Page 21 of Love in Unexpected Places

“Sounds perfect,” John says brightly. I give him my email address and he promises to send me over the itinerary for the weekend, and we hang up.

I pull in a deep breath and shake my head. I just volunteered Callum to come with me to a wedding as myboyfriend. Did I just fuck up?

When I knock on Callum’s door, worry gnaws at me. I’m worried that he will think I’m being presumptuous in saying he would join me. Which in fact, I am. I should have never said that. I could have had my own villa without dragging Callum into my shit.

The reason I did it was because of Henry. While it sounds stupid, I want him to see that I’ve moved on. That his cheating and lying didn’t break me. But Callum shouldn’t be dragged into the games I want to play with my ex. He deserves so much better than to be treated like a pawn.

When Callum answers the door, all the worry floats away and I pull him in for a kiss, loving how his pillow soft lips feel on mine. I drop my keys on the table beside the door without moving my mouth from his, then gather him in my arms after I kick the door shut. I spin Callum around, putting his back to the door and fumble around with the locks. When we’re shut in tight, I slide my hands down Callum’s thighs and hoist him up, not breaking our kiss. Cal squeaks in my mouth, tightening his arms around my neck and kissing me harder.

I’ve been to his house enough times to know how many steps it takes to get to his sofa. I sit us down—with Callum straddling me—so I can touch and kiss him in comfort. Weshould probably get to the restaurant so we don’t miss the play, but I need to talk to Cal about the wedding … and I don’t want to stop kissing him just yet. My hands roam over his body, stopping at his cute little ass, pulling him closer to me so I can taste more of him.

Callum gives as good as he gets, grinding slowly over my hard cock. His own pokes me in the stomach every time he slides his hips forward and I have to stop this before I have him on his back, my lips wrapped around his shaft.

Reluctantly, I pull away from him, planting a soft kiss on his nose. Callum chuckles and shakes his head and I notice for the first time that his hair is down. I love his hair. The soft waves are gorgeous, falling past his shoulders. I’m dying to glide my hand through it, but I know that will lead to other things.

Hugging me to him, Callum says in my ear, “We can always skip brunch.”

Yes please.

“We can, but I have to talk to you. It’s important. I think …” my voice trails off and Cal leans back, looking at my face. There must be something there because he slides off my lap to sit beside me.

“What is it? Are we … is this too much? Is it us?”

Turning to him quickly, I gather his hands in mine and kiss the back of each. “No, God no. Definitely not. It’s not too much at all. Though, I may have fucked up and volunteered you for a weekend wedding in two weeks.”

Cal scrunches his face up adorably. “Huh? Start from the beginning.”

I give him a rundown of the conversation I had with John and his last-minute wedding. How he invited me to share a villa, but I blurted out that I would be bringing my boyfriend so I wouldn’t have to face my ex who is the bestman. I word-vomit all over him and finish up with, “I understand if you’re in a weird spot. I shouldn’t have volunteered you like that just so I don’t have to face my ex on my own. It’s not fair to you and I’m sorry.”

Callum is quiet for a while, seeming deep in thought. I wish I knew what he was thinking. Is he pissed at me for what I did? Does he want to end this because it seems like I’m still hung up on my ex? Does he want to slow things down so I can figure shit out? There’s nothing to figure out. I’m not hung up on my ex. I don’t want Henry back, but he did hurt me. That’ll sting for a while. But I didn’t bring my baggage over to what I have with Callum. They’re two different people and Callum has given me no reason to think he would cheat on me. We’re new, but we’re honest. I’m holding on to that.

Pulling in a deep breath, Cal asks, “What happened with you and your ex?”

“He cheated on me. With a co-worker of his. Said we were growing apart and he felt alone. Not sure how since we lived together. I thought things were going well. But yeah, that’s the short answer.”

Callum nods. “My ex cheated too, so I get it. Is your ex going to be there with his new boyfriend? Is that why you don’t want to go alone?”

Sighing, I let go of his hands and turn away from him, leaning my head back on the couch. “Partially, I think so. I just don’t want to seem pitiful if I see him. Like I’m not moving on. It’s only been a few months since it happened, but I don’t want it to seem like I’m letting his fuck up dictate my life.” I turn to look at him. “And I want you to come with me. I want you to meet my old friends and I want to show you around on the West Coast.”

“Okay.”

I can’t be hearing right. “Okay?”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll pretend to be your boyfriend to make your ex jealous. It’ll be fun.” The glint in his eyes tells me his idea of fun might be something we could be arrested for.

I inwardly wince when Cal says he’ll pretend to be my boyfriend. I don’t want it to be pretend. We’ve only been dating for a month, but that’s enough time, right? That’s more than enough time to know I want more. But maybe Callum is being cautious. Maybe he wants to take this slowly and him pretending isn’t that big a deal. I don’t want to rush him. Any way I can have him in my life, I’ll take it. I want this, with him, so if it’s pretend for now, I can work with pretend. But soon, we’ll talk about more.

Sighing, I reach out and pull him to me. He straddles my lap again, his hands going around my neck. “Okay, my pretend boyfriend. You ready for brunch?”

He shakes his head, the red waves of his hair bouncing around. “I’d rather not. I want to”—he leans in to kiss me softly—“stay here”—he plants another kiss on my cheek—“with you,” he says, moving down to my neck. I groan, thrusting my hips up. “We can always cook later,” he whispers into my neck, then sucks there gently.

“Fuck, Callum.” I have no other words. We’ve been dancing around taking things further for a month. Maybe he’s as desperate as I am. “You sure?”

His hair tickles my face as he nods, still kissing and sucking my neck. “So sure,” he breathes against my skin.

I don’t need to hear more. Grabbing hold of him, I flip him over until he’s on his back and I settle between his legs. “Fuck,” I groan when my cock slides against his through our clothing. It always feels this good with Callum under me, but I have a feeling this time is different. This time, we won’t stop until we’re shuddering with a climax.

Wasting no time, I take his lips in a dirty kiss, mytongue tasting every inch of his mouth. Callum moans and I feel it through my entire body. His hands thread into my hair, pulling slightly.

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