Page 18 of Risk

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. That’s it? I never would have guessed. It’s one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen.”

While I stared out at our destination and watched as it came closer and closer, I could feel Callum watching me.

“Do you know how lucky you are that you get to travel the world for your job?” I asked as we sat side by side in our taxi, and I stared out the window in awe of our surroundings. Before moving to Barcelona, I’d never been out of the country. Looking back on the little time I lived in Spain, I wish I’d explored more. Instead, I’d been trying to mend my broken heart by working and isolating myself. Now I knew it would have healed a whole hell of a lot faster if I had been experiencing the beauty of the land around me. After this, I wasn’t going to take my location or time for granted. One gorgeous city and I wanted to explore the world.

Placing his hand on my knee, he squeezed. “I do know how lucky I am. I will admit, after having dinner with you tonight, it’s nice having the experience with someone.”

“Does that make you want to have a girlfriend?”

He moved away and rested his forehead to his window. “Even if I did, I don’t have time for one. When am I supposed to see her? I only have a few months I’m not traveling, and I can’t imagine any girl putting up with that.”

He had a point.

Slowly he turned to look at me. “Maybe you’d like to be my girlfriend.”

Callum

Austria

No matterhow many times Aspen turned me down, I wasn’t going to stop trying to convince her there was something between us. I knew she found me attractive. It was hard to miss the way she looked at me when she thought I wasn’t looking. I only had to find the right way to convince her because so far, all I’d done was push her further and further away.

Aspen had started to retreat into only being my therapist after I mentioned her possibly being my girlfriend in Monaco. She still accompanied me around the city, but it wasn’t the same. She always kept at least three feet between us, and with each new city, she went back to her room earlier and earlier, cutting our time together short. Somehow, I had to get the woman who had been easy to smile and wrap her hand around my bicep back, the woman who had started to open up to me on our first plane ride. She was there for me when I drove, but she’d stopped giving me anything that pertained to her life. Each day that passed, I worried about what would happen if I pushed her too far and made her leave.

She wouldn’t leave, right? Aspen was too much of a professional to do that to me.

After coming in second today, when I came in for a hug, she backed away and held her hands up, stopping me in my tracks. She was further away than ever. Four countries and four races later and I was trying to get back the fun girl I’d traveled around Monaco with.

I could still hear her words after I mentioned she could be my girlfriend. “Callum,” the veil had dropped over her face right then, “you’re my patient, and I’m here for your well-being. You know we can’t go there.”

“Why fight it? Don’t pretend you don’t like what you see.” I knew right then and there, I’d said the wrong thing.

After my race, she’d gotten a ride back to our hotel by herself, stating that she had a headache and needed to go lie down. I didn’t fight her on it. At that point, I wasn’t sure if she was only saying it to get away from me, or she did indeed have a headache. That was how I found myself standing at her hotel room door with my hand in the air, ready to knock. I knew she wasn’t expecting me since our rooms weren’t on the same floor. There was no reason for me to come to her room.

Knocking, I held my breath as I waited for her to answer. I waited with bated breath and started to get worried when a couple minutes ticked by without a sound coming from inside. I knocked again and heard a loud bump from deep inside before her door cracked open, and one of Aspen’s eyes appeared in the sliver between the door and wall.

“Callum, now’s not a good time. I told you I had a headache and needed to come back to rest.” Her voice was quiet and raspy as she spoke.

“I know you did, and I wanted to check to make sure you’re okay.”

She winced at the sound of my voice.

“I’m obviously not okay. I need dark and quiet.” Her face was scrunched in pain.

“Have you taken any meds for it?”

“Yes, but not the good stuff. I ran out before I left and didn’t refill my prescription.” Her eyes became glassy before she shuffled away from the door.

I followed her inside and locked her door.

When she saw me, her shoulders slumped before she walked into her bedroom and crawled onto her bed.

Kneeling beside her, I asked in a quiet voice. “Do you, by any chance, have any Icy Hot?”

“No, Callum,” she said my name like I was the dumbest fucker to ever live.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” I reached out and squeezed her hand before I went to the seating area and called downstairs to request anything that was remotely like what I needed. I wasn’t sure the equivalent in Austria. If I knew she’d let me back inside, I would have gone to the pharmacy myself; instead, I had to rely on what the concierge brought up.

Half an hour later, there was a light knock on the door to her room. With a quick glance through the bedroom door, I answered. Handing over a hundred, I took the bag and went back inside and into the bathroom.

---