t want the mess to get on him. Both times the shirt was clean. He just wanted to get me worked up and make me look at his abs. I had to tighten my legs to keep from getting more excited.
I started to tease him back, slowly at first, but then I did bigger things to get back at him for taking off his shirt. When he wasn’t wearing a shirt, I couldn’t focus on anything. I would chew on the edge of my pen, which you would think wouldn’t be a turn-on, but the way his eyes followed my lips as I wrapped them around the pen made it clear that it distracted him. After that, he quickly got up and sped over to me with his werewolf speed and kissed me hard. I didn’t mind.
I never found the right time to bring up marking. We were both busy with work, and by the time we were done, I had lost my nerve and decided to wait until the next day. Skyler said that marking is something s****l and intimate, so I didn’t want to push the issue; I wanted it to happen naturally.
Today is Friday, and I’m on my way to my Ethics class from Cafe. Jaxon told me not to go in case Felix showed up, but I told him I couldn’t miss, so he sent a “bodyguard” with me. I feel like royalty with someone watching over me for my safety—it’s not a good feeling. I feel like I’m being watched, and to be honest, it’s pretty creepy. Jaxon didn’t give me a choice, though.
I walk into the lecture hall and look over the seats for a certain platinum blonde. I need to make sure he’s okay. I haven’t seen him since he saved me. After a few moments of searching, I realize that he’s not here today. The bodyguard behind me, who is doing a terrible job of blending in with the students, seems to be looking for the warlock, but he doesn’t seem to be getting tense like he would if he were here.