He hummed noncommittally. “Maybe.”
Calan shot me a helpless look and I nodded. I appreciated his making the effort, but I had it from here.
“I hope ye come join us,” Calan said as he drifted towards the door. “For my sake, if nothing else. Logan threatened to castrate me if I didn’t make things right.”
He vanished back downstairs as Reid turned to me in alarm. “Logan wouldn’t actually castrate him, right?”
I chuckled, holding him close. “Aye, he might. He’s very protective of his friends. But don’t worry, balls grow backsame as any other body part. Would suck for Calan for a while though.”
“We can’t have that.” Reid sighed. “Guess we better go down and eat.”
“We don’t have to. We can leave if ye like. They’ll all understand.”
Reid bit his lip for a second. “Nah, let’s go down. Can’t have Calan losing his balls over my meltdown.”
I kissed his temple. “It wasn’t a meltdown, and he’s lost his balls for less in the past. But if yer happy to stay then I’m happy.”
He studied me. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
I cocked my head. “Aye, Reid, I do. Why?”
“No reason.” He kissed my lips briefly. “Just thinking how lucky I am.”
Chapter 29
Reid
It took more courage than I’d ever admit to walk back into the dining room. I’d held my chin high, rehearsing my apologies in my head.
But it had been completely unnecessary.
Conversation had been in full flow when we’d returned. Everyone had smiled at me when we slid back into our seats, but no one commented on what’d happened.
When there was a lull and I tried to apologise, Logan had cut me off by insisting I try Calan’s bread.
Evan rubbed my knee under the table. Their message was clear. They didn’t judge me, nor did they want my apologies.
I didn’t know if it was out of pity, or because Calan and Evan were both right in saying this sort of shit happened all the time. Whatever it was, I was grateful that they didn’t draw any attention to it.
It took a while for me to relax enough to join in with the conversation, but then Hamish asked if I’d heard of a game calledDemon Hunters.
Suddenly I couldn’t shut up.
None of them seemed to mind that either.
The moon was high in the sky when we finally left. I was a little wobbly on my feet thanks to the three glasses of wine I’d had. After Chester had informed me the shop would be closed tomorrow too, I’d thrown all caution to the wind and decided to indulge.
“Your friends are so nice,” I confided in Evan as we made our way slowly to his parents’ house. “I love them.”
“They loved you too,” he said huskily, his bare arm around my shoulders. He’d been wearing a coat, but had bundled me up in it the instant he spotted me shivering. “Hamish and Brodie are going to hold you to that lesson on how to speedrunDemon Hunters.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” I really was. And it wasn’t just them I’d made plans with during the evening. Somehow, I’d agreed to a double date with Chester and Finn, a shopping trip to Inverness with Logan, and a cooking lesson with Calan so he could teach me his famous pavlova recipe. “It was such a good night, even if I almost spoiled it at the start.”
Evan leaned down to nip lightly at my earlobe with a growl. “Stop that. Ye didn’t ruin anything.”
I wanted to point out that I’d said ‘almost,’ but I bit it back. Evan and his friends had shown me a kindness and grace I’d never experienced on clan lands before. I wanted to respect that.
“I’m proud of you for going back downstairs,” Evan said. “That can’t’ve been easy, but ye did it.”
