"Again?" I blurt out, but Callum is grabbing my hand like all of this between us is real. His thumb brushes gently across the top of my fingers while he's calling out song titles to taunt the broodiest goalie who ever lived. I realize somewhere between 'She Thinks my Tractor's Sexy' and 'Chattahoochee' that I wish it wasn't just pretend. I want all of this to be real.
I squeeze Callum's hand and nod my head toward Tristan who looks like he's going to pick up his bike and throw it at Callum's head. "I need you to be alive if this whole fake wedding thing is going to work out."
"It's good for him. Gives him a reason to let Winter calm him down." It feels like my whole body moves when Callum shrugs his big shoulders, indicating that he's just doing his good deed for the day.
I glance back over and watch as Tristan leans down, so he's eye to eye with Winter. She's the smallest of us girls and has to be more than a foot shorter than him. She's touching his face gently, speaking quietly, and he's just nodding every few words while his eyes never leave her face. Suddenly, Tristan dips his head, and I watch as she puts his helmet on for him and then fastens the chin strap as if she's done it a million times. Tristan stretches to full height and tucks Winter's long braid inside her hoodie before he returns the favor. For as cold as he is to the rest of the world, he couldn't be more gentle with her if he tried.
"You can call me cupid if you want," Callum leans down and whispers against the side of my face, sending chills all over my skin. He grins at me, and I realize now that there is so much more going on beneath the rowdy exterior he presents to the world. I've known him most of my life, but I feel like for the first time he's really allowing me to see what's underneath.
LILAC
Hayden’s driving. Madi’s in the passenger seat, twisting to talk to us between his road rage outburst. Callum’s next to me in the back seat, his hand warm on my thigh, his lips brushing over my neck every few minutes like he can’t help himself. I lean into him, content, completely content.
Through the window, I catch sight of Tristan and Winter on his motorcycle in the lane next to us. She’s pressed against his back, her arms looped tight around him. It makes me smile.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
Madi’s voice is chipper when she says, "Karaoke!"
I laugh. "I thought Winter said no karaoke."
Madi shrugs. "She says that every time. But it’s what we do. It wouldn’t feel right if Tristan wasn’t threatening to kill Callum."
That makes me laugh harder. It really does feel like something out of a twisted Hallmark movie. Murdery, but sweet. And maybe that’s exactly why I feel so grateful to be part of this group.
Hayden nudges Madi. "Someone texted me. Can you get it, baby?"
She reaches over, fishing his phone out of his pocket with practiced ease. Her thumbs move fast, reading it.
"Ramsey and Reese are coming. And oh god, Justin? Why is Justin coming?”
Hayden snorts, catching Callum’s eyes in the rearview. Something about that look makes me uncomfy like the two of them are up to something.
I frown. "Why are you guys looking at each other like that?"
Madi sighs, half-laughing. "Justin is Reese’s boyfriend. And Ramsey is… well, Ramsey."
Hayden flips on the blinker and lets Tristan’s bike merge in front of him as we turn down another road.
"He’s a better man than me. Because that motherfucker would be dead,” Callum spits the words.
"Who? Ramsey or Justin? I’m so confused," I say, turning toward Callum.
He chuckles and drags his knuckles up my side, brushing just under my chest. It’s subtle, but I know what it means. One of those moments he mentioned, the ones where he wants to pull my top down and take my nipple into his mouth just because he can’t stand not having it.
I shift slightly in my seat, heart skipping. Just the thought of it makes my core clench. I love him. God, I love him so much I feel like I’m floating.
"If I were Ramsey, I’d kill Justin. And if I were Justin, I wouldn’t have left my girl at a different school for Ramsey to be near her. To look at her. To touch her. He fucking has movie nights with her," Hayden grits out.
Madi reaches over and gently touches Hayden’s hand where it’s gripping the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white. "I’m not Reese. I don’t have a boy best friend I have movie nights with. You can stop."
Her voice is teasing, and the little giggle that follows makes it obvious. She likes the way Hayden gets like this. Possessive. Obsessive. She eats it up.
It’s a lot. Over the top, for sure. But it works for them.
"Is he okay?" I whisper to Callum.
Hayden answers instead. "No."
