Page 51 of Bonded By Christmas
I’m hot, achy, and irritated.
The only bright side is that Grim wasn’t upset to learn Callum and I bonded. At least, not based on what he’s been sending through the link. I really needed that reassurance, and it helped settle my nerves. I just really want to get back to Wilder’s house.
The primary bedroom has a nest, and that’s the one thing my system is obsessed with more than anything. I need to burrow in fuzzy blankets, set the space up, and make sure everything smells right.
I bet the three of them wouldn’t mind if I stole their sheets and dirty laundry. Only, we aren’t there yet, and this store is starting to stress me out.
Callum forced me into my clothing, and I have to fight the urge to peel myself back out of my dress. My skin is itchy, and I’m hot and uncomfortable.
There’s no way I could walk out of here naked without being arrested, but I hate the confined feeling of the dress and coat. The only upside is he let me skip putting my leggings back on.
Cal is lucky we bonded. I’m annoyed, and the only thing saving him from listening to a very pouty omega complain isthat bond and feeling how excited he is to be linked to mepermanently.
Although, he’s on thin ice as he makes me wait while he grabs a bunch of dresses and clothing items in my size. He cuts the tags off, leaving them on the counter, then shoves the stuff in bags without even bothering to take it off the hangers.
“Now we’re robbing the place on top of defiling it?” I ask, my annoyance at everything spilling through my tone.
“Bestdefilingof my life.” He chuckles, and my face heats, but my insides light up in agreement. “This is technically closer to burglary than robbery, but I think it’s adorable that you don’t know the difference. Listen, the favor the Walters owed me is not the kind that can be paid back by closing the store for an hour or two. At the very least, there has to be something that stings.” He smirks and shrugs, and my silly heart races. “Every marker comes with a price. When someone takes one of my deals, they know it’s going to hurt to have to pay it back.”
Okay.
Wilder wasn’t exaggerating.
Callum apparently does have a network of people who all owe him favors.
Thinking back on how we met and got to know each other…
I get the feeling he’s a lot more calculated than I gave him credit for, and a whole lot more dangerous too.
“Nuh-uh,” Callum says, pulling me around him to walk on the inside of the sidewalk. “You’realwayson the side farthest from the street.”
“Sorry,” I mutter because I don’t know what else to say. Whatever he’s thinking about in the bond spills over to me, andit makes me mildly uncomfortable. The hair on my arms stands up, and I watch Cal as his head swivels like he’s searching for something. “Is something wrong?”
“Not a bit,” he lies quite unconvincingly as he tosses his free arm around my shoulder. His other hand is full of the bags of clothes that he helped himself to. I mean, if we were going to rob the place, at least he picked cute stuff I’ll actually wear.
Callum guides us back down the sidewalk that leads to the parking lot, but he glances over his shoulder regularly and walks weirdly kinda behind me. While it’s hard to explain, it feels like he’s blocking my body with his, and I don’t like it.
I finally feel like I can breathe when we’re both sitting in Wilder’s car. He shoves the bags into the back seat, grabs his phone, unlocks it, and types away. Once he’s done, he tosses it into the cupholder and pulls his hands in front of the vents, checking to see if it’s warming up.
I want to call him out for lying to me and to ask him who he texted, but I think that will be best done when we’re somewhere safe. It seems dangerous to have him splitting his attention when he needs to be focused.
I’m chilly, but it’s not unbearable, even if the heat hasn’t quite caught up yet.
Callum reaches over, patting my thigh. “All right, we’re out of here.”
He puts the car in reverse, exits the parking lot, and pulls onto the small side street he used to get back here. Once we’re on the main road, his tension doesn’t subside.
I’m not the best with directions, but the second time he does a weird square around the front of the building, it’s obvious something is up. He doesn’t actually drive back down the road immediately in front of the store, but every time we pass by it, his head swivels like he’s checking something.
I’m just working up the nerve to ask him what’s happening when he turns onto the street in front of the store. The very one he’s avoided twice before.
Wilder’s car hums as Callum ups the speedwaypast what the speed limit is in this part of town.
My mouth falls open as he reaches over, working his hand between my back and the seat.
“Sorry about this, baby girl. I need you to stay as flat as possible.” He unceremoniously gives me a shove, forcing me to bend in half. My face ends up near my knees, and I twist my head to look over at Cal.
He slams the button to roll down my window while his other hand reaches toward the floorboard, collecting something from his boot.
