Mindless

One

~Callie~

"Cal?" I smiled over at Lil as she held out another drink for me. "You zoned out." 

"Sorry! Sorry. I'm all scatter brained today. I'm zoned in, focused- carry on." 

"We were talking about Christmas plans."

"Christmas is like 10 months away. Why are we talking about Christmas?" Kaz, Lara and Lilah stared at me. Drinks half frozen on the way to their lips. Apparently I'd missed something during my zone out but I was trying to be present. I swear. It's just been an exhausting couple of days working and travelling up here for Lil's celebratory 'welcome home' party. 

Giant congratulation signs line every wall, gold banners and gold balloons. I'm so proud of Lilah for doing this. For making team Alamea, for competing, for getting the guy she spent years trying to get over not matter how well she hid it under her love for Carter, and I'd be more than selfish to say I wasn't proud of her for being the youngest gold medalist in history. Lara owned her own art studio and was being featured in all of Alamea's art magazines. She'd go down in the books as one of the greats, right along side Picasso, I'm sure. Kaz was going to graduate this spring and go on to her job working at one of the biggest Lawyer offices in the country. And then there's me. Stuck in 2 minimum wage jobs that are more trouble than they're worth just so I can make enough to actually build some savings up. No idea what I'm saving for. No idea where I'm going like the girls do, no prospects, nothing. 

I feel like I'm floating around space and time like an astronaut that's lost it's tie to a space ship and now I'm destined to just exist with no actual plan on where to go.

"Sorry." I pushed an innocent giggle out of my mouth. "I was thinking about-" 

"We do not need to know what you were thinking about Callie." Theo appeared behind Lil, instantly wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. "Or rather who." I smirked at Theo, immediately looking around the room.

"That's a thought Theo. Which of your team are going to take me home tonight?" Kaz and Lara chuckled. Every time we saw Theo this was the game we played. I threatened to sleep with his whole team, he'd throw a strop and Lilah would tell him to go pout elsewhere. Apparently I was a risk that Theo was not willing to be responsible for. I sleep with a guy, break his heart, throw him off his game and cause the team to lose. And as such, the team were off limits, which is a stupid thing to tell me really, because that makes everything that bit more exciting. 

I wouldn't actually follow through with it though. Not now anyway. In college one night stands were a status thing. An easy way to burn off some tension from the week but a few months in, I realized they're a lot more trouble than they're worth but we'd built up a reputation for ourselves. I didn't want Kaz or Lara to feel bad about bringing guys home or anything so when they left with someone else, I went home, made up some intense stories at brunch the next day. I'd had a few flings since then. A handful of dates I'd found online that ended up with me waking up in some strangers bed and disappearing at the first opportunity but I just don't have the time, or the energy to be dating and working and trying to fit dance classes into my schedule and runs and seeing the girls as often as I'd like to. There's just not enough hours in the day. 

"None of them." 

"Hmm. I don't know. Kaz, what do we think of tall blonde in the corner." 

"Miller." Lilah gave us his name. "Sweetheart but too soft for you Cal." 

"What about dark and mysterious next to him?" 

"No." 

"Silva?  Got a girlfriend." 

"Damn it." 

"Is anyone listening to me?" 

"What about tall and brooding in the corner Cal?" Lara nodded her head into the dark corner of the room. The guy looked like he was an undercover serial killer and I don't know if that was one night stand worthy or not. One look at the guy and I could tell he'd give you a night you wouldn't forget for sure. 

"Oh. Ambrose." I turned my head to Lil. Since Theo ditched Montrose and moved his life up here to be with Lil, she'd put exceptional effort into becoming a poster board hockey girlfriend and was now fully built into the team like some weird family. She'd told us about dinner's she went to with them all, them telling her she wouldn't be able to hold her own in a game with them (which ended exactly as you'd expect it. Theo having to put her in time out because she shoved one of them so hard into the wall their nose started bleeding.) But not once in the past 18 months had Lil ever sounded negative in anyway towards one of them. Until now. "Hard pass on him." 

"Intrigued." I tapped the glass to my lips. 

"Pray tell." 

"You can't say that and then not give us the details, fiancé in presence or not." 

"There's nothing to tell." Theo straightened his back. "Cole's quiet. Keeps to himself. He's just a dark cloud, isn't exactly pleasant to be around. We invite him to everything, hoping he'll warm up to us newbies but apparently he's always been like that." 

"How old is he?" Lilah turns back to me, her eyes narrowing slightly. 

"No Cal." 

"It's just a qu-" 

"He's trouble Callie." Theo's voice is stern and I suddenly feel like a little sister being given a telling off by her big brother. I'd call Theo a brother the same way I'd call the girls my sisters but that was a little too much. 

"Trouble and fun go hand in hand." 

"No Cal. Real trouble. Not sex in the club bathroom- doing drugs on your way home kind of trouble. Real serious trouble. You know I'm not one to tell you what to do but Cole's not-" Lilah sighs. "Please don't." 

"Okay, jeez. This got serious real quick. This is supposed to be fun." I turned around, tearing my eyes back off the brunette leaning up against a wall and straight up ignoring the other girl trying to get his attention literal feet from him whilst he scrolled through his phone. Yeah. Not worth the trouble. "What about him?" I pointed to someone clearly not hockey material and Kaz giggled. 

"Pretty sure he's a bartender." 

"What's wrong with that? Free drinks for the night, pretty on the eyes. Win win."