“Yeah,” I said carefully, setting my keys on the counter. “We had a great time.”
I intentionally did not elaborate. Mom sipped her tea, watching me over the rim of the mug with terrifying patience.
“Did you now?” She asked.
Danger bells rang in my head.
She continued, “Things are going well then, between you and Seth?”
There it was, the setup. I didn’t know what the trap was yet, but I could practically hear leaves rustling over the pit.
“Yeah,” I said cautiously. “Great.”
It was a safe enough answer. I merely needed to provide minimal details, and I’ll be fine. That was what I convinced myself anyway. Mom smiled, and then she sprung the trap.
“Then you should invite him over for dinner tomorrow night,” she said.
I blinked. “What?”
“Even Carter and Devon are driving up,” she continued cheerfully. “It’ll be nice for everyone to spend time together.”
I stared at her in disbelief. It was absolutely unbelievable that I hadn’t seen this coming.
Bringing Seth to a pack event was one thing. That had been loud and chaotic enough that he could disappear into the crowd whenever he wanted.
But a family dinner? An actual sit-down dinner with my parents, my brothers, and even Carter and Devon, well.
That was intimate territory. And worse, Seth already had enough on his mind.
The memory of his expression earlier flickered through my head again. The way his voice had gone quieter talking about his ex. The exhaustion underneath it.
The last thing he needed was to get dragged into another one of my family’s emotionally aggressive bonding sessions.
“Um,” I said intelligently. “I need to check with Seth. It’s kind of impromptu.”
Mom waved a hand dismissively. “Seth’s such a nice boy. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
Nice boy.My wolf perked up proudly at that like she’d complimented us personally. I ignored it.
“I’ll, uh, get back to you,” I said. “And ask him first.”
Mom beamed at me like this was already settled. “Perfect.”
It was not perfect, but exactly the opposite of perfect. I escaped before she could add anything else, heading upstairs two steps at a time.
The second I got to my room, I shut the door behind me and leaned against it.
“Okay,” I muttered.
My life had become absurdly complicated very quickly. I dropped onto the edge of my bed and pulled out my phone.
For a second, I just stared at Seth’s contact, then I started typing.
Dane: Hey. Can I call you? Emergency.
I hit send before I could rethink the wording. Immediately afterward, I realized maybe the word emergency had been dramatic.
What if Seth thought something terrible happened? What if he called me in a panic thinking someone died?
