Easy Melody(24)

“Until you, and it’s confused the hell out of me. All I want is a chance to start this over with you. We did it all backwards, and that’s on me. I get it. But damn it, let me try it again, because if you don’t, it’ll be the biggest regret of my life.”

Her mouth opens and closes, as though she doesn’t know what to say first. But finally she says, “Pete’s waiting.”

Well.

I guess I know where she stands.

I back away, untangle my hand from her hair and walk away, not looking back, through the bar and out into the dark evening.

I poured my heart out and she chose someone else.

Fuck.

***

The music is loud, but not loud enough to drown out my thoughts. Boy, did I blow it. I’m a grade-A *. I had the chance to have something really great with Callie, and I messed up so bad that all she sees when she looks at me is a friend, and she’s sweet on the moron with the flowers.

Probably because he’s nicer to her than I ever was. Although he looked pretty smarmy to me.

Not my problem.

I sigh and rub my hands over my face. It’ll be fine. It’s not like I don’t have plenty of women in my life that are more than willing to have a good time.

But I don’t have the need to confide in any of them. To listen to them talk about their day, or watch football with them.

No, they’re pretty much only around for one reason, and until a sassy blonde walked into my life, that was fine with me.

But now, it just doesn’t seem like enough.

The doorbell rings. I scowl and stay where I am, hoping they’ll go away. I’m definitely not in the mood for company.

But it rings again, and then again, and I can’t stand it anymore. I stomp through the foyer and yank the door open, shocked as f*ck to see Callie standing on the other side.

“Hi,” she says softly.

“You’re working,” I reply, hating the cold in my voice.

“I left.”

I nod and watch her, not inviting her in. “What do you need?”

She winces and I immediately feel like an *. “I don’t need anything.” She shakes her head and frowns and I let my eyes rake up and down her. She’s in a ripped Metallica T-shirt and a denim skirt with the same black heels she wore to the football game.

I shouldn’t have looked.

“Can I come in?” she asks.

I push the door back and step aside, gesture for her to come in, then lead the way back to the sitting room I’d been crashed in when she arrived.

I turn the music off, bathing the room abruptly in silence.

“I’m sorry,” she says.

“For what?”

“Earlier. Can I tell you what you saw?”

“I’m not slow, Callie. I know what I saw.”

“Look.” She squares her shoulders now and lifts her chin. There’s the girl I know. She’s determined, and I have a feeling I’m in for quite a show. “I know what you saw, but you don’t know how I feel about it.”

“How do you feel, Calliope?”

“Bulldozed,” she says and paces around the room. “I feel f*cking bulldozed.”

God, she’s magnificent. The way her legs move as she walks, the strength in her arms, the determination on her face.

“Pete is an old boyfriend from high school. Until two weeks ago, I hadn’t seen him since I was eighteen. Now he suddenly thinks that we should get back together.”

My jaw tightens at the thought, but I don’t interrupt.

“He showed me two houses, and that was it. And I’m pretty sure one was involved in the slave trade.”

“Excuse me?” My voice is deceptively calm.

“He sells real estate,” she says, waving that aside as if it doesn’t matter. “He asked me out twice, and I didn’t go. And I don’t even know why I feel like I need to defend myself or explain myself to you, but damn it, I do. So I am.”

She turns to me now, her blue eyes on fire, and she’s never looked sexier.

“He shows up tonight and hands me flowers, and before I could say anything to him, there you were, in all your sexiness, and I was just… thrown.”

“What happened after I left?”

She bites her lip and looks down at her hands, but I catch her chin in my fingers and tilt her head up to look at me. “What happened, Callie?”

“I gave him back his flowers and said thank you, but I’m not interested in dating him.”

“Why?” I’m whispering now as hope surges through me. Her eyes drop to my mouth. “Why, baby?”

“Because the little things aren’t little to me, either. And I didn’t know—”

“Don’t stop now.” I smile and cup her cheek in my hand, while the other brushes through her soft hair.

“I didn’t know that the little things were so big until you.”

I take a deep breath, so f*cking relieved. I tip my forehead down to hers and close my eyes, reveling in the feel of her against me.

“I don’t know where this is going—” My voice is a hoarse whisper. “—but I want to find out.”

“Me too.”

My hands glide down her back to her ass, and I grip the globes and lift her easily. “Wrap your legs around me.”