Page 26 of Sunflower

I felt myself lean into him and shivered when I felt his lips graze my earlobe, my eyes falling shut as I let out a quiet sigh. I’d never felt like this before, not even in the entire two years I’d been with Amelia. His warmth settled into me, making me feel more settled than I had ever been before.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, nuzzling my ear softly as he ran his fingers down my arm and took my hand in his.

In a daze, I nodded before I opened my eyes and followed him to the front counter.

Our server and the host were huddled together but pulled apart when we approached. The server nodded once at the host before he glanced at us and disappeared back into the restaurant.

“How was your meal, sirs?” the host asked as her fingernails sharply tapped away at her screen. “I trust you enjoyed it?”

I looked to Callum, letting him take the lead like he’d done all night so far.

“Yes, thank you. It was quite enjoyable,” he said with an amiable smile. “Please pass our compliments to the chef.”

“I will. Thank you,” she responded, slightly distracted as she frowned a little at her screen. She tapped in two different places before her face lit up. “Ah, there we go.” Finally, bringing her full attention to us, she clasped her fingers loosely in front of her. “On behalf of The Majestic, we’d like to thank you for your calm response to our other guest’s emergency. As such, your meals have been fully compensated with our heartfelt gratitude.”

Shocked, I blinked and turned to stare at Callum, who had already retrieved his wallet from his back pocket and was in the process of getting his card out to pay.

He paused for just a moment, tapping his card on his wallet before handing her his card. “Thank you for your kind words, but I’d feel better if I could settle our bill, please.”

“Sir, you misunderstand. There is nothing left to settle.”

He tilted his head to the side and studied her for a moment before pursing his lips. “Okay then. Could you please let me know how much the total had come to before it was settled?”

The slightest smile graced her face before she calmly lifted her tablet from the stand and showed him the screen.

Callum glanced at it quickly and, with no change in his expression whatsoever, offered his card to her again. “Please process the total, plus an additional twenty percent as a tip to be shared with you and your staff.”

She inclined her head and took the card. “As you wish, sir. Thank you.”

We waited for the transaction to go through before we left the building. The frigid air enveloped us as soon as we opened thedoor and stepped outside. It wasn’t freezing cold yet, but both of us really needed our jackets with the night mist that permeated the air.

Callum motioned me away from the parking lot and we wandered slowly down the sidewalk. He was quiet, but I didn’t feel any need to fill the silence. I let him decide when he wanted to answer my question.

Seeing as night had fallen completely while we were in the restaurant, the only light we had was from the almost full moon reflecting off the clouds in the sky above us and the lampposts that littered the sidewalk. Between the mist and the lack of people, the night felt eerie.

He stopped at a stepping-stone path that led down the side of the on-ramp to a multilane freeway that spanned the road we were currently on. There was damp greenery that ran along both sides of the path, climbing high into the sky, creating a natural canopy above the path. An illuminated LED guard rail hung from posts on both sides of the path, creating a rather unique ambience.

“There’s a children’s play park down this path,” said Callum, looking into the shadows. “It’ll probably be the quietest place around here that we can talk uninterrupted at this time of the night.” He turned his head to peer at me. “What do you think?”

I looked from him to the path and back again, weighing our options. I didn’t want the night to end because I enjoyed Callum’s company, even though he seemed to thoroughly enjoy being all mysterious. He also owed me a ton of answers, which I was starting to think I might need whether or not I wanted to hear them.

“Let’s do it,” I said as I shrugged, trying to give off an indifferent vibe even though I was admittedly a little creeped out by the night air. The same feeling I’d had before I met up with him tonight, which had told me I needed to make sure I hadmy EpiPen with me, was telling me I was more than safe with Callum. He wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me, regardless of how much our date had gone pear-shaped.

Could we still call it a date? We’d definitely shared a meal and chatted about different things, just like how a typical date would go. And I definitely felt more for my stepbrother than I should rightly be feeling.

Callum went ahead, leading me down the path and into the night.

Chapter Ten

Joey

Isatintheswing next to Callum as we lazily drifted back and forth, toeing the ground covered in bark beneath us to keep us in motion. As predicted, there was no one around, and since we were in the middle of the park, we would be able to easily see if anyone approached.

There were a couple of bright lamps that lit the park, which helped because the moon had disappeared behind a thick band of clouds on our approach.

“You asked me how I knew about tonight,” Callum began nervously, shifting in his seat to get comfortable.

I nodded silently, my hands clasped on the chains that held the rubber seats to the frame and my eyes on the path that we had taken to get to the park.

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