The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden(39)

He sets the can in his hand down on the shelf and inches around the mess on the floor. His fingers link with mine as he tows me toward the end of the aisle.

“Okay,” he says, peeking around the corner. “We’re going to walk out of here like nothing happened.”

I look back at the paint and the green footprints my shoe left on the floor. “I’m leaving a mess all over the floor.”

“Take your shoe off, then.”

I slip my hand out of his, noting how sweaty my skin is, and wiggle my foot out of the sneaker. Picking it up by the shoelace, I hold it behind my back and we walk out of the aisle side by side.

Seth and Luke are near the checkout stand, looking at the candy section, with a can of paint and flashlights in their hands.

“Where are you two going?” Luke asks and one of the flashlights falls from his arms onto the floor.

The cashier guy surveys us like a hawk as we hurry toward the doors.

Seth turns away from the candy, following us with his eyes. “Why does Callie only have one shoe on?”

“We’re going out to the car,” Kayden says with a wave. “See you out there.”

We take long strides toward the doors and rush out into the night, laughing our asses off. The cement is cold through my sock and I quickly put my shoe back on. The black fabric is speckled with green paint. I try to wipe it off by dragging my shoe along the ground, but it’s not working very well.

Kayden watches me with amusement. “I don’t think it’s going to come off.”

I frown at my shoe. “Man, these were my favorite pair.”

He glides the door of the taxi open, we hop in, and the cab driver shoots us an annoyed look. I scoot into the back and Kayden slams the door as he sinks down beside me.

He rests his hands on his knees as he looks at me through the dark. “You know Luke is going to call it a tie and make us both pay for drinks the next time we go out.”

“That’s not too bad,” I say. “Then, at least, it’s half the money.”

He drapes his arm over the back of the seat and pulls his leg up. “Nah, he’ll just order more drinks.”

I attempt to focus on anything else other than the fact that his knee is touching the side of my leg. “Oh yeah?

He nods and his eyes travel up to the front seat. “Yeah, so be prepared.”

I stare out the window at the dark lines of the mountains. It catches up with me. The night. The easiness. Everything. My mind drifts to thoughts I didn’t know existed, like what his lips taste like, and how his muscles would feel under my fingertips.

“Callie.”

I glance at Kayden, blinking my thoughts away. “Yeah?”

His gaze flickers to my lips as his mouth opens, but then he cinches his jaw shut and a slow smile curves up on his lips. “That was fun.”

I smile back at him. “You know what? It really was.”
***
“It is so f*cking dark out here,” Seth complains as we hike up the road. “And dirty.”

Luke has his flashlight in front of him. Seth dropped his almost the moment we got out of the cab and mine was a dud, so we are down to two.

The cab is waiting at the bottom of the path. The driver said we have twenty minutes before he leaves without us. He didn’t like that we made him drive up to a mountain area where there is obviously an illegal party going on.

“It’s the mountains,” Kayden says to Seth, sweeping his flashlight from side to side. “What did you expect?”

The rocks crunch under my shoes as I hold onto Seth’s arm. The air is a little bit chilly and there’s lightning zapping across the sky.

When we arrive at the bottom of the rock, Luke hands me the flashlight and shakes the paint can. “So, who is the bastard who gets to climb up there? It’s not that far, but I’m pretty wasted.”

Seth sticks his hand in the air dramatically. “Well, since I really am a bastard, I’ll do it.”

I shine the light at his face and he has the deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes, surprised I didn’t know this about him. “I thought you said your dad listens to 80’s rock and has a mullet?”

“My step-father,” he clarifies and extends his hand toward Luke. “Give me the can. I would love to put my two-cents down on that rock.”

Luke drops the can into his hand. “It’s all yours, buddy.”

Shaking the can, Seth strolls up to the steep rock that inclines up to the flashing grey sky. Propping his boot on a lower rock, he bounces up, grabbing onto a small lip on the side. He shifts his other foot onto the next rocky step, so both his feet are on the cliff. Tucking the spray can under his arm, he puts his other hand on the ledge and hoists himself onto it. Rolling onto his back, he stands up.