I thought about not telling her anything, but decided that there was no harm in Harlow knowing about Calli.
So I told her what little I knew.
Harlow shook her head. “She kind of sounds awful.”
That ruffled my fur. “She’s not awful.”
The insistent way that I said it had her glancing over at me. “You like her?”
I shrugged. “I liked her enough.”
She studied me. “You have feelings for her.”
I shrugged. “Feelings that I’ll never act on.”
“Because you’re way too old for her, friend,” Harlow pointed out something I already knew.
I didn’t comment, and instead drove back to the shop with my mind going all kinds of ways.
When I pulled up, I parked the tow truck back where I found it and glanced up to see Webber laughing.
“Not there?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Not there.”
It took me fifteen minutes to find my fucking keys, and by the time I was heading home, I just wanted some time to myself.
I’d spent the day shopping for gifts—Harlow was taking my presents for my sister and family home with her to wrap and hand off for Christmas next week—and I was exhausted.
The last thing I wanted to do was deal with the shit that I found in the driveway of my neighbor’s house when I got home.
After I parked and got out, Harlow stopped me from walking over to Calli.
“Leave her be,” she suggested. “If she wanted you to interfere, she would’ve let you get the truck in the first place.”
She had a point.
So instead of heading to Calli’s, I headed inside and helped write down who was getting what Christmas present-wise.
After everything was sorted, I carried everything out to Harlow’s car and said, “Thanks for taking everything.”
“Thanks for manning the insane Dallas streets,” she teased. “I’ll call you when I get home.”
I cleared my throat. “If you don’t mind, just text. I have a headache, and I think I’m going to go lie down.”
She looked at me curiously, then nodded. “I think I can do that.”
“Be careful,” I ordered.
She gave me a mock salute and headed to her car.
I sat down on my couch and leaned my head back against the cushion.
I closed my eyes and let my mind wander to my day, thinking that it didn’t really get any good until I saw Calli.
Even her anger and distrust of nearly everyone she ever encountered didn’t put a damper on my joy at seeing her.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
