“Can do.” I guided her into the kitchen and put on the coffeemaker.
“Have you seen much of Callum lately?” Hannah asked. “Sully says he’s not himself, acting really grouchy. Well, Callum’s always been a bit touchy, but apparently he bodychecked a defenseman ass over skates in practice and he’s talking back to his coaches. Sully’s worried.”
I flinched. “I haven’t seen him in a few days.”
“Really? I thought he was staying with you.”
“Only while his uncle was squatting in his grandfather’s place. The asshole’s gone now, so Callum’s back where he belongs.”
She side-eyed me. “He seemed like he belonged pretty comfortably here.”
“He was babysitting Jos, but now I’m off, and then I’ll be second shift, getting home before midnight. Jos is fine without him.”
“And are you?” She blew out a breath. “Sorry, that was nosy. But Callum was different around you, softer, happier. Even when you weren’t in sight, he had fewer sharp edges once he was staying with you. I’ve never seen him smile like that.”
“Maybe that was from spending time around Jos,” I suggested desperately.
She snorted. “Yeah. Preteen boys make everyone kinder and gentler. Listen, I’m not trying to get into your business. Or to out Callum, at all. Maybe I’m way off base. But if he’s recently moved out, and now he’s acting like a bear just out of hibernation again, maybe he misses you.”
Not trying to out him, my ass.Although I believed she meant it in a kind way. There was really no answer I could give that wouldn’t confirm her suspicions. “Cream in your coffee?”
“Milk, if you have it.”
“With a twelve-year-old? The answer is either six litres or none. Let me check.” Jos wasn’t eating like the bottomless pit I remembered being, yet, but we went through milk like you wouldn’t believe.
Sully stuck his head into the kitchen as I handed Hannah her mug. “Hey, Jos and I are ready to head out. Zeke, you want to come, or you want to hang out here and keep Hannah company?” He gave her a very unsubtle look of “go along with it.”
If hanging out with Hannah meant an hour of being not-so-subtly interrogated about Callum, even a comic store held more appeal. I was about to say so when someone knocked on the front door.
“Hold that thought.” When I pulled open the door, I froze, staring at the guy shifting from foot to foot on my doorstep. “Uh. Callum?”
“Can we talk?” he asked, then threw a look at the driveway. “Hey, is that Sully’s car?”
“Yeah, it is,” Sully said behind me. “Hannah and me were about to take Jos and a friend of his to the comic bookstore. I’d invite you and Zeke, but the car won’t fit six. Come on, Hannah.” He gestured to his girlfriend and squeezed past me.
Hannah followed him, handing me her untouched mug. “I guess I’m going to look at comics. Come on, Jos.”
I blinked as Jos scurried after them with a puzzled glance my way, and got in the back of the SUV. Callum and I watched as Sully reversed out of the driveway and headed off down the road.
“Uh.” Callum turned back to me.
I handed him the mug. “Coffee?”
He took a sip without looking, then coughed. “There’s milk in it.”
“It was going to be for Hannah.” I pulled the door wide. “Come on in.”
“I’m not sure why I’m here.” Callum trailed inside past me despite his words.
I shut the door. “Looking for a guy who knows how to be a boyfriend?”
“Are we boyfriends? We never said.”
“We slept together, we loaded the dishwasher together, and we said we were exclusive. If it quacks like a boyfriend…”
“Is it stupid that I miss loading the dishwasher with you?”
I had to laugh, despite the anxious butterflies in my stomach. “As long as you don’t miss it more than the sex.”
