Abraham chuckled. “Good luck with that.”
Wes turned to him. “What? No stay away from my sisters or else?”
Abraham laughed harder and shook his head. “Hell no. I know better.”
“He learned a long time ago to stay out of our love lives,” one of the sisters said. She had pink streaked through her wavy brown hair and a smirk on her pretty face. “I’m Del, and you’re cute, but I don’t do blonds.”
The other sister, who must have been Evelyn, giggled while Callista finally lifted her head, only to glare at Del. “Delilah,” she admonished.
Del turned toward her with rounded blue eyes. “What? I’m just bein’ honest.”
“You just don’t say things like that out loud.”
Del shrugged. “You might not, but I do.”
Wes grabbed his chest. “You wound me.”
“I think you’ll survive,” Del said with a smirk.
I liked this girl already.
“He’ll definitely make it,” I cut in. “It’s nice to meet you Del, Evelyn.”
Evelyn shook her head, her small features pinched. “Call me Evey. The only one who calls me Evelyn is my nana.”
“Got it.” Finally, I turned to Callista, taking a moment to soak her in as much as I could. “It’s nice seeing you again, Callista.”
Both Del and Evey turned slowly to look at their third sister. “You’ve met?” Del asked.
Callista shrugged but kept her head down and her mouth shut.
“Why didn’t you mention you met the new guys already?” Evey asked next.
Callista glanced up at her, eyes narrowed. “It didn’t come up.”
Del scoffed as she looked her sister up and down. “Why are you actin’ so squirrely, Callista McCoy?”
“Why are you acting so annoying, Delilah McCoy?”
Del cracked a grin and shrugged. “Just tryin’ to figure out what my sister is hidin’.”
Callista pursed her lips and looked back down at the table. “I’m not hiding anything. I’ve just had a lot on my mind and updating you two about every person I speak to isn’t a priority.”
“Uh huh,” Del said, a smile still spread across her face.
Abraham sighed. “Ladies. Can we keep it civil? Let’s not give our new packmates a reason to want to leave already.” He turned to us, a grimace on his face. “Come on, let me introduce you to some more wolves.”
We waved goodbye to his sisters and let him lead us away from their table, but my mind didn’t stray far. As I greeted all the new people that were now my pack, I couldn’t help but keep one eye on Callista. It was like I was drawn to her. No matter how far away I was, that tether connecting us was as strong as ever.
Turns out I hadn’t imagined anything. This attraction and connection to her was as real as anything I’d ever felt. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew I was going to do everything I could to figure it out.
Callie
Dang it. Dang it. Dang it.
The very last thing I needed was for my nosey sisters to catch wind of this… situation with the new guy. That’s what I’d been referring to it as. A situation. Because it wasn’t a problem. I wouldn’t let it be a problem. It was simply a situation I needed to address and get a handle on.
Unfortunately, that was proving more difficult to do than I’d imagined.
Ever since I’d met him earlier in the week, his caramel-colored eyes and strong jaw had all but haunted me. Every time I closed my eyes, that was all I could see. Every time I walked into the kitchen, I half-expected to run into him again. And every time I didn’t, I was filled with equal parts relief and dejection.
I wanted to see him just as bad as I wanted to hide and pretend I’d never met him.
I’d planned on skipping this barbecue all together until Abraham informed us there would be a mandatory meeting attached to it. There was no way the sister of the alpha could skip out on a pack meeting.
So, I’d spent the whole day thinking about what I’d wear while simultaneously hoping this infatuation was all in my head. That I’d blown something innocent way out of proportion. That I’d see him again and feel nothing just like I felt for every other wolf I’d ever met.
But that wasn’t the case.
I’d felt him before I could see him, which brought all my hopes of this being the figment of an overactive imagination crashing to the ground. I did my best to ignore the tug of something deep in my belly as he came closer but was unsuccessful. I’d hoped they’d walk right past us, but it was short-lived.
After that, the best I could do was try to act as unaffected as I could. Which also didn’t work in my favor.
“Okay, Callie. Spill,” Del said as soon as the three men walked away.
I shrugged as I stared down at my nails. “Spill what?”
Del chuckled. “You know damn well what. Why are you actin’ so weird around the new guys?”
I looked up and met her gaze, knowing if I was going to successfully lie to her, I’d need to do it to her face. “I wasn’t acting weird. I told you, I have a lot on my mind. What did you expect me to do? Roll out a song and dance to welcome them to the pack?”
Her eyes narrowed as she continued to study me.
“Not a song and dance, but you coulda been a little friendlier,” Evey piped up from across the table.
I winced and met her eyes next, the color almost the exact same blue as our brother’s. “I was friendly.”
She raised a dark brow. “Yeah, about as friendly as a honey badger.”
“Do you even know what a honey badger is, Evelyn?”
She rolled her eyes. “Obviously a badger that eats honey. Duh.”
I shook my head and opened my mouth to retort when Abraham’s booming voice interrupted me. I shot my sister a glare which she just smiled at before turning toward our brother. Honestly, I was just glad to have the attention off me.
I didn’t do well being under scrutiny, and especially not from my sisters. We were quintuplets, so we were, of course, close. They had a way of extracting information they really wanted, and I couldn’t afford that at the moment.
Now that Wyatt was far enough away that I didn’t have to risk looking into his eyes again, I took the time to study him as much as I’d been wanting to.
He had on a plaid shirt like me, but instead of swimming in it like I was, he filled it out like it’d been custom made for him. His biceps were thick, and his chest was broad, and it was all on display. He paired it with a simple pair of blue jeans and work boots, which shouldn’t have made my heart pound like it was, but it did.
When the meeting was over, I lost sight of Wyatt as he was swallowed up by the crowd of welcoming werewolves. It was just as well. I had no business staring at him like I just was and vowed to not let it happen again.
“You comin’ to get food?” Evey asked.
I turned to find her and Del already standing. “Nah. I’ll wait until the line dies down.”
They shrugged and left as I tried my best to concentrate on my cuticles and not look for him again. Unfortunately, my will was weak, and it didn’t take me long to pick him out of the crowd again. But when I did, I wished I hadn’t.