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“Good.” He smiles and nods. “That’s good.” He awkwardly flaps his arms at his sides and clears his throat. “Anyway, we’ll see you outside. Don’t take too long to, uh, clean up.”
“We won’t,” I reply, my voice reedy. Since I’ve never had a girlfriend before, I’ve never been caught with a girl before. Next time, I’ll definitely take Steven’s advice and wait until we’re home alone. How James managed to have a sex life is beyond me.
He does another awkward nod and then escapes down the hall.
Quickly closing the door, I lean back against it with a contrite expression. “Sorry about that.”
A blush stains Callie’s cheeks as she begins carefully finger combing her wayward tresses. “Not your fault. We got swept away in the moment.” She sighs. “I don’t think this is going to endear me to Sandra.”
Taking the few steps over to the bed, I sit next to her and gather her into my arms. “It doesn’t matter what she thinks.”
“I know, but I still want her to like me,” she admits, her hands falling to her lap. “I’ve never been a girlfriend before, and I don’t want to mess it up.”
“You’re doing a great job,” I insist, placing a quick kiss on her temple. “Now, let’s go downstairs and have some cake before they send someone else for us.”
“Do I look okay?” she asks, her gaze unsure as she bites her bottom lip.
Sitting back, I purposely do a slow, sweeping look of her body. I take in the way her hair falls messily around her shoulders, her kiss swollen mouth, the blush that spreads across her chest, and the way her dress hugs her curves. A full body throb pulses through me, and I desperately wish we were alone in the house.
Swallowing heavily, I answer, “You look beautiful, pretty girl.”
“If you say so,” she replies, fiddling to press down the corners of the sticker that have curled upward since we made out. When they refuse to stay down, she huffs a sigh and stands up. “Okay, let’s go eat some cake.”
After we walk downstairs hand in hand, I tell her that I’ll meet her outside, using the excuse that I need to take a leak real fast. She kisses me on the cheek and does as I ask, fussing with her hair and dress the whole way. Once she’s out of view, I head for the kitchen and find Sandra digging in a drawer, looking for candles.
When she finds them, she raises them in triumph, closes the drawer, and then gasps when she sees me. “Holy Mary and Joseph, you scared the you know what out of me.”
I lean against the doorframe, crossing my arms over my chest, and do my best Donovan impersonation. “Look, I’m only going to say this once. If you really want to build a new relationship with me, then you have to accept that Callie is my girlfriend. Bree and I are over.”
She looks hesitant, her hands gripping the candle package a little too tightly. “I do.”
“You don’t, but you will starting right now,” I insist, my expression growing hard. “I’m eighteen now and not legally obligated to live here. If you want me to stay, you will make Callie feel welcome.”
Shock takes over her face. “You’re giving your mother ultimatums?”
Frustration bubbles up inside me and colors my voice. “Right now, you’re not my mother. You’re a woman I met six months ago who’s spent most of that time wishing I was someone else.” I hate the pain that flashes within her gaze, but I need her to understand the stakes. “I didn’t lie. I want to get to know you, and I want you to get to know me, but not at the cost of my girlfriend feeling like she has to earn her place.”
“You really love this girl,” she observes, tears welling up in her eyes.
“I do.” Looking out the window over the kitchen sink, I quietly admit, “She saved my life—not just physically. When all of you were disappointed over who I wasn’t, Callie loved and accepted me as I am, no matter what that looked like.”
The tears break and fall down Sandra’s cheeks. “I’m so sorry, James. I never meant to hurt you.”
“It’s not me you need to apologize to,” I announce, shoring up my own tender emotions.
She sniffs and blots at her face with her fingertips. “I will make sure Callie knows she’s welcome in our home.”
“Thank you.” Reaching over to retrieve a paper towel, I hand it to her so she can dry her face. Once she looks more put together, I wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go blow out some candles. I hear you made my favorite cake, and I’m dying for a slice before everyone else eats it all.”
Her expression brightens as hope floods her gaze. I’m worried that she may be reading too much into the fact that my favorite cake is the same as her son’s, but all she says is, “Don’t worry. I made two.”
Chapter 13
Nolan
Despite previously being a large family library, my grandmother’s makeshift lab feels nearly claustrophobic with all of the medical equipment and people crammed inside. On one side of the room, my cousins sit on a hospital bed surrounded by various monitoring devices while Dalia takes their vitals. The bed looks out over the back of the property, so at least I’ll have a nice view when I’m too sick to sleep in my own room. Ever since I got this stupid walker, I fear that time is fast approaching.
Mildred and my parents stand on the other side, lodged between a large oak desk and a table covered in a bunch of items that look like modern medicine made friends with a mad scientist. Their expressions range from concerned—my parents—to worn patience—Mildred. Despite, or maybe because of, how close they’ve had to work together, the two older women seem to both respect and disdain each other in equal measures. Callie and I are near the door, with me sitting on said stupid walker and her behind me. While I’m drinking my morning serving of her blood, she absently runs her fingers through my hair. It’s grown shaggier than I usually like to keep it, but it’s been hard to care when literally everything makes me tired.
