Page 6 of Colton’s Mate

“Hell no,” Remy said. “I’m driving them home. I still might be able to salvage this date. If you aren’t there. Give me the truck keys.”

“How the hell am I supposed to get home?” Colt asked.

“Walk. Run. Fly,” his brother said. “I don’t care. You pissed your date off to the point of throwing drinks, and now my date wants to leave with her. You are in time out. And none of us are speaking to you.”

Colt wasn’t worried about that part. Remy put him in time out at least once a week. And stopped speaking to him.

Moving fast, Remy locked his arm around Colt’s neck in a fake choke hold and fished the truck keys out of his back pocket.

“Hey!” Colt said. “Quit feeling my butt!”

“No one wants to feel your butt. Least of all me.”

Remy walked off with the keys, giving Colt the finger in a show of brotherly love as he ushered the girls out the door.

At that moment, a text popped up on Colt’s phone. From Callie. It was the selfie of the two of them in a liplock.

It had come out perfect. She’d written: See? All things are possible.

Colt shook his head, paid the tab, and left to go home and get drunk in peace.

Chapter 3

It was after two by the time Callie headed for home. She didn’t mind—lynxes were nocturnal, so she was always up late. It was one reason why working in a bar was perfect for her.

She still couldn’t believe she’d poured a drink on a customer. On purpose. And it hadn’t even gotten her fired. Also, it felt good.

Maybe she should have unleashed Bad Callie a long time ago.

Except Bad Callie had made out with Colt McCall. Just on impulse. And kind of also just to screw with him, because he was such a player.

Except the joke was on her, because holy shit, he was an ah-MAZ-ing kisser.

The whole time his lips were on hers, little fizzles of electricity were going all the way to her fingers and toes. Not to mention her other places. And now she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

She should maybe stay away from Colt. He might be more than even Bad Callie could handle.

She pulled into her driveway and got out of her car, shivering a little. It was early enough in the year to be chilly in the middle of the night.

As soon as she shut the car door, though, she felt it. Something was off.

She stopped, keys in hand, scenting the wind. There were plenty of faint animal scents from the woods surrounding the house, but nothing large, and nothing close.

All the same, something was raising the little hairs on the back of her neck. But what?

Despite her crow vendetta, the threat from the Talons and the rogue panthers was over. She had nothing left that they wanted.

And nobody who gave a shit about Tex’s little lynx sister.

She walked quickly to her door, the back of her neck still prickling. Once inside, she made sure all the doors were locked. The curtains were already closed, the windows locked open a few inches from the top to let in the night breeze.

Callie blew out a sigh, the tension relaxing from her neck, and turned on the lights in her cozy little house, ready to chill out for a while. She put water on for tea, then peeled off her t-shirt, which smelled of peach martini and was still a little bit sticky. She smiled as she threw it in the laundry and dragged a comfy sweatshirt over her head.

Colt kisses. Yummy but dangerous.

After making her tea she kicked back on the sofa and put her feet up, enjoying the silence and the luxury of doing nothing.

She and Tex used to share this place, and even though they had a lot of fun, she hadn’t completely realized how much time she spent cooking for him and cleaning up after him, and how often he hogged the big TV in the living room for sports shit that she didn’t care about, and she had to watch her own shows in her bedroom.