“What?” Caleb frowned.
“Mine. Only I do it.”
“Wolfe,” she said uneasily. He had claimed her hair earlier, but she hadn’t thought he was serious. Or that he wouldn’t want anyone else touching it.
“Her hair is yours? Isn’t her hair her own?” Caleb asked. He didn’t sound upset. More curious than anything else.
“Nope. Mine. If she needs something done to it, I do it.”
“Wolfe,” Caleb started to say.
“You can claim something else.”
She expected Caleb to tell Wolfe that he was out of line. Instead, he looked thoughtful. “All right. Maybe I’ll do that.”
Wolfe nodded in satisfaction.
“But if she ever wants to do it herself, you have to let her,” Caleb warned.
Wolfe frowned, obviously not liking that. But then he turned to her. “Fine. I can do that.”
Caleb stood. “Are you okay with Wolfe for a bit, jelly bean?”
Wolfe snorted as she nodded. “Of course, she is. I
have to re-do her hair.” He peered at her painting. “And give her painting lessons.”
“Hey!” she protested. “That’s not very nice, Wolfie.”
“Neither is letting someone else do your hair when I claimed it.”
Caleb kissed her forehead. “Back soon.”
Wolfe tugged at a ponytail. “Please tell me you were just fucking around and that’s not actually a picture of something.”
“Now, Wolfie, would I do something like that?”
* * *
Caleb walked into the gym, knowing that’s where he’d find Aleki. He might be the most easygoing of all of them, but he also had a bad habit of bottling everything up. Usually working out helped him clear his head. But Caleb thought he might need a push.
Music was blasting as he strode in to find Aleki demolishing the punching bag. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. Hopefully, he’d tired himself out enough that he would let down his guard.
Moving to the sound system, he turned it down. Aleki kept punching.
“Haven’t got it out of your system, yet?” Caleb asked dryly, moving over towards him. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and a clean towel and handed them over to Aleki, who finally paused to look at him.
“Got what out of my system?”
“Whatever is worrying you.”
“Don’t know what you mean.” Aleki gulped down half the drink then upended the rest over his head.
Caleb sighed. “Don’t be a dick.”
“What?”
“We all know something’s wrong. Well, maybe Wolfe doesn’t. But Vivi does.”