Page 12 of The Proposal Pact
An intense reality check.
There was a reason I left Loverly Cave as soon as I could and never anticipated to come back. More than one reason to be exact, but then I found out my little sister decided it was a good idea to start dating my idiot best friend, Griffin Owling, who I specifically warned about staying away from said sister back when we were teenagers.
I saw how that fucker looked at her with hearts in his eyes and other parts of his body and I wanted those parts as far away from my little sister as I could get them.
Introducing…another fucking reality check for Callum.
The fucker got those parts so close to her that she is now pregnant. And wears his ring on her finger.
I guess it could be worse…she could fall for my other best friend and an even bigger fucker, Luke Colson, but luckily for me, he somehow managed to get another unfortunate soul to marry him.
And I’ll never admit this out loud, but I respect the hell out of Griffin for standing up to me when I came back, ready to rip him apart for touching my little sister and demanding he leave her alone. He wouldn’t, of course.
No, Griffin was too far gone for my nature-loving-barefoot-walking sister, and I was left with bitter disappointment that I’ll have to accept this relationship. But again…at least it’s not Luke!
“There’s a lot of thinking happening in that pretty head of yours, Sheriff.” Fanny regards me curiously.
I blink a few times, coming back to the present torture, and sighing, I lean forward again. “Mm-hmm, I’m trying to figure out why God keeps punishing me in this life.” That’s not even a lie at this point.
“You know what your problem is?” She puckers her lips in thought.
“No, and I don’t need you to enlighten me but I’m sure you will anyway.”
“You need a woman.” She does as I predict, and I fight the urge to slam my head against the desk.
“Let me guess, you already have someone lined up for me and are in the process of pulling one of your elaborate schemes at having us fall madly in love and live a happily ever after we tie the knot underneath the Loverly Cave itself?”
Fanny smiles wickedly and I know I hit the bullseye from the first try.
This time I’m not even bothering at holding back. Nope, I slam my head against the desk with a loud, exasperated groan. What is it with this town and their need to marry everyone off?
They even have a whole committee set up for it where they scheme and plot and meddle, for crying out loud. I’m not even joking.
There are four matriarchs who are masterminds behind it all. I think they call themselves the Fantastic Four. God help us all.
Willa Loverson, the owner of our local Love and Peace Bar. Jenny Levine, she’s a fairly new resident but already made her mark. She also happens to be Luke’s mother-in-law. Then we have Nina Colson, Luke’s mom—the unfortunate fucker got the short end of the stick there—and finally, there is the main pain in my ass, Fanny Lovesil, who sits across from me, looking particularly menacing because everyone knows this tiny grandma will get what she wants come hell or high waters.
She was my grandmother’s best friend since they were in diapers, and ever since Nana passed away, Fanny took on her role. But for some reason she doesn’t torture my sister half as much as she does me. Even when I was thousands of miles away.
Because how do you think I found out about Julie’s relationship when I had zero contact with Loverly Cave? Fanny made it her life mission to email me. Daily.
And don’t be fooled by her peaceful, colorful appearance. The woman owns the local gym, can kick your ass better than many Seals I served with, and has spies everywhere.
Not to mention, my own mother has been spotted hanging out with the four devils and it’s not hard to guess what they are planning, seeing as I’m the only available bachelor in town at the moment.
At least in their eyes.
In reality? I might as well be at the bottom of the ocean, long gone to this world, love, and all that comes with it.
You’d think they understand I’ll never be the guy to have a family. I’m not the guy they saw growing up around here. Not someone who could smile as easy as breathe and love a different girl every day.
That ain’t my story no more.
But the Love Hive—that’s the name of the town group chat by the way—refuses to accept the fact.
If my last months in Loverly Cave back when I was eighteen didn’t change me forever…then the Navy sure as hell left a nice little impression. I breathed and lived it for sixteen years, never allowing anything other than my training, and then my missions, into my mind.
Truth be told, I wasn’t even sure if I was capable of living in normal society again and I didn’t particularly want to find out.
