Page 126 of Let Me Be the One

Hoping it wasn’t anything important, Callie trailed behind him—until he paused. “Babe, you aren’t dressed. It could be Dirk or Lang.”

She looked down, saw her nipples were pressing against the cotton material of her shirt, and huffed. “Go on. I’ll be right back.” As fast as she could, she went down the hall and found shorts, then a loose sweatshirt.

She was still pulling it on when she heard her mother demand, “Where’s my daughter? Callie!Callie.”

“Mom?” Alarmed, she adjusted her clothes as she stepped into the hall. Both her mom and her dad met her halfway. “What’s wrong?”

“Callie!” She got swept up into her mother’s arms and squeezed too tightly, causing a strain to both her arm and her leg.

“Ouch, Mom.”

Tanner stepped in, gently separating them. “Sorry, ma’am. Callie had a mishap and her arm and leg are still sore.”

Tears swam in her mother’s eyes. “Oh, my God. I hurt you?”

Her dad said, “Hush, Liz. You can see she’s okay, but there’s no way to miss all those bruises.”

Callie realized her dad was staring at her bare thigh, and yeah, the bruises did look horrendous.

Drawing back, her mother gazed at her leg and her face paled. “Dear God, they look even worse now than they did in your video.”

The discolorations had darkened to mustard yellow and a sick shade of green. They weren’t pretty, but Tanner hadn’t minded.

“Yeah, they’re icky, but I’m feeling much better today.” Callie tipped her head. “How did you—?”

“Let’s all sit down.” Her dad wedged himself in front of Tanner and put a hand to the small of her back.

Tanner trailed behind them, his expression wary until Callie pulled away. “Why don’t you both go in the kitchen? There’s fresh coffee. I’ll be there as soon as I grab some socks.”

Both parents stared at her, her mother clearly devastated and hurt, her father concerned. “Come on, Liz,” her dad said, leading her mother away.

The second they were out of sight, Callie dropped against the wall and closed her eyes…until Tanner’s lips touched hers.

“Hey,” he said softly. “They love you and they’re concerned.”

“And they have lousy timing.”

“Family is family.” He took her hand and led her to the bedroom, then urged her to sit at the end of the mattress. Because he was now familiar with her house, he found socks for her and knelt to help her get them on. “We were probably jumping the gun anyway.”

“No you don’t.” The second he stood Callie stepped against him. “We have plans, buster, so don’t go changing them because of a minor delay.”

“I won’t.” He stepped back to pull on a shirt. “Want me to head out until they’re gone?”

“No!” She twined her fingers with his. “Do you mind sticking around?”

“I’d rather stay.”

Relieved, she smiled at him. “Thank you.” A few moments later, when they stepped into the kitchentogether, her dad noted their closeness, but her mother pounced again.

“Glory posted your video and I saw it. Of course, I came right away.” She pulled out a chair for Callie and then refilled her coffee mug.

Tanner got the creamer out for her.

“I called her to ask what had happened, and the girl was nearly hysterical. Now I can see why.”

“I was hurt days ago, Mom.”

“I only just saw it!”

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