The Girl He Marked by Laila Callaway novel Chapter 3

Callie's POV.

The next week passes quickly. Things heat up between Nate and me. Every time we meet, I find myself getting more and more drawn to him. I know it's because we're taking so long to mark each other.

Nate doesn't know why I'm taking things slow, but he respects it and doesn't pressure me. I admire him so much for that. He must be curious as to why I'm holding back, but he hasn't once pushed me to tell him anything.

He's the perfect gentleman.

We're going to have to move forwards soon, or things will get out of hand. We'll start being more irrational, with short tempers and mood swings. We'll crave being around each other and I don't want it to get to the point where we lash out at our families.

Luckily, the next weekend rolls around quite fast and soon, I'm driving us to the date I planned.

I've turned the tables on Nate, and he's left clueless and wondering where I'm taking us. As much as I'm bursting with excitement and I want to tell him, I want it to be a surprise, too.

I think Nate has guessed what we're doing by the time we pull up at the place. There's a small smile on his lips and he's staying uncharacteristically quiet.

'We're going go—karting' He asks, gesturing to the sign.

I grin at him. 'Hell yeah!'

'Sounds good, baby. I've been looking for something else to kick your ass at,' he teases me as we get out of the car.

I scoff. 'You talk a big game, Nathan Archer. Just wait till I absolutely smash you.'

Nate frowns. 'I thought I'm the one that is meant to smash you'

My cheeks go bright red and Nate bursts out laughing. He puts his arm around my shoulders.

'I'm sorry, that was inappropriate,' he apologizes.

'It's okay,' I reassure him, but my cheeks are still on fire as we enter the building.

We get changed into the gear, overalls, gloves and helmets.

There are only a few other people on the track, giving us a lot of space. We climb into the karts and one of the staff members shows us how to brake and accelerate.

The first lap is a trial one, giving us a chance to get used to the route and the kart. I don't go very fast, wanting to study the track so that I can beat Nate.

I need to beat him; my ego can't take another loss. He was so much better than me at bowling and axe—throwing.

My competitive shifter nature is coming through, and I'm determined to win.

Although Nate might have the raw talent to be good at a lot of things, the one thing I have over him in this case, is that I'm lighter. My kart can go faster than his, simply because I weigh less.

In the first real lap of the track, we are neck and neck with each other. My kart flies past Nate's, but he's sneaky. He cuts corners and manages to worm his way in front of me.

Once he's there, he blocks me from getting around him, keeping me stuck behind his kart. I hit my wheel with frustration.

Yep, my competitive side is definitely coming out.

The moment we get around a tight bend, I press my foot down on the accelerator and floor it past him. I hear Nate shout my name, I can't tell if it's in anger or appreciation.

Maybe a little of both.

I laugh and ignore him, flying around the rest of the track. For the rest of the laps he tries to catch up with me, he even bumps his kart with mine a few times. I drift around the corners, rarely taking my foot off the accelerator.

The only thing I have on him is my speed, I can't slow down. I can't lose again.

On the final lap, I put the greatest distance between us. I think Nate already knows that I've won, and he accepts defeat.

I cross the finish line and pull into the parking bit. I get out of my kart as he pulls up behind me.

I take off my helmet and throw it back into the kart.

'I won!' I shout and pump my fists in the air. 'Woo!'

Nate gets out of his kart and takes his helmet off. He's smiling, despite his defeat.

'Congratulations, baby,' he says.

I grin at him and do a little happy dance, making him laugh.

'I guess we've finally found something you're good at,' he comments dryly, and I stop dancing to playfully glare at him.

'Hey! That's mean!'

Nate laughs and throws his arm around my shoulders. He pulls me into his side and kisses the top of my head.

'You deserved that win, well done.'

We share a pizza at a nearby restaurant. Nate gives me the final piece as a treat for being the winner. When it comes to dessert, we each order our own and don't share, because who would

He might be my mate, but that doesn't mean I will share my cake with him.

When we get back into my car, instead of driving us straight home, I take us to a heritage site just outside of town.

'What are we doing here' Nate asks when I park up.

'I saw it in the news, they have set up this thing called an illumination walk,' I tell him with a shrug. 'I thought we could check it out.'

I pay the fare for us both to get tickets and we follow the other people down the pathway.

The heritage site consists of a huge Victorian house and the grounds. I visited it a couple of times when I was younger.

It's a mild night, but it is pitch black. Slowly, the lights start to come into view.

We follow the pathway that weaves throughout the gardens. The lights are incredible.

They've wrapped meters and meters of fairy lights around the trunks and branches of the trees, illuminating the sky like stars.

There are wicker animals, covered in lights, nestled in groves and clearings. People try and spot them all.

A light—up sits on a tall branch, an illuminated squirrel is hidden behind a bush. They've even added underwater lights to the enormous pond, shedding light on the koi carp swimming inside.

It's absolutely stunning.

I take a few pictures as I walk along with Nate, holding hands.

We come to a wooden bench, set beneath a three—meter—high wooden heart, lit up with red bulbs.

'Do you want me to take your photo' A kind woman offers.

I hurriedly accept her offer. After handing the woman my phone, I pull Nate over to the bench and sit down it. He dutifully sits next to me and wraps his arm around me. I cuddle into his side and grin at the camera.

I thank the woman and look at the picture when she's done.

'Send me that, please,' Nate requests.

I do as he asks and a moment later, my heart skips a beat. He's set the photo as his lock—screen.

I do the same and it makes me smile each time I see it throughout the evening.

I drive to Nate's house and drop him off. He lives here alone, Myra moved in with Jayce when they had their daughter.

Like he always does, I walk him to his front door. It feels funny, not having my brother's watchful eyes on us.

We can kiss all we want on his porch, no one is going to stop us.

'Do you want to stay at mine sometime this week' Nate asks me. 'No pressure. You can stay in the spare room.'

I consider his offer and he takes my silence as me not wanting to.

He shrugs. 'You don't have to. I just hate having to say goodbye to you.'

My heart warms at his words.

'I hate it, too,' I tell him honestly. 'Okay, I'll stay over!'

I have to bite this bullet eventually.

But what if I have a nightmare

I'm going to have to tell him, I have to pre—warn him, in case I have one and wake him up.

We kiss goodbye, somehow managing to keep it PG. My hands are tempted to explore his delicious body, but I remind myself that I have the chance to do that uninterrupted when I stay over at his house.

I go over everything in my head on the drive home.

It's been almost two weeks since we met. It's almost unheard of for shifters to wait that long to complete the mating process.

I want to take the next step, I really do. But getting more intimate with him means that I have to tell him about what happened to me, and I really don't want that to change things between us.

I've never had to tell anyone before. Rixon has always done it for me. And I can't ask him to tell my mate something so personal about me. Besides, he would probably use it as an opportunity to scare Nate off from ever touching me again.

No. I need to woman up and tell him.

Who knows, maybe when he marks me, the nightmares will stop.

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