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That woman kept staring.
If she hadn’t been with friends and in an overstuffed restaurant, she might have made a scene of asking the lady what her problem was. But reason won over her animal instincts and Giselle walked calmly outside with Di and Taylor when they’d finished their food.
“So much for our last meal out, Elle. If you’re going to wolf out every time some strange person looks at you, we’re not taking you with us anywhere.” Taylor slung her bag over her shoulder and sauntered towards the car.
“Why was she staring so hard? That’s what I want to know.” Elle couldn’t understand how they could be so calm about it. Life as a wolf was a far cry from normal, and when something went beyond their odd sense of normalcy, it usually wasn’t good.
“Damien said he’d check it out. Just let it go for now. We have more important things to do tonight.” Di slid into the driver’s seat and checked her lipstick in the mirror.
“Like what? Decide our outfits?”
“Don’t be bitchy,” Di said. “We need some rest. Tomorrow is an early day.”
Yeah, right. Like sleep would come now. Giselle would be running the scene through her head all night at this rate. “Enjoy your beauty rest,” she sighed.
“I will. And if you don’t settle down, I’ll tell Gavin to brew his famous sleepy time tea. That’ll knock you out for sure.” Di giggled. She pulled the car out of the parking lot and headed for home.
“Actually, that might not be a bad idea,” Giselle said. Her mind would run for hours if she let it, and bitchy or not, Di was right – they needed to sleep for any hope of being alive for school in the morning.
“Well, I call first dibs on the bathroom,” Taylor said.
“Just don’t use up all the hot water this time.” Giselle snickered at the way their lives could swing from supernatural to completely mundane in the span of a few minutes. All the problems in the world were small when it came to whether or not you got a hot shower.
“No promises. I have a brand new body wash I am dying to try.” Taylor looked back and smirked.
“And you won’t mind me stealing it when you’re done.” Giselle responded by sticking her tongue out.
Di put the car in park and hopped out first, grabbing a fistful of shopping bags from the trunk of the car.
She and Taylor were Olympic-level shoppers. Poor Gavin should have known better than to let them borrow his card. But the big softie that he was, he always made sure they and Giselle too were happy. She could never have dreamed of a better father. Giselle smiled inwardly, knowing that, despite the earlier grumpiness, there would be a fashion show in their room this evening as the frantic last minute wardrobe selections were made.
“How many outfits did you buy?” Giselle asked.
Di slammed the trunk of the car and held them proudly. “Just a few. I’ll show you.”
“She wants to make an impression.” Taylor reached out and took hold of a few of Di’s bags. “I’ve got a little something in here too.”
“Can’t wait to see.” Giselle realized a moment too late that her tone had not quite conveyed the excitement the girls would expect. She hadn’t intended to sound so glum, but before she could throw a perky wink or smile Taylor’s way, her sister’s expression soured.
“Why are you so down tonight? It can’t just be the crazy lady who wigged you out. Is something going on with you and Damien?” Taylor asked as they walked up the driveway towards home. “We didn’t seriously ruin your dinner, did we?”
“Why would you ask that?” Giselle wondered aloud. Had she given some impression that they were fighting? She had sounded a little grumpier than normal when she told him to check on that crazy woman, but she was two seconds away from wolfing out. Surely they had to understand how hard it was to speak lightly when the wolf was clawing its way to the surface.
Taylor shrugged. “You did seem a little grumpy towards him at dinner.”
She wasn’t... really. But the fact they’d crashed dinner was a little irksome. Perhaps that was part of her bitchy vibe. “Well, that does happen when your sisters decide to invite themselves on a date.”
Di unlocked the front door. “Oh, so anytime you are with Damien now, it’s considered a date?”
“Is it too much to ask to have a little alone time with my boyfriend every now and again?” Giselle lied. Her sisters were always underfoot; in a way, she enjoyed it, but using this as a distraction to the thoughts really troubling her was much better than divulging the truth. She wasn’t really mad at either of them, but that woman and the strange familiarity about her flashed through Giselle’s mind again. She saw again the way those green eyes had tried to bore straight into hers with that Alpha-like stare. But she was no wolf. Why would she do that? That was it. That woman had set her off. Who was she?
“You know, I knew him first.” Di’s snarky response brought Giselle back up from the darkness in her mind.
“And I am still dying to know what the big secret is between you two,” Giselle responded.
“Never. Telling.” Di looked Giselle straight in the eyes as she spoke, then smiled as if to punctuate the tease.
“Oh, I’ll get it out of you one of these days,” Giselle smirked.
“Not this again. Elle, drop it.” Taylor groaned.
“Fine, we’ll drop the subject of Damien all together. Let’s talk about you and Ash. Planning to be his study buddy again this year?” Giselle asked Taylor.
Taylor sighed and rolled her eyes. She sped through the door and up the stairs before Giselle could get another word in.
“Something I said?” Giselle asked, when Taylor was out of sight.
“You’re in rare form this evening, Elle,” Di said. She tossed her purse and bags on the love seat as she passed through the living room on to the kitchen.
“Last day of freedom,” Giselle sighed.
“I don’t think so. Junior year is going to be great. I’m looking forward to getting back into it.” Di poured herself a soda and grabbed a bag of chips.
“Didn’t you have enough pizza to eat?” Giselle laughed, watching DI stuff a handful of chips into her mouth.
“Yeah, but I am craving carbs so badly right now.” She stuffed another handful of chips into her mouth, and Giselle laughed at the irony. She was the one normally being scolded for her diet. Nice to see the shoe on the other foot.
“Looks to me like you’re just as worried about the new school year as I am. Or do you regularly stuff your face when no one is looking?”
“Oh, all right. The pressure is on. It’s been nice not to worry about my GPA for the last three months.”
“Glad I’m not the only one. And you know I have Harper, first thing in the morning... Chem 2.”
Di laughed, sending crumbs all over the kitchen counter. “Sorry, lady.”
“Yeah. Not who I want to deal with... especially before caffeine has kicked in.”
“We’ll make a special stop on the way in tomorrow. I have a feeling we’ll all need it.”
Giselle nodded, then angled her head up to the ceiling. “Wanna tell me why Tay got all weird when I mentioned Ash? I thought they were getting close?”
“They were, and then suddenly stopped. She won’t talk about it.”
“You don’t think Ash did anything, did he?”
“Nah. He’s still an ass, but not a bad guy,” Di said between bites.
Asher was more than just another wolf. Giselle herself had gotten lost in the pull of his gorgeous eyes, and if things had worked out differently, she might have been calling the hottie wolf hers. But she’d shoved aside the feelings she’d harbored for him when her sister had taken a real interest in becoming his girl. If something had happened between them, she needed to know. Sisters before misters, and all that. No matter what feelings she had buried for the wolfman, if he’d hurt her sister, she’d make him pay. “I’ll find out. Leave it to me.”
Di slugged her glass of soda and set it in the sink. “It will all come out eventually. No one can keep a secret in high school.”
“Well, you and Damien apparently can.” Giselle narrowed her eyes at Di.
“We agreed to change that subject.”
“Sorry. Couldn’t help it.”
“And no... I’m still not telling.” Di brushed past her and headed up the stairs. “And please don’t ask again. Magical contract... remember?”
Damn that whole doctor-patient confidentiality thing the witches had going. Not knowing a secret was just eating away at her. It was probably nothing, too, but the not knowing part had her all twitchy. Something had happened between her sister and Damien, her boyfriend.
“Are you coming up? Time to pick outfits!” Di called from the top of the stairs.