Page 131 of Your Place or Mine

I hesitated.

Which, in hindsight, was a mistake.

“Oh my God,” she said, straightening. “Youdid.”

I cleared my throat. “It’s complicated.”

Melanie barked a laugh. “Complicated? You either hurt her or you didn’t. You either kissed her or you didn’t. You either slept with her or—” She stopped mid-sentence, mouth falling open. “Oh myGod, you slept with her.”

“Keep your voice down,” I muttered.

She blinked, shook her head, then blinked again like she was recalibrating her entire system.

“Holy hell,” she said. “I was joking. But now I’m not so sure.”

I crossed my arms. “That’s between me and Lydia.”

Melanie’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “Let me guess. You freaked out, went all gruff mountain man the morning after, and now she’s wandering around town wondering if she’s just a one-night stand with access to a nice whiskey selection.”

My jaw clenched. “That’s not how it went.”

She lifted a brow. “No? Enlighten me then.”

I opened my mouth.

Closed it.

Scrubbed a hand over my jaw.

“Yeah,” she said flatly. “Thought so.”

“Look,” I finally said, “I care about her. A lot more than I planned to. And it meant something.”

“Did you tell her that?” she asked, voice sharp.

I hesitated.

Melanie pointed a finger in my direction. “Let me help you out. If the answer isn’t yes, then it doesn’t count.”

I sighed and leaned against the bar. “I’m not great at this.”

“Well, join the club,” she said. “But you don’t get to kiss her like she’s the last shot of bourbon on Earth and then vanish without so much as a note.”

“I didn’t vanish.”

“Callum.”

“I panicked,” I admitted. “Alright? It’s been a long time since I felt anything that close. And I’m not proud of how I handled it, but she came back.”

Melanie’s expression softened just a notch. “She’s been through a lot. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I know.”

“She lost her mom. She left the city. She’s trying to build something here, something real. She doesn’t do half-measures. If she let you in, it wasn’t a whim.”

“I didn’t treat it like one.”

She studied me briefly, arms still crossed, but the fire behind her eyes had cooled.

---