he Resolution of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence, #6)(25)

She keeps skipping and I end up shuffling after her until we reach the steep rock I once sat on with her before we even kissed. There’s a light layer of snow on some of the rocks and icy spots on the ground.

‘I’m not sure we should climb up that in the dark,’ I tell her, pulling her toward me until her back is pressed against my chest.

‘But we climbed them in the dark before with Seth and Luke,’ she says as I circle my arms around her waist.

‘I know, but I love you now and would die if anything happened to you.’ I kiss the sensitive spot behind her ear and she sighs.

‘All right, you win, but only because you made such a beautiful argument.’ She takes a seat on a small rock and faces the path we just walked up. ‘Remember how each time we came up here, you had to help me climb up the rocks?’

I nod and sit beside her, turning the timer on my screen on so it’s at the max – we have ten minutes of light. ‘I also remember how I had a naughty dream about you where I was helping you down the rocks.’ I set the phone down beside my feet and try to get comfortable even though the ground is freezing my ass.

Her head snaps in my direction. ‘What? When?’

‘The night we first came here.’

‘But you were still dating Daisy then?’

‘It didn’t mean I wasn’t attracted to you,’ I tell her. ‘Trust me, I was. Way, way attracted to you.’

She presses her lips together as if she wants to say something, but is fighting it.

‘What’s on your mind?’ I brush my finger across the inside of her wrist.

Her shoulders rise and fall as she heavy-heartedly shrugs. ‘You know, I never got how you were attracted to me when you were dating her. I mean, I know you love me now, but it never made sense why you’d break up with her then want to date me right after. I mean, I know she was a bitch, but she was … well, she was really, really pretty.’ A thousand protests run through my mind, but before I can say anything she adds, ‘I’m not saying that so you’ll compliment me. I know you love me now. I was just telling you how I felt in the past, since this is a night about the past.’

It takes me a moment to find my voice, but only because I’m still shocked about the first thing she said. ‘First of all, let’s get something straight. All looks aside, you are a thousand times a better person than Daisy will ever be. The girl was more than a bitch. She was evil and self-centered. She never asked about my scars, never tried to get to know me in the way you did, when I felt completely and utter vulnerable, but in a way I needed to be. You saved me, Callie, not only from my father, but from myself and a life full of misery and self-loathing. And yeah, I know I still have a ways to go, but you still help me even now.’

‘Good, I’m glad. I love helping—’

I cover her mouth with my hand, silencing her. ‘I’m not done yet.’ I position my hands so her face is trapped between them, wishing it wasn’t so dark so I could see my favorite part about her – her eyes. They’re a mirror to her emotions and I love being able to see what she’s feeling whenever I look into them. ‘And second of all, you’re a million times more beautiful than Daisy will ever be.’ She starts to protest, but I talk over her. ‘And not just because you’re beautiful on the inside, which I know you’re about ready to say, but because you are ridiculously beautiful in a way that almost seems unreal sometimes.’

‘Kayden, I appreciate you saying that, but I know I’m not,’ she says. ‘I know what I am, though, which is average, and I’m okay with that.’

‘You’ll never be average, Callie.’ I wish she’d get the full extent of what I’m trying to say. ‘Daisy was like plastic, all fake nails and tanner, bleached hair, and fancy clothes – nothing about her was real. You’ – I bring her lips closer to mine – ‘you’re real. Everything from your freckles, to those beautiful, gorgeous eyes of yours, to those f*cking perfect lips. You’re unconventionally beautiful, the kind of beautiful people can’t even understand because it’s not generic and created – it just is.’

She’s quiet for what feels like an eternity, the soft sound of her breathing filling the silence between us. ‘You’re turning into quite the master of words,’ she says softly. ‘You just put this writer to shame.’

My lips tug upward, but I’m not ready to smile just yet. ‘But you get what I’m saying, right? You understand how beautiful you are inside and out?’

She nods and I feel her cheeks move as she smiles. ‘But only if you understand just how much I need you and how much I deserve you.’


It takes a lot for me to say it, but I know I have to – know it’s right for the moment. ‘All right, it’s a deal,’ I say then lean in to kiss her, taking my time, savoring the feel of her lips.

I pull away about eight minutes later when the screen clicks off and darkness surrounds us. Picking it up, I reset it for another ten minutes then take the spray can out of my pocket. ‘So, what are you planning on putting on the rock this time?’ I ask, giving the can to her.

‘Hmmm ….’ She taps her finger against her lip then hands the can back to me. ‘I think you should be the one to do it.’

‘No way. You’re the writer.’