potatoes to boil and grabbed a glass out of the cabinet. A beer wasn’t going to give him any calming effects. So, instead, he poured himself a whiskey on the rocks; heavy on the whiskey, light on the rocks.
“I’m free that night,” she beamed. “Should I bring anything?”
“No,” he said after taking a long drink. The whiskey burned going down, but it was a good burn. It kept his mind off of touching her, kissing her. “Mom wants to cook for us, and knowing her, we will be coming home with leftovers for a week.”
“She’s such a good female,” Calla pointed out.
“That she is,” he agreed. He’d talked to his mom about his desire to mate her, but he didn’t go into specifics out of respect. The conversation was mostly from his end, and his beautiful mother had listened to him ramble on for the better part of an hour, nodding and holding his hand when the things he struggled with got too hard to express.
The meal continued, but a silence had descended while they ate. Calla was deep in thought, and he knew letting her stay there for too long was probably a bad idea. She’d told him she didn’t like being in that place.
“Calla?” he called out. When she looked up, there was sadness and a bit of fear in her eyes. “We talk to each other, remember?”
“Yeah,” she breathed out and leaned back in her seat. “I was just thinking.”
“About?” he pressed, ready for whatever she could throw at him. They had a long road ahead of them to get to a point where they could move forward with their relationship, and every second they were together was going to count toward that goal.
“Training,” she answered.
“Training?” he asked, confusion making his brow furrow.
“I was in a good place then,” she admitted, wiping her hands and placing her napkin on the top of the table. She drained her glass of wine and straightened her spine. “I don’t want you to think I didn’t like training. I loved it, but my dream to become a lawyer, plus my upcoming maturity, changed things.”
“Go on,” he urged as he continued to eat.
“I miss it,” she admitted with a soft blush. “I felt powerful then. Now, I don’t even know who I am.”
“Are you telling me this, or are you asking if you can go back into the program?” He wanted to approach the subject carefully. She’d done nothing but blow up when people bugged her about the training program for the Protectors.
“I don’t want to train to be a Protector,” she said with a shake of her head. “I would, however, like to have permission from the alpha to work on my self-defense and maybe some other exercises.”
“I don’t think Talon would deny you access to the facility,” he declared. Taze was certain Talon would be ecstatic if she showed interest in working out.
“Would you help me again?” she asked shyly.
“Well, you know the problem with that,” he stated. “You would have to be covered.”
She nodded and went back to her food. He waited patiently as she finished eating before sending her out to the living room to find something for them to watch. By the time he arrived, she was laying on the couch. “Did I leave my blanket here?”
“Ah, yeah. It’s in my room.” Taze retrieved the blanket, thankful he didn’t do anything stupid like burying his face in her scent while he masturbated.
“Thanks,” she replied as he covered her up, letting the top of the blanket fall over her shoulders.
Chapter Fourteen
Calla woke in the middle of the night. She’d fallen asleep on Taze’s couch again. When she sat up, she noticed a light on in the kitchen. “Taze?”
He didn’t answer her right away. So, she climbed to her feet and searched for him, finding nothing until she reached the kitchen. The clock over the stove said it was a few hours after midnight, and there was a note left on the counter.
If you wake up before I get home, go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when I get home from my shift.
Sleep well.
Instead of going to the couch, she grabbed her blanket and padded barefoot down the hallway to his room. She yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. It was dark in his house, but with a shift of her eyes, she was able to see the door at the end of the hallway.
Taze’s scent was thicker in the room. A large bed sat against