We both snorted. I had first bonded with Isabel in high school when she took it upon herself to fix my bra strap and tell me that I didn’t have to wear those “chunky-ass bras” just because I had “big tatas.” Our boob comparison had been a completely genuine conversation full of good advice about well-fitted bras, but it had fascinated the boys at the lunch table so much that Isabel instantly recognized our power that day as a titillating twosome. We were juniors in high school and not yet immune to the lure of constant attention so from that moment forward, to Callum’s chagrin, we became inseparable.
Sighing, Isabel pushed my hair back. “Pretty girl. It got even wavier.”
“It did?”
“Like beach hair. I pay like, thirty dollars for Bumble’s surf spray and you have this naturally? Fuck you.” I tried to crack a smile, knowing that Isabel was trying to get me to laugh. She shook my shoulders. “Lake. It’s day one. Give it time with him, okay? It’s gonna take awhile.”
“I know. It’ll just hurt in the meantime.”
“I say this with all the love in the world, babe, but you deserve to know some of that hurt.”
I breathed out hard. “I know.” Whatever rejection I felt now was nothing compared to what I hit everyone else with that Sunday morning I left. But it hadn’t been some painless decision for me. I hadn’t wanted to leave Callum or Caroline. I just didn’t want them to get hurt. After my grandmother died, they were the only two people left in the world that I loved – Callum especially. We had a complicated relationship but no matter what, he was always there for me. He could tease me and argue with me, but no one else was allowed to. Growing up, he never took anyone’s side but mine. For all the times my biological mom tried to bring me down and remind me that I was nothing, Callum unknowingly confirmed my worth. I’d grown up strong because of him.
Twisted but strong.
And from the looks of it, he’d gotten strong too. In every kind of way. Callum was under six feet tall when I left him but now he looked about six-foot-two. He’d always been lean and defined but his body was now carved with beautiful lines that deepened with every move he made. His muscles were unreal. I’d felt them in the split second that I touched his leg and I could see them pulling his sleeve tight around his bicep when he reached for his whisky. But most of all, I could see in his face that he’d gotten harder. Colder. He used to be mischievous and at least smirk if not laugh, but now I didn’t even see that. His expression was severe, intimidating, and the angles of his face had changed to match that. His cheekbones were striking and his jaw was sharper than a weapon. I had forgotten how to breathe when he first walked into the room.
But I wasn’t surprised. Of course he’d grown up to be devastatingly handsome. The kind of man who didn’t need to say a single word to convince a girl that they’d just had a full conversation. Callum had always been gorgeous. When we were younger, he’d been that all-American jock who wrestled, played football and looked way too cute in a backwards cap. His hair was dark blonde and long, grown out past his ears. Despite Mercer School rules, he’d worn it messy, surfer-like, and it drove the girls crazy.
That boyish look was gone now. His hair was the same length, maybe an inch shorter, but now he wore it slicked back. It was a neat, clean look but to me, it made him look mean. Ruthless. Irresistibly sexy, too, but that might have also been thanks to the perfect amount of scruff on his sculpted jaw. That was definitely new. I couldn’t pinpoint which of the changes were best. But what I did know was that Callum looked painfully good and it was about to make my long fight back to his heart a million times harder.
“Incoming,” Isabel murmured when we heard a door fly open. I spun around to see Cass Vaughn running out, her hair a mess and her makeup smeared. She stormed past us before we could so much as open our mouths to ask if she was alright. “I wonder what the hell that was abou – ”
Isabel’s mouth snapped shut the second Callum came out of the same bathroom Cass had run from. My jaw dropped and tightened in a matter of seconds. Couldn’t wait till the end of dinner. Of course not. I had to shake my head. He was unapologetic, casually looping his belt when his eyes met mine. His stare was blank, remorseless and he kept it pinned so hard to me that even Isabel stammered.
“I… I’ll let you guys, um. Yeah.”
She disappeared back into the greenhouse. I crossed my arms when he slowed to a stop a good two yards from me. “Really, Callum.”
“What.”
“You’re acting like I’m the walking plague.” I bristled when he didn’t reply. “Why did you even come here tonight if you didn’t want to see me?”