Chapter Five
Callie
Bentley and I manage to get Dayton into bed without incident – his stomach is made of steel – and I leave a large glass of water on the bedside table for when he wakes.
"I'll walk you home," Bentley says, scratching the back of his neck. We'd let the taxi go, knowing it would take a while to get Dayton settled. But I planned on calling another one.
"What? You live twenty minutes away from my house and just two minutes from here. It makes no sense for you to go that far out of your way."
He shrugs. "Get murdered then."
"I'll call a taxi."
"And wait thirty minutes for one to be available at this time? You could be home by the time it turns up. Also, genius, a cab driver could kill you."
Hold. Up. Does he want to walk me home? I'm torn between insisting I call a cab and wanting to find out if and why he wants this. Calm down, Callie, what could happen on this walk? He confesses his undying love for you, and you end up having sex in the woods. Not likely.
Curiosity wins, though.
"Okay," I reply. "That'll be good, thanks."
He gives me a sexy, victorious smirk that half makes me want to change my mind. "After you."
We walk out of his parents' place and into the night. I've been renting a newly built apartment in a nice little block for the last four months. Although it's super small, I love the freedom it gives me. My parents were happy for me because I chose a place that's close to them and has a secure, coded entrance.
They do worry a lot.
"Do you think you should call Sam?" I ask when the silence stretches into minutes. I feel bad about what happened. He should at least check that she's okay, right?
Bentley deserves someone that's his perfect match and Sam is clearly not it, but she's probably hurting, and that's not nice.
"Why?"
"What sort of question is that? To see if she's all right..."
"She's the one that ended it."
"Doesn't mean you shouldn't make sure she's doing okay. She's probably really upset."
"I doubt that."
"Well, I don't doubt it, and I'm female."
"Then you call her," he says a little too sharply.
I swing my arms around my back. Wow, someone is touchy.
"Sorry. Look, I know you mean well but me and Sam are done. I have no desire to speak to her again."
"Fair enough," I reply. I can't blame him, she is crazy, but I would probably text. Well, I wouldn't because I bet I'm the last person she wants to hear from. "How are the stag plans going? I assume you'll be the one making sure Dayton ends up naked and tied to a lamppost?"
"Of course. I take my duty very seriously. There will be many, many strippers and many, many things his fiancée will never know about."
I slap his arm with the back of my hand. "Don't you dare do anything that will make him hate you in the morning. Day wouldn't cheat on Lucy."
"I'm not making him do anything."
"But you're encouraging it."
"No, I'm not. I don't cheat either, but guys can watch strippers and get smashed without doing anything they shouldn't."
Window shopping. We all do that while we're in relationships, whether we'll admit it or not. There's no problem with looking as long as it never goes further. Dayton would never touch another woman, that I'm sure of. But Bentley's plans make me anxious.
It's probably why I'm so drawn to him. He's very sexy with his muscles and brooding eyes. Being with him would be very sexy. And bad. And I would never go there.
Nope.
"Hmm," I murmur. "None of you would touch a stripper if you could."
"Why do you care so much?"
"Really? You don't actually need me to answer that, do you?"
He stops dead, and I have to stop too. Well, I don't have to, and I kind of just want to get home but I'm curious. Again.
"You love Dayton, he's thetogether one, you don't want anything bad to happen in his perfect little life. I get it, Callie."
"Whoa," I say, holding my hands up as he tries to walk off. "Where the hell is this coming from?"
He narrows his eyes, knowing he's said too much, and then shakes his head. "Nowhere," he mutters like a pissed off teen.
"I call bullshit."
He shrugs one shoulder like he doesn't give a damn. I can see through a lot of his crap, though. I know he cares way more than he lets on. "Call what you want."
"Are you on your period?"
"You're clearly on yours," he replies.
How did we start fighting again?
I lick my dry lips and take a deep breath. "Do you want to talk about whatever's on your mind?"
"No."
"Will you anyway?"
"No."
I fist my hands.
"Fine. Let's walk in silence then," I say, turning around and walking at a much faster pace than before. He's so bloody frustrating, I want to strangle him with the handle of my handbag.
He falls in step with me and sighs. "I'm sorry, okay."
"Dayton's life isn't perfect. No ones is. And when you say I love Bentley..."
"Since we were all kids, it's been yours and Dayton's wedding our parents have been planning."
"Yeah, until we got older, and they realised there's nothing between us like that."
"Isn't there?"
"Oh, don't you dare start with that, too. I've seriously had enough of it all my life. You know we're just friends so snap out of whatever is going on in there right now," I say, wiggling my fingers at his clearly messed up head.
Bentley has never done this before. He's always been one to set the record straight whenever someone questioned me and Dayton. What is happening tonight? Did I fall and hit my head?
"I'm just sayin', you need to tell him now if–"
I don't let him finish his ridiculous sentence. I slap him around the back of the head. Hard.
"What the fuck, Callie!" he growls, rubbing the spot where I whacked him.
"You needed that."
"That's not what I need," he mutters. "Just trying to help."
"Right, you need a nap and a personality transplant."
"That's great. Thanks for that. As if I didn't know I'm screwed up already."
I quite literally want to bash my head against a wall.
We reach my building and I punch the code into the gate.
"Stop the pity party," I say. "No one else controls your actions. Maybe if you're not happy with the choices, you make you should make better ones."
"You're on fire tonight, girl."
"I'm home safe. Your job is done. Thanks."
"Whatever," he replies, walking away.
He doesn't look back.
***
Monday rolls around far too quickly, and it's time for my official meeting with Lucy and Dayton. I'm sitting at my desk, replying to a price query when they knock on the door. I look up and roll my eyes. Never before has Dayton knocked. Like ever. Not even when we were teens, and I was getting dressed. I've also never seen a person turn such a bright shade of red.
All weekend I spent obsessing over Bentley. No more. I'm going to forget about him. From this point on he is only a guy I find mildly attractive.
Laughing, he opens the door and waits for Lucy to walk in first.
"Hey, take a seat," I say after giving them both a hug. "Can I get you a drink?"
"Strange seeing you professional, Cal," Dayton says.
"Strange seeing you knock."
He raises his eyebrows. "Touché. I'll take a coffee. Luce?"
"Tea, please."
I make our drinks and listen to their flirting. If it were anyone but Dayton I'd want to vomit. They're just so cute together.
"Okay, so the things we've already discussed are all sorted," I say, placing the drinks on my desk.
Lucy's mouth goes wide.
"What?" I ask.
"Already?"
"Kinda my job."
"I'm so glad we hired you."
"Have you heard from Bentley?" Dayton asks.
Why are we talking about him?
I tap my mug. "No, why?" There's no way Bentley would've told Dayton about our argument the other night, though I should have. We talk about stuff like that.
"I tried calling him yesterday, but he didn't pick up."
"He's probably busy, sweetie," Lucy says, putting her hand on Day's leg.
"Yeah, it's just..."
"He's been extra Bentley recently and you're worried," I offer.
"In a nutshell," he replies. "I know he's not with Sam anymore, but that was nothing serious. Unless it was to him?"
I avoid eye contact and shuffle some paperwork on my desk. "No, I don't think it was. Look, I'll swing by his place later and let you know how he is."
"Thanks, Cal."
"No more Bentley talk. I'm sure your fiancée wants to get these plans hammered out."
Lucy looks up at Dayton with dreamy eyes. "She does!"
I spend the next hour and a half going through wedding plans. Although I know you should never work with friends or family it's going well. Mostly because I know Lucy's style and what she's trying to create and Dayton's being quiet. It's the perfect mix. No one wants the groom to be having that much involvement. Or so I've seen so far. He has his barn.
After a telephone meeting with a bride and replying to three others, I head out for the day. I want to go straight home, but I promised Dayton I'd check in on Bentley, and I'm kind of worried about him, too.
His little town house looks empty when I arrive, but I try the doorbell anyway.
"Bentley," I call, knocking loudly this time.
The door opens seconds later. He's drunk. His hair is everywhere, and he's leaning heavily against the doorframe in just a pair of black boxer shorts.
Well, hello.
My eyes almost pop out of my head when he grabs my wrist and pulls me flush with his chest. He's so close I can feel the warmth radiating off his body. My hands land on the thick muscles on his stomach.
My breath catches in my throat.
"Callie," he whispers, and my insides turn to mush.