Simply Mates

FOURTEEN

"You better go." Callum says, panting as he pulls away. A look of pure frustration is painted on his face. "Before I rip your clothes off and fully make you mine."

A wicked grin forms on my face and I say, "What if I-"

"No."

I furrow my brows. "I didn't even finish what I was going to say!"

"I know what you were going to say." Callum states, tapping his temple. "And the answer is no. When I make love to you, I want it to be a celebration of us finally being together. Not a half-assed fuck like a drunken one-night stand."

A smile softly, a blush creeping onto my face as thoughts of what that night will be cross my mind.

"Put the dirty thoughts away, love. You are already making this hard enough as is." He says, making a quick gesture to his little buddy down below, making me giggle.

"Fine. I'll leave." I say, drawling out my words. "If that's what you really want."

He rolls his eyes and grabs my hand. "You know that's not what I really want, Andy. Don't be like that." He says, planting a kiss on my nose. "Go. Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning, love."

I shoot him a wink before slipping out his door, softly closing the door behind me with a click. I scoot across the hallway to my room and open the door. I step inside the door - like a teenager sneaking in after a night out - and as I close the door behind me, a foreign scent hits my nose. 

I flip the light switch and prepare to fight, stopping myself when my eyes land on the source of the smell. "What the fuck, Skylar? I was ready to kill you."

"Psh." She says. "I could have killed you before you even caught my scent with the way you are right now."

I furrow my brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You're all, like, love-drunk or something. Mate-struck? Lovestruck! That's the word!" 

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I say, turning away from her towards my dresser. I begin to fiddle around in one of the drawers, pretending to look for something.

"No, you ain't gonna do that with me." She says behind me, taking my shoulder and spinning me around so I face her. "Spill."

"Spill what?" I ask incredulously, as if I have no clue what she's talking about.

"Quit acting stupid. I know he's your mate."

"Who's my mate? I think you are mis-"

She pushes down my shirt collar and points at it as she glares at me. "The mate that gave you that." 

I slap away her hand in a panic. "Jesus Christ, Skylar. You can't just go around pushing down people's shirts." 

"Oh fuck off. Talk to me. I might be able to help you, hun." She says softly. "I know what it's like to be all alone. I know how important it is to have a friend. Let me be that friend."

I stop and look at her - like, really look at her. I search her face for any kind of deception, but come up empty. She outwardly shows no malice and I feel my resolve weaken. 

"Come on. Two years ago, I would have jumped at the opportunity to have a friend."

"Callum Denvers is my mate." I blurt out - and when I do, I feel this weight come off my shoulders. It's like I can finally breathe. 

"Feel better?" Skylar asks with a smirk. "And I kinda already figured." She casually points at my neck and I touch it gently with a smile. "And...I can kinda smell him on you."

"Shit." I mumble. 

"Yeah, you're lucky your father wasn't here instead of me." She says, turning on her heel and walking towards my bed. She sits on it with a plop. "So much better than mine." 

"Why are you here?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at the girl who is currently running her hands over my comforter like it's some kind of kitten. 

"Oh, yeah. Well, I figured something was up when you kinda went all werewolf in the meeting. Decided to come check on you." She says, before pointing to the door. "Your door was unlocked, so I let myself in. Kinda wish I didn't, because that was about-" She looks at her watch. "Two hours ago? Your dad knocked on the door a couple times."

"Shit. I better go see what he wants."

"Ah, I would have a shower first. And maybe fix your hair. And that shirt doesn't really hide your mark. Oh and you kinda have smudged lipstick all over your face." Skylar says, scrunching her face up as she looks up at me. "You totally look like you just had a really hot makeout session." 

I try to ignore her smirk as I step towards the mirror over the dresser and take a big look at myself. "Callum." I mumble under my breath as I begin trying to smooth my rat's nest called hair and wipe away my smudged lipstick - which is kinda hard thanks to Kat Von D's Everlasting Liquid Lipstick.

"Go take a shower. It's late, I'm sure he's already asleep. I mean he is old." She says behind me, making me chuckle. "My dad goes to sleep at, like, six on weekdays. And it's eleven."

"It's eleven?!" 

"Yeah, that must have been one hot makeout session."

"Fuck. I completely lost track of time. I'm surprised my father didn't order a bloody search party for me." I mutter as I search my dresser for a nightgown. 

"Relax. I told him you went for a run and I was just waiting for you so we could go over Alpha stuff. He totally bought it. In fact, he was ecstatic that you were making alliances already." Skylar says with a huge grin on her face.

"Of course he would be."

She yawns as she pushes herself up off my bed and walks towards me. Placing a hand on my shoulder, she says, "I know things are complicated with your situation. I may not know everything, but I do know you are hiding this-" She gestures to my neck. "For a reason. I won't tell anyone. You don't have to worry. Just...just if you need anyone, give me a call. I would be more than happy to be on your side when this does come out in the open."

I give her a soft smile and nod my head. "Thank you." I whisper.

"Anytime, hun. Go get cleaned up and get some sleep. I believe we are talking vampires in the morning." She says as she rolls her eyes. She walks to her door, gives me another nod and slips out into the hallway and out of sight, the door closing with a quiet click behind her. 

After a moment of staring at the closed door, I walk over to the ensuite to shower. I fully relish in the warm, therapeutic waters as the wash over my head, and down my back and legs and to my feet - washing away the dirt of today and the scent of Callum. I close my eyes and just take in everything that today has brought me. I let memories of Callum's touch and kiss flash through my mind like a billion pictures played on a projector. 

And once I've washed it all away, I dry myself off and walk toward my bed - falling onto it with a soft thud and a groan of the mattress's box spring. I don't bother with clothes or brushing my hair. No, I let the memories of today turn into dreams as I close my eyes and drift into a pleasant sleep.