She shivered in his arms, sniffled, and he tucked her hands into the sleeves of his sweater. Pressing a kiss to her hair, Calum said it was time to go home.
Home.
A weird concept to think about. Only two months ago, ‘home’ would have been Las Vegas, so far away and out of reach. Then, though, at that moment, it was also found in Oak Creek.
Calum dropped to the ground first, reaching back up to help Rett to her feet, and they walked hand-in-hand through the trees. It was colder still by the time they walked the three miles back to town. They came to a stop at her front door; he ignored the way her neighbors peeked through their curtains, the fact her father was watching them closely.
“Thank you for being you, Rett,” he whispered before kissing her freezing lips.
“Always will be,” she giggled. “I ain’t ever gonna change.”
“I hope not. Now go inside and warm up. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He pushed dark hair from her face and stared at the eyes that were so familiar. Soft and silver in the full moon, they held so much life and joy. He’d caused them to darken with a storm, her anger. He never would again. She stretched up to kiss him again—harder, saying volumes in a language he hardly understood.
Rett disappeared into the house before his mind could catch up. Gaping at the door for a moment, Calum struggled to control his breathing. How could such a simple thing like a kiss have caused a reaction like that? He swallowed past the lump in his throat, carding his fingers through his hair, and closed his eyes against the thundering of his heart.
Rett was going to be the death of him if he let her.
To his surprise, it seemed as if walking her to her door, kissing her there, changed people’s opinions of him again. Miss Agatha smiled at him on her walks through the town, and Miss Maudie invited him over for tea again. Calum somehow declined without offending the woman—the second he said he was meeting Rett, Miss Maudie’s wrinkled face lit up, and she ushered him on his way.
Miss Julia watched him and Rett whenever they passed her porch, her thick lips curved into a smile. Miss Young and Mister Peterson made sure to stop the couple and chat; they weren’t inconspicuous in how they glanced at Rett and Calum’s entwined hands. The adults had no room to talk—they held hands just as often as the teenagers.
Calum wondered to himself when Miss Young began dating Mister Peterson. She’d made no mention of him when Calum had tea at her house.
His heart fluttered whenever Rett was around. Which was near constantly. They both did a better job of sneaking through each other’s windows, but the entire town knew it anyway. No one assumed the two had sex, not anymore. He overheard Miss Julia talking to his aunt, saying he was a ‘good kid’ now. He’d never steal Rett’s innocence away.
But what about his? Why was everyone so concerned with her virtue and not his? Calum realized belatedly, as he skipped rocks along the river, that they all thought he was no longer a virgin. After all, he was a troubled youth when he arrived. He hadn’t discouraged them of the opinion, and now he was paying the price for it.
The townspeople might have accepted his role in Rett’s life, but he would never be rid of the mark of their assumptions.
Despite all of that—the gossip, the knowing looks, the fact he was forced by Rett to go to church on Sundays—Calum had never been happier. His exile from Nevada brought him such a wonderful life. An amazing girlfriend. He never imagined he would find someone in this dead-end town, but he had. He’d even found friends. Kellie Marie only ever asked about his life back home, and Sofia told him all the stories about Rett he hadn’t been there for.
Even Johnny apologized for the fight then invited Calum out to old Mister Wilson’s barn to smoke. Rett hadn’t gone, saying she needed to catch up on schoolwork, and she accepted him back in her bed. Her kisses were sweeter when he was high. He could taste her desperation, but he refused more. He couldn’t do that to her.
Calum spent the entire week before Halloween stocking the shelves with more and more sweets. Georgie kept an eye over him, made sure he didn’t sneak off to steal moments with Rett. His mind wasn’t on the work, though. He’d told her he would go to the party, and he regretted that decision.
“Y’okay?”
He startled, turning toward Tiffany. Her concern looked genuine, but he remembered the last time. When she told him not to ruin his friendship then turned around and did it herself. When he almost lost Rett because of his stubborn refusal to let her make a mistake by choosing him over her lifelong community.
“I’m fine.”
“Well, I’m askin’ ’cause you’ve been staring at that bag of candy corn for five minutes without moving.”
“Just thinking.”
“About your girlfriend?” Tiffany snorted and grabbed a packet of sugary sweets. “Y’all are disgustingly adorable.”
“You hate me.”
“No, I just like messin’ with you. There’s a difference.”
He scowled, slamming a bag of fun-size Snickers into the bin. “Messing with me by nearly destroying my friendship with Rett? That’s a terrible way to ‘mess with’ someone.”
“I won’t apologize.” She sighed, pulling another box of candies from the basket Calum holds. “Okay, I’m sorry. Maybe I was outta line.”
Calum gaped for a long few seconds. ‘Maybe’? She was absolutely out of line. But nobody could change the past. And it wasn’t like anyone treated him as an outcast any longer. They’d all begun to accept him simply because he made Rett happy.
