Page 134 of Your Place or Mine

I should’ve known better than to keep secrets from Melanie. She was smart, intuitive, and fiercely loyal. But I hadn’t expected her togo to him.

And the worst part?

I wasn’t mad at her.

I was terrified she’d find out more than I was ready to admit to myself.

That whatever had happened between Callum and me wasn’t just a reckless kiss. Or a weak moment. Or a night tangled in something too deep for us to name.

Itmeantsomething.

And if he was pretending it didn’t… I didn’t know what I’d do.

I spotted the door cracked open to the Rusty Stage, and a figure paced behind the bar.

It wasn’t Melanie.

It was him.

Callum.

My breath caught.

I hovered near the entrance.

Callum looked…

Wrecked.

Hair rumpled, shirt wrinkled, rubbing the back of his neck like the weight of the world was pressing down on his spine.

He said something to someone I couldn’t see.

I took two careful steps to the right and spotted her.

Melanie.

Leaning one hip against the bar, arms crossed, eyes narrowed in a way I knew all too well.

My stomach dropped.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but from the looks of it, it wasn’t polite.

Melanie was giving himthe lookusually reserved for ex-boyfriends, crooked landlords, and anyone who had the gall to hurt someone she loved.

I stepped back quickly, pulse hammering in my ears.

If Callum hadn’t already ghosted me, this might be the nail in the coffin.

I wasn’t sure I could take hearing what she had to say about me.

Or whathedidn’t.

I backed down the sidewalk, trying to quiet my thoughts.

Because if this didn’t go the way I feared it would…

Then maybe it was time to accept the truth.

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