Page 25 of Peripheral Vision

He must see the embarrassment that washes over my face because he smiles at me for a moment too long before speaking. “Just you. You’re…”

“Oh god. I dressed wrong, didn’t I? I’ll go change. Here, you can come in andtake?—”

Callum puts his hands on both sides of my cheeks before he tilts my head to look at him, stopping me in my panic. My breathing falters, his eyes swirling like a storm over a tumultuous ocean. “I wasn’t done speaking, love. You’re radiant. Absolutely perfect.” He lowers his gaze, staring at my lips, the aching intensity of it enough to make me weak in the knees. He lowers his forehead to mine. “As badly as I want to kiss you, we are on a timeline.” I nearly release a sob when he pulls away, because I wanted him to. He must read the disappointment that crosses my face. “Trust, Dylan, that if I were to kiss you, I’m not sure I’d be able to stop. And I want to get to know you before we take whatever this might be further. My mother taught me to have manners, to be a gentleman, and if we stay here, I’m afraid you’ll get the opposite impression.”

I release the breath I’d been holding, intoxicated by his words. “Okay,” I say, my voice surprisingly steady despite the whirlwind of emotions flowing through me. At the ache that’s steadily pulsing between my legs. He did nothing, and yet his words were laced with a touch of a promise, one that I find myself interested in exploring. The rationality of my initial thoughts vanished like his touch. “Where are we going?” He just smirks at me as I close up the house, making sure to lock the door, before reaching out to take my hand as we walk to his car. He walks around the passenger door, opening it for me. If he’s wanting to take this where I think he’s going to take this, it’s working. “And here I thought chivalry was dead.”

His voice is deep, wrapping around me like a warm blanket when he chuckles. “Not dead, just entirely too rare. But like I said, I was taught manners.” He closes my door before walking around to the driver’s side and getting in beside me. “I’m trying real hard here to make a good impression, but if you don’t stop biting your lip like that, love, all my hard work is going to have been for nothing.”

I hadn’t even realized I’d been doing it, a rush of warmth quickly spreading across my face before I look down. Not a second later he places a hand on my arm, guiding my chin upwards. “Don’t hide from me. I never said I didn’t like it.” He lets go of me, and starts thecar, the hum of the engine filling the air between us. There’s something measured about the way he moves, the confidence in which he carries himself. He’s almost too good to be true.

“You never did answer my question, you know,” I venture, trying to say anything I can to discharge the tense silence between us.

He grins, his perfect teeth making my stomach flip. “A little mystery never hurt anyone.”

“If one didn’t know better, you could be taking me somewhere to do wicked things to me, so I would argue that mystery can indeed hurt someone.”

His tone is teasing with a hint of something darker when he says, “Oh, I will be doing wicked things to you, but they will be far from causing you any pain. The only way I intend to make you scream is with pleasure.”

My jaw drops, like actually drops, and all words escape me as I stare at him, baffled. His laugh is low and genuine, the kind of sound that makes you want to hear it again. “Something tells me you’re enjoying this way too much,” I say when I find my words again. The temperature in the vehicle is suddenly too warm and I reach for the AC before pausing, a question in my expression. This isn’t my car.

“Go ahead.” He smirks knowingly. “Just trust me, Dylan. You’ll like this.”

I don’t trust easily, but something in the way he says my name makes me want to trust him—so I’ll try. I lean back against the seat, my curiosity piqued, and this time without doubt. For once I’m not afraid of where the level unknown might lead. The city lights blur as we drive, the campus coming and going as we get onto the interstate, heading east. After about ten minutes he turns on the radio, selectingBodyby Rosenfeld. We don’t speak very much, and it takes us another twenty minutes before he’s pulling into a packed parking lot.

Music seeps through the closed doors of the vehicle, lights illuminating the lot. “I’m really going based on my intuition here, notactual confirmation because I wanted to plan something that would help you feel more welcome to the area…”

For once, Callum is showing me what appears to be his nervous side. His cool confidence is overcome by a touch of realism. “Like you said, I’m sure I’ll like it.” He smiles at me then, turning off the ignition and getting out of the vehicle. I begin to do the same when he suddenly says, “Don’t you dare.” My hand freezes over the handle as I watch him walk around the front to open my door for me and offer me his hand as he helps me out.

The cool night air greets us, and I shiver at the bite of cold. “Fuck, I forgot a jacket…” I mumble, crossing my arms trying to add some heat as I rub them.

“Hold on just a sec.” He pops open the trunk, pulling out a pullover. “It might not match your outfit, but it’ll keep you warm.” He holds out the gray material.

I eye it and then him, noticing that he isn’t wearing one either. “What about you? I can’t accept that.”

“I insist. There’s a reason I distracted you back at your house. It was so I could get you to wear something of mine.” He winks.

A soft smile plays at my lips as I shake my head. “You’re always thinking a step ahead, aren’t you. Clever, Cal. Clever.”

He feigns a gasp. “Was that a nickname? Have we officially graduated from strangers to friends?”

“Not quite. There’s still a lot to get to know about each other after…” I hold my empty wrist up to inspect as though searching for the time. “Four days?”

His eyes crinkle before holding his hand out to take it once more. “Four days more than before. I’ll take whatever you’re willing to offer me.” I’m about to say something in response to that, with the way it makes butterflies swirl in my stomach, but he pulls me along before I have the chance. He guides me through the parking lot, the sound of music and what sounds like people talking growing louder with every step. As we near a building and round a corner, I realize that we are in a strip. There are string lights hanging over our heads, multiple different kinds of booths selling different kinds of products lining the walkways, and people everywhere. The music, I note, comes from a band at the opposite end from us. They’re playing some kind of tune that I don’t know but it fills the air with a happy buzz. There are vendors selling what looks like drinks of all assortments as well as food from multiple food trucks.

“You weren’t wrong. I love it.” I blink at him and then back at the strip. I don’t know how anybody truly couldn’t like it, it’s that cozy and inviting. “What made you want to bring me here, though?”

“When we first met, I could tell that you were... structured. Especially with how quickly you went job seeking from the time of your arrival. You also seem a little bit reserved. And while that isn’t a bad thing, I wanted to give you something that you can still have control over but without the stress of having to think about it. When I first came here, I was trying to escape something and it immediately put me at ease. Made me feel like I belong despite having never been here before. And despite our lack of conversation regarding it… it felt like maybe you were running from something too.” His eyes flicker to me, a small smile tugging at his lips. A part of me wants to ask what he was running from, but I don’t feel like we’re there yet. He will tell me when he’s ready.

“I can see that. That’s very thoughtful of you.” And it is, although his inspection and attention to detail regarding my life makes me a little uncomfortable. “What should we do first? Do you have any suggestions for food and drink?”

He nods his head to our front and we fall into step together while we browse the various booths on our way to the food trucks. The hum of the market and the live music playing in the background replace any nerves I was feeling earlier, and all I feel is peace.

A little while later,after enjoying all the food we could manage and warming our stomachs with drinks, we wander around arm in arm. I’ve gotten to learn more about him, like where he’s from, what he’s studying, and what his plans are for when he graduates. He tells me that he’s twenty-six and was born and raised in Leeds before his family moved to the US when he was fourteen. The way he talks about his birth country, with a mix of nostalgia and warmth, makes me want to know as much as possible about him. But then his tone shifts as he explains why they moved.

“My mom’s job brought us across the Atlantic. At the time, she was the primary breadwinner, always carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. But the stress of the move, of uprooting our lives and starting over here, was too much for their marriage. They got divorced two years later.”

I nod along, not quite sure what to say, worried about saying the wrong thing. “And you and your dad decided to stay? What happened to your mom?”

---