On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,117
before or after you fucked Victoria?”
Everything slowed down and then slammed into me so fast I didn’t know which thought to deal with first.
Fucked Victoria?
Had he lost his goddamn mind?
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me,” Callum gritted out. “Don’t even try to deny it. Calli saw her, she saw her with her own eyes.”
“Calli saw... seriously, man, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I ran a hand down my face wondering if I’d woken up in some alternate dimension.
What the fuck had happened last night?
“I don’t understand,” Callum said, his expression softening. “Calli said she came here and saw Victoria wearing your clothes.”
“I lent her a shirt after my dad puked over us both. She had a shower here and then I told her to go. I wasn’t in a good place.”
“So, you didn’t fuck her?”
“Are you kidding me? I’m ass over elbow in love with your sister. Why the fuck would I jeopardize—oh shit, Calli thinks...” My heart lurched into my throat.
“Yeah, now you can see my predicament. Victoria made it pretty obvious something went down between the two of you.”
“Fuck.” Panic welled inside me. “Where is she?”
“Who, Victoria?”
“No, not Vic, you asshole. Calli?” My voice cracked. I needed to find her. I needed to find her and explain.
“She spent the night with Josie. I’m not sure you should go over there yet. She was pretty pissed.”
“I can’t believe she thinks I’d... fuck...” I slouched against the counter, my initial anger giving way to bone-crushing defeat.
“Look at it from her point of view.” Callum grimaced. “She came here to be with you and Victoria opened the door half-naked, wearing your shirt, acting like the two of you—”
“Yeah, okay,” I cut him off unable to hear anymore. I got it, I did. But I couldn’t help the disappointment coursing through me at the thought that she didn’t have more faith in me.
“It’s going to take time,” Callum said as if he could hear my thoughts. “The two of you have history... She mentioned Halloween.” His voice dripped with accusation.
“I... uh, yeah... we saw each other last Halloween.” This was as awkward as fuck.
“Victoria said some stuff... stuff I’m thinking you didn’t share with her. So you need to figure out how she knows, because if you don’t handle her, I will.” Protectiveness burned in his eyes, but I only felt relief. It was about time he stepped up and acted like the brother Calli deserved.
“This has been a long time coming, you know?” I said.
“What?”
“You, pulling the big brother card.” My lips curved into a smirk and he flipped me off.
“Yeah, well break her heart again and I’ll break your legs. Let’s see you try to run circles around me then.”
“Dude, I could run circles around you blindfolded and legless.”
“In your fucking dreams, Messiah.” Quiet laughter rumbled in Callum’s chest as some of the resentment and anger between us faded away.
“I gotta tell you, man, this is not how I saw this conversation going.” I rubbed the back of my neck.
“You need her. If you’re going to get through what’s coming, you’re going to need her.”
He meant Declan; the hard decisions that would eventually have to be made.
“So what? Is this you giving me your blessing?”
“No, it’s me telling you that if you don’t find a way to fix things and make my sister happy, I’ll make life very difficult for you.”
“Get in line,” I grumbled.
“What?”
“You haven’t met Xavier yet.” The guy was scary as fuck.
“Xavier? Who the hell is Xavier?”
“Owns a biker bar on the edge of town. Calli and Josie hang out there sometimes.”
“My sister hangs out at a biker bar?”
“Yup. From what I can gather, he’s taken quite a shine to her.”
“I... I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“It’s a good thing.” I chuckled. “At least, I think it is.” Calli had people. Josie. Xavier. Freya. She’d found a tribe to lean on and I couldn’t be prouder of the girl she’d become.
“Still, I don’t like the sound of it. A biker bar...” He cussed under his breath.
“You won’t be here next year, and who knows where I’ll end up. She needs people around her, Cal. People who care.”
“Ouch.”
“That’s not... you know I didn’t mean that how it sounded.” I let out a heavy sigh. “But with your mom gone and Madison off living her life, Calli came here on her own...”
His expression fell. “And we both let her down.”
“Yeah, we did.”
“So we’d better figure out how the hell to make it