Somebody I Don't Know : Book 1 of the Teeth Series

18

One new message: Fal

Calum stared at the message on his phone. It shouldn't have been a big deal but it was. It was the first time in months that her name had shown up on his phone and he was feeling a little nostalgic seeing it there again.

He was hesitant to open it, both nervous about what she might have to say following their time together the day before and dying to know her reaction. He hadn't seen her during their show the night before he had been busy with some promo management had set up for him and the boys and so he hadn't been able to watch their set as he liked to and she hadn't been around afterwards.

There was a strong likelihood that she was just busy. In all the fuss of tour sometimes he could go days without seeing their tourmates and it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. He hoped with everything in him that the reason he hadn't seen her was as easy to explain as that. She was texting him so he hoped that was a sign that she wasn't hiding away from him, rethinking and regretting what had happened in his hotel room.

He certainly wasn't.

Just open the fucking text Calum. It seemed like such an easy thing to do when his brain was yelling it at him and yet his finger still hovered over the notification stuck somewhere between wanting to open her message and wanting to remain blissfully ignorant of whatever she had to say to him.

There wasn't any true reason to think that it would be something bad. When she had left his room she had done so by first giving him a lasting kiss. A smile and a wink thrown over her shoulder before she disappeared into the hall looking nothing like the sobbing, hysterical mess she had been when she had first arrived. He held on to that memory as he finally slid her name across the screen of his phone to read her text.

Been super busy all day but all I can think of is last night. Too bad we don't have a hotel again tonight.

His breath caught in his throat. She didn't regret it. He had half expected a text full of her calling him out of his name and reminding him of all the things he had done to her. Instead, she had confirmed that not only had she enjoyed it, but insinuating that she wanted to do it again.

Yeah, seeing the boys in their undies isn't near as fun as seeing you in yours.

It was a bit forward but that had always been his and Fallon's relationship and he could practically see her reaction in her mind. A soft snort as her face broke into a grin.

"What's got you smiling at your phone like that?" A voice behind him asked and he turned to see Ashton walking towards the front of the tour bus where Calum was laid across the couch, biding time until he headed into the arena they were playing that night for soundcheck.

"Ah—nothing mate," he said scratching the back of his head. "Just chatted with Mali for a bit. Always nice to hear from her."

He hated how easily the lie fell off his lips. Lying in general was something he despised but he couldn't risk telling his best friend the truth. In his gut, he knew that Ashton most likely wouldn't have the supportive reaction he would desire and whatever was going on with him and Fallon was still too new, too fragile, to withstand any kind of storm. It was information he had to keep to himself until he was actually certain of what the fuck they were doing. So he lied.

"Tell her I said hi." Ashton told him, slapping his hand down on Calums shoulder which caused the brown eyed man to flinch, his hand instinctively rising to rub at the tender, bandaged covered skin.

"You good?"

"Yeah, just got some fresh ink is all." Calum tried to downplay it, but Ash's curiosity was peaked and he pushed Cal's sleeve up, giggling as he tried to peel back the gauze to get a look at it.