Page 98 of Simmer Down
Grace chuckles while Finn bursts into laughter.
“Wow. You were quite committed to keeping things with Callum a secret, weren’t you?” he says.
“We figured it would be easier that way,” I say.
Grace excuses herself to check out the jewelry stand next to us.
Finn shakes his head. “Maybe you thought it would be easier, Nikki. But all Callum wanted was to make things official with you.”
“It took me a while to see that,” I mutter. “I thought we both were fine with the casual thing. I know I wasn’t his one and only.”
This time the wrinkles in his forehead read confused.
“You don’t have to cover for him, Finn. While I was hiding in the closet, I overheard you two talking about that other woman he was seeing.”
“What other woman?”
“Don’t you remember? That same conversation when you were talking about going camping with Grace, you asked when he was going to spill his guts to that woman he was into, that woman he had history with.”
Finn tilts his head to the side, his face making a seamless transition from confusion to clarity. “Nikki. I was talking about you.”
Finn’s words from that morning echo in my head.
It’s so bloody obvious how you feel about her. You’ve got history together. Why don’t you just tell her already. No use in putting it off...
“Ever since Callum met you, you’ve been the only woman on his radar,” Finn says. “And despite everything that happened between you two, you still are.”
My throat tightens. I want to believe Finn more than anything,but he could be mistaken. We were able to hide a good chunk of our relationship from him for a while. Maybe he’s in the dark about Callum’s true feelings now too.
Finn pats my shoulder.
I sniffle. “I guess it doesn’t matter now since my grand gesture for him was a total fail.”
“What grand gesture?”
I give him a brief summary of the live video on Penelope’s Instagram where I declared my love for Callum, hoping that he’d hear about it over social media and reach out to me.
A bewildered look flashes across Finn’s face. “I doubt Callum has even seen it.”
“How do you know that?”
“A couple of the volunteers at the animal clinic in Paia quit, so we’ve been helping out there when we’re not at the food truck. Even I haven’t had a chance to keep up with all the social media happenings, and that’s part of my job for Hungry Chaps. And if I missed out on it, Callum certainly has. He’s pretty much been working from sunup until bedtime this past week. This is our first day off in a while actually.”
My head spins at this influx of new information. If what Finn says is true, if Callum really has been too busy to see my grand gesture, then I may still have a chance.
“He’s home right now. You should go see him.” There’s a glimmer in Finn’s eye, like he knows that despite his reassuring words, the only way I can be completely sure is to hear it from Callum.
He turns to Grace, and they wave good-bye.
The tiniest sliver of hope bursts inside of me. If Finn’s so sure about this, maybe I should believe him.
I take off in a jog to my car and head for Callum’s condo. With each mile I clock, my breath quickens. I speed along the road, takingeach turn and sharp corner like I’m a deranged race car driver. It’s not reckless driving; it’s purposeful. I’ve got a man to declare my love for. I ease my foot off the gas pedal when I reach ten miles past the speed limit. I highly doubt that if I were pulled over for speeding, the officer would care for my excuse of breaking the law in the name of love. I can just imagine the eye roll before the officer sternly scrawls my ticket.
I dial it back to the speed limit and take a deep breath. My heart is racing, my hands are clammier than ever, and I’m gripping onto my steering wheel like I’m trying to strangle it.
When I pull up to his street, I force myself to take another deep breath. I spot his car in the driveway, and my heartbeat takes on a frenzied pace. Should I blurt “I love you” when I see him? Should I start off with a calm and casual, “Hello, how are you?” instead? Should I run up and kiss him first?
“It’s okay,” I coach myself with a whisper. The thundering in my chest and all my warring thoughts come to a halt. The words will come to me when I see him.
