Page 56 of Elusion

Johnny left. Benji’s on the way to Vermont with his cousin. Gavin is…

“Gavin?”

“What?” his voice answers from down the hall.

“Do you have anyone coming over?”

“No.”

I turn on my heels and descend the stairs. When I swing the door open, my world screeches to a halt. Callie’s on the porch, holding a box and as beautiful as ever. Dark hair frames her face, contrasting her brilliant blue eyes. The sight hurls me back to the coffee shop. All my progress vanishes in a span of two seconds, and once again, I’m at a loss for how I’ll ever get her out of my head.

“Hey,” she says.

A verbal response is unmanageable. Fuck, breathing is almost unmanageable at the moment. So, my chin rises enough to count as a subtle nod.

She starts to smile, but it never develops. “I didn’t think you’d be here. Your Jeep’s gone, and Benji said you had a midterm.”

And she might as well have karate-chopped me in the throat. She’s not here for me. Nothing has changed. I give myself a deep breath to regain my equilibrium the best I can. A run-in with her had to ultimately happen. I just wish it had held off for another three to seven years.

“Sorry to disappoint—again.” My words come out much harsher than intended, courtesy of the giant lump in my throat.

She huffs and rolls her eyes. “Nothing can ever be easy with you.” She shoves the box into my hands and bounces down the steps to her car.

I want to yell after her that she’s the one who makes everything difficult and I miss her and I don’t want her stupid box and I want her and to never come back and to never leave. Instead, I just stand here, watching her drive away.

After my brain regains control of my body, I kick the front door shut behind me and set the box on the coffee table. A thorough examination from all sides ensues while I search for any hint to what my unexpected gift holds. Whatever’s inside will surely reopen wounds still struggling to heal.

I pace, attempting to identify the best way of dealing with the box. In less than an hour, a cab will arrive to carry me off to the airport to officially remove the irritating woman from my life once and for all. Yet, in true Callie form, she showed up just in time to crawl under my skin again.

Careful, Waters.The situation requires me to tread lightly—get out—unlike all the other times I decided to walk away, and she reeled me back in with a comment or her tits. No, I need to react differently this time. Prove my growth by making better choices.

A creak on the stairs sends me spinning.

Gavin’s feet tromp down, his eyes on his phone. “Are you pacing down here?”

“I’m thinking,” I snap.

“What’s in the box?” He collapses on the couch and watches, amused. “Gwyneth Paltrow’s head?”

Ignoring him and his movie reference, I tug at my bottom lip before picking up the almost-weightless container. I shake it around. Nothing shifts inside, so I put it down and resume a back-and-forth pattern. What would she drop off for me?Is it for me?Technically, she never said.

Gavin enters my line of vision, pointing his phone at me.

“Are you recording my misery?” I ask.

“You’re acting insane. This is documentation in case we need to have you committed.”

Damn it, he’s right. A stupid box, more than likely containing an inconsequential item forgotten in Callie’s room, holds power over my sanity.

I sit and flip the flaps open. Green packing peanuts spill over the top as I dig but come up empty-handed. Everything dumps out when I tip it over. I sort through the packing materials. Once, twice, three times, I rifle through.

“Nothing?” I’m on my feet. “She got in my head over nothing?”

All the buried anger and frustration from the last few weeks claws its way to the surface. I storm through the living room to retrieve my coat. Callie has succeeded in making me lose my shit, and she deserves to fucking know.

The back door slams, and I stomp down the steps toward—an empty space.

Johnny took my Jeep.

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