“You’re so much happier than when I first met you.” I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I wish you could be this way around everyone, Callie. That you would stop hiding from everyone. It’s sad no one gets to see how great you are.”
“And vice-versa,” she says, understanding me better than anyone ever has.
Attempting to lighten the mood, I smirk and ask, “What do you think? Should we hit up one of the tours and make fun of the tour guide?”
“You know the way to my heart.”
We stroll up the sidewalk under the shade of the trees and make our way to the entrance. Everyone is in a state of panic, trying to figure out where to go. I watch the scatterbrained people, fully entertained as they trip over their own feet and grow frustrated when they take the wrong way.
Through my twisted internal laughter, one guy in particular catches my attention. He’s standing in the stairway with a middle-aged woman and man who I’m guessing are his parents. A tad on the tall side, he’s wearing black jeans and a grey, long-sleeved shirt, an outfit that screams dark and edgy, which is a bit of a contrast to my blunt and bold. Still, he’s hot as hell with the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen and sandy blonde hair that looks absolutely touchable. A rush of terrifying excitement ripples through my body. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this attracted to someone. This guy has my adrenaline pumping to the point where I’m actually starting to sweat.
Callie says something beside me and I nod, even though I have honest to God no idea what she said. My eyes are locked on the guy as he leans in and gives his mother a hug before moving to his father. When he turns away, his eyes catch mine from across the crowd. I should probably look away. I don’t know him and have no clue as to his sexual orientation, so openly gawking definitely isn’t me being careful. But his lips tug to a half-smile and I’m pulled in.
Just. Like. That.
“Holy sexiness,” I mutter under my breath.
“Heads up,” someone yells from close by.
I jerk my attention back to Callie just in time to see a solid guy with brown hair slam right into her.
“Holy shit.” I slap my hand over my mouth as my tiny Callie falls flat on her back.
Not only does she look hurt, but I can tell the contact is sending her into a panic.
“Get off of me,” she yells as she wiggles to get out from under him. “Get off of me now!”
I bend over to help her up, but the guy quickly pushes off her and Callie scrambles to stand up.
“I’m so sorry,” the guy says, looking genuinely apologetic. “I didn’t see you there.”
Callie blinks, clearly in a state of shock. “Kayden?”
My eyes snap wide. “Holy shit.”
The infamous Kayden Owens, a guy from Callie’s hometown. Callie stepped in to help Kayden one night right before she came to Laramie, stopping his father from beating the shit out of him. That story made me love her even more, and I secretly wished that she had lived in Mapleville so she could have done the same thing for me.
She abruptly snatches hold of my hand, dragging me toward the entrance, and I suddenly remember Mr. Sexy Eyes. My gaze darts to the stairway, but my mood plummets when I can’t find him anywhere.
Callie grips onto me as she steers us inside, letting go as she leans against the wall, struggling to regain her composure. “That was Kayden Owens,” she says between deep breaths.
My eyes wander back towards the grassy courtyard, where Kayden stands talking to a hot guy who looks like he’s got his panties in a bunch. “The Kayden Owens. The one you saved, right?”
“I didn’t save him.” She bites on her thumbnail. “I just interrupted something.”
“Something that was about to get ugly.”
“Anyone would’ve done the same.” She tries to walk off, but I grab her elbow and pull her back.
She’s not getting away that easy. She needs to understand exactly how amazing she is.
“No, a lot of people would’ve walked by,” I tell her. “It’s a common fact that a lot of people will turn their heads in the other direction. I know this from experience.”
My heart tightens in my chest and for a faltering moment, I’m back in the dirt with fists and feet flying at me. The air smells like hate and in the center of the violence, my body aches.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” she says softly.
“Don’t be sorry, Callie. You have your own sad story.”
Offering me a sympathetic smile, we start down the hallway toward a line forming in front of a table stacked with neon pink flyers and pamphlets and plates full of baked goods.
“He didn’t even recognize you.” I shove my way through the crowd to the front of the line and snatch up a pink flyer, along with two cookies. Sugar cookies. My fave.
“He barely acknowledged me, ever.” She shakes her head when I offer her a cookie.
“Well, he should recognize you now.” I nibble on a stale cookie. “You did save his ass from getting beat.”
“It’s not that big a deal,” she says, shrugging me off. “Now, can we please change the subject to something else?”
It’s the second time she’s asked me that today, and I decide it’s probably time to give her a break.
Finishing off the rest of the cookie, I link arms with her and spin around, stopping abruptly when I slam into someone so hard it knocks the wind from me.
“Jesus.” I step back, scowling overdramatically.
When I see who I ran into, though, annoyance turns to holy shit my skin is on fire. Because Mr. Sexy Eyes in all is hotness is standing in front of me, rubbing his forehead.
“Sorry about that,” I quickly apologize, quickly checking him out. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“It’s okay. It was kind of my fault… I wasn’t watching where I was going, either.” He lowers his hand to his side and his gaze flicks between Callie and me, slowly calculating something before offering a lopsided smile.
I return his smile, but can’t think of anything to say. It’s been so long since I’ve flirted that even thinking about doing so sends me back to that night. I can almost feel the grit of the dirt in my mouth, can almost taste the foul tang of blood.
Choosing a course that’s completely out of character for me, I seal my lips shut and walk around him.
“Dude, we both must be cursed today,” Callie says as we push our way through the mob.