the first time we talked about guys, and it just…it felt good. It made me realize how much I’d missed her. How much we missed out on because I couldn’t fully let go of my anger from the past.”
“Which you had every right to feel. Plus, you’re letting go now. That’s what matters.”
“Yeah…yeah, I guess so.” He smiled, glanced away. “Thanks, Knox.”
“You, um…have something.” I motioned toward his face. Callum went to wipe what looked like pizza sauce but missed it. “Here, let me.” I reached over. It was weird and almost in slow motion. I watched my hand ease close to him as if I wasn’t the one controlling it. I touched his cheek, which was soft, so fucking soft and warm, and…different. I swiped at the pizza sauce with my thumb. His eyes fluttered, his thick, dark lashes against his skin. There was this jolt of…fuck, something. I jerked my hand back as if he burned me.
“Well, that was embarrassing. I’m a bit of a mess tonight. At least it happened with you. My friend. And not some guy I was…”
“Hooking up with,” I finished for him, that tightness returning. “Wanna come out to the barn with me?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure why. “I can show you what I’m working on.”
“Yeah.” Callum smiled. “I’d love to.” Then he stood and gave me his back, and somehow I felt cheated out of something, like the movement had put a barrier between us and that he’d done it on purpose.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Callum
I was so fucked, it wasn’t even funny.
I wanted Knox. There was no pretending. It wasn’t even just wanting him in bed, though I wanted that too. It was him. I wanted to date him, to be with him, and there was only one way this could end for me. It wasn’t good.
We went out to the barn. He turned on the lights and asked, “Do you want something to drink? I have beer and water in the fridge out here.”
“Water is good. Thanks.” I went over to the shelf where he had his work and studied the pieces. Knox came over and handed me a bottle. “You really are talented.”
“Thanks. I like woodworking. Gives me something to do.”
“Gives me something to do, he says, like he’s not creating gorgeous pieces of art.” I looked at him and winked. “I wish I could do something like this.”
“You stitched my son’s hand. You take care of people who are sick. That’s a little more important than hardware-store owner who plays with wood in his barn.” Oh, the things I wanted to say to that comment. Knox apparently realized how it sounded. “Shit. I didn’t mean…”
And then we started laughing. God, I loved the deep, rich sound of Knox’s laughter. It fit in all the crevices inside me and filled them up.
“Come here,” he said suddenly before walking to his workbench.
I followed. He pulled out one of the stools.
“Sit.”
“Yes, sir,” I teased, but I sat.
Knox began rummaging around, finding a small piece of wood, a knife, gloves. “Here.”
I looked at him, and then he was slipping goggles on my face. “What are we doing?”
“I’m going to teach you. Just something little.”
My heart melted into a ridiculous puddle of goo. Knox Wheeler would be the death of me.
He sat down, and began instructing me, where to start, how to move my hand, pulling it away from me when it got too close to my body. “Never toward yourself,” he said.
“Yeah, that’s probably smart.”
Once I got the hang of it, he said, “You keep going. I’ll watch.”
“Okay,” I replied, hoping I didn’t chop any fingers off and having no clue what I was actually doing or making.
“How did you end up out here?” he asked. “I mean, obviously your mom, but I remember that first night you said she didn’t know you were coming.”
“A man, of course. My boyfriend. We’d been dating about a year or so, and I walked in on him cheating on me. Such a typical fucking story. Makes me feel like a cliché. Anyway, found out he’d been fucking this guy—well, and others—the whole time, and some of my friends knew. No one thought it was important to tell me, apparently.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not,” I said truthfully. “Sure, at the time I was hurt and angry, but now that I have some space, I realized I didn’t love him. And if he hadn’t cheated, I wouldn’t be here. I’m liking here more than I thought I would. Here