“Don’t say ‘sex sheets.’” Wesley looked appalled. “What is wrong with you?”
Galen’s grin was lightning quick. “According to your granddaughter, absolutely nothing.”
“And that right there is why I can’t stay with you,” Wesley said to me. “You guys are gross.”
I was starting to see that myself. “I’ll be texting constantly throughout the day. You’d better respond.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“I’m serious.”
Wesley sighed in defeat. “I’ll text you back, but you need to take a breath. You’re being obnoxious.”
“Get used to it,” I replied. “I’m not going to stop until we know exactly what we’re dealing with.”
20
TWENTY
Iwanted to be sullen for the ride back but seeing Wesley with his men — they really were thrilled to have him back — alleviated some of the fear I’d been dealing with. Marianna had soup for him. They got him comfortable on the patio so he could watch the day-to-day activities of the ranch without fatiguing himself. He was comfortable and happy. It really was the best setup.
I still didn’t like that I wasn’t the one chosen to take care of him. If I was truthful— something I refused to do out loud — I would have taken terrible care of him.
“What are you going to give me for being right?” Galen asked, breaking the heavy silence in the truck.
“Hmm?” I forced myself out of my reverie and focused on him.
“I was right,” he said.
“Do you want me to applaud?”
He smirked. “I want a prize.”
“What sort of prize?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” He hesitated. “Maybe you could invite some of your mainland friends to the wedding. That might be a nice reward.”
The suggestion threw me. I thought he was going to ask for a romantic prize. “You want your reward to be people you don’t even know at our wedding?”
“I want our wedding to be everything you ever dreamed of,” he clarified. “We’re only doing this once. You’re stuck with me for life. I want you to have the people you care about there.”
He was earnest enough that I didn’t dismiss the idea outright.
“I told you that I don’t know how I feel about that,” I said. “I’m not even in touch with any of them right now.”
“That’s easy enough to fix. Email them just as soon as we figure out what Declan’s deal is and catch them up on your life.”
“You don’t think it’s been too long?”
“No. It’s only going to get harder going forward. This is the perfect time to contact them.”
He had a point. There was just one problem. “When they ask what’s going on with my life and I have to lie because I cannot explain witches, elementals, shifters, sirens, and dhampirs, how is that a good thing?”
“Are you sure you have to lie?”
He was handsome to the point of distraction. He was also out of touch with reality.
“You live on an island where everyone knows the big secret,” I reminded him. “Most of the people here are paranormal. Those who aren’t know about paranormals.
