Page 30 of Fate Forever and Always

“Very fancy, thank you!” she joked.

He poured us each a glass, then left us to figure out what we were eating.

Callie looked at the menu thoroughly. I don’t know why she wasted her time. I knew she was going to get some sort of seafood. She always does when Aubrey isn’t around. Aubrey hates even the smell of it, but Callie is obsessed.

“I think I'm going to get the Bahama Mama and a salmon dish.” She looked up at me. “Let me guess, you are getting chicken?” Her proud smile was so fucking adorable. “My boring bestie, always sticking to his comforts.”

I looked at her over my menu, “Don’t act like you know me.”

She leaned in with a knowing smile. “Okay. So, what are you getting, then?”

I covered my face with the menu and looked again. “Well, if you must know, I am getting a Pain Killer to drink, and I don’t know yet what I want to eat.”

“Mmhmm, sure.”

We sat there smirking at each other like idiots. The waiter came over a few minutes later. “What can I get you, miss?”

“I will have the Bahama Mama and the Honey Garlic Salmon, please. Can you please make sure there are no mushrooms on that dish?”

“Yes, of course.” He turned to me, “And you, sir?”

“Yes, I will have the Pain Killer drink. What chicken dish would you recommend?”

Callie pointed right at me. “Ha, I knew it.” She did a little jig in her seat, showing just how proud she was.

The waiter chuckled and recommended the Spicy Bahamian Chicken. “Yeah, I will try that. Thanks.”

The waiter left, and before looking back at Callie, I caught the guy who checked us in, staring at us. He was having dinner with another person who worked here. I wanted to make us look more like a couple, so I grabbed her hand that was resting on the table and kissed her fingers. She was about to protest until she saw him, too. She blew me a kiss across the table. I made a show of acting like I was catching it and holding it to my heart. She laughed at me and slapped my hand away.

“I don’t know why you try to act like I don’t know everything about you, Nick. Face it. We have been friends for too long.”

I grabbed her hand in mine again, running my thumb over the back of her fingers. “Not everything, Sweets, but that’s a story for another day.” She didn’t question me, but I could tell she was a little curious.

It was really nice sitting and talking with Callie. Even though we’ve lived together for the past few months, this was different. I feel like I'm seeing a different side of her, a more relaxed side.She has been so stressed out leading up to this, and now that we are here, she’s finally letting loose.

We tried each other’s food, and surprisingly, I actually liked the salmon. We took the leftovers back to our room while making a pit stop to freshen up so we could head to the welcome bonfire. Callie grabbed my hand once the elevator door shut. She laced our fingers together and leaned her head onto my arm.

“Thank you for coming with me. I am so happy you said yes. We are going to have fun, I promise.” She looked up at me, and those caramel eyes did it again. My heart was instantly racing. “I will make this trip worth it for you.”

I squeezed her hand. “I’m glad I came, too. I love spending time with you, Cal.” We were both quiet for a moment before I gripped her hand and looked at her. “Just being with you makes the trip worth it.”

Her breath hitched as the elevator door opened. “Nick.”

I squeezed her hand. “I know, I know…I’m sweet.”

Chapter eleven

Callie

The bonfire was filled with cute couples cuddled together. I realized I must have missed a few people saying hello when Nick squeezed my hand to get my attention. My brain was in a fog after replaying what Nick said to me before we left. It was the sweetest thing I had ever heard him say. I almost wish he hadn’t said it because looking around at everyone made me kind of sad. Seeing everyone smiling and cuddling with their spouses put me even deeper in my feelings.

Nick had his arm around me so we didn't look too out of place, but I felt like everyone could tell I was uncomfortable. I am not the best liar. Usually people can automatically tell when I am lying about something.

One of the few times I tried to lie to my mom, I felt so bad that I told on myself. I was out with a group of people I shouldn’t have been, and Aubrey and I tried smoking a cigarette for the first time. When my mom asked how my night went, she gave me that all-knowing look like she knew I had done somethingbad, so I just blurted out, “I smoked a cigarette.” My mom wasn’t even mad. She just laughed. Lying just isn’t my thing.

We sat down in empty seats and everyone was chatting about how they met and the details of their weddings. Not even a minute into us being there, we were being grilled with questions.

“How did you two meet?” The brunette woman sitting next to Nick asked. I didn’t realize she was talking to us until Nick started speaking.

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