Page 67 of My Song for You
After disposing of the condom, I curled my body around hers and kissed her shoulder.
As I cuddled with her, a realization hit—I was fucked.
Purely and simply fucked.
And not necessarily in a good way, if my heart had anything to say about it.
Chapter 28
Jared
Once Callie was asleep, I slipped out of her bed, careful not to wake her.
Ever since my relationship with Alexis, I’d pretty much kept my distance from the dating scene. Yes, there had been Lisa, a girl I’d dated for a month, who was responsible for Nolan and me becoming friends. And then there was Tiffany. But otherwise I hadn’t bothered.
I’d thought my heart was safe. The occasional screwing of random women didn’t put it at risk. Even with Tiffany, it had never been at risk. We were too different.
But somehow things felt the opposite with Callie, and I had no idea why. Sure, she was a friend. Sure, she was the one who had been looking after my son for all these years. Sure, she was sexy as hell and didn’t realize it. But bit by bit, Callie had become a major part of my life and I had no idea what to do about it.
I returned to my apartment, but for the first time since Nolan moved out to live with Hailey, the space felt lonely and unwelcoming.
I needed a pet.
Maybe a nice fish.
After watching TV for a while, I finally crashed in bed. The sun was streaming through the blinds when I woke up a few hours later. At first I had no idea where I was, as dreams of a naked Callie paraded through my head. With a morning wood to rival all others, I reached out to her side of the bed to discover that not only was it empty, the sheets were cool.
I opened my eyes and disappointment greeted me at the sight of my furniture. My queen-sized bed. The bookshelf. The nightstand. The dark green armchair Mom had given me after she and Dad bought a new one. My favorite guitar in the corner. Notebooks, pencils, blank sheet music spread out on the floor, waiting for my muse to strike.
Band practice wasn’t for four more hours. Even though I usually went for a run as soon as I got up in the morning, I had the sudden urge to play around with a song I’d been working on. I picked up my guitar, not bothering to take the time to shower first. I’d long since learned that when the creative urge hit, you didn’t ignore it to do something else first.
But instead of the song I’d been working on, lyrics for a different one seeped into my head. I didn’t doubt for a second who the inspiration was behind these words—I just didn’t get why I couldn’t get her out of my head.
I’d been working for two hours when the creative flow decided to pack it up for the morning, replaced by a restlessness I hadn’t experienced since bumping into Callie and Logan at the grocery store. I pulled on my running shorts and T-shirt and finally hit the road. I ran long and hard, but it still wasn’t enough. All I could think about was Callie, about the taste of her and how she responded to my touch. All I could think about was how much I missed her.
I returned home an hour later, panting and drenched with sweat—but with a plan. Callie and I were seeing where things were headed between us, and how we worked together when it came to Logan. There were no expectations, which I was more than fine with, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t cook her dinner. She and Logan had to eat. It was the least I could do.
I called Callie at work to tell her I wanted to spend the day with Logan. Sharon had returned to looking after him again while Callie was at the diner, but until I was back on tour, I wanted to spend more time with him.
“Do you want to pick him up from preschool?” she asked breathlessly. In the background, the clatter of dishes and someone calling out an order to the cook could be heard.
I told her yes, and she promised to call Sharon to tell her the new plan. “I’m sure she won’t complain,” she said. “Some of her friends attend a local aquacise class, and now she can join them.”
I had no idea what that meant, but as long as I got to spend more time with my son, I didn’t care.
“See you later” was all Callie had time for before she ended the call—and I was left missing the sound of her voice.
I arrived at Logan’s preschool. Tony showed up a minute later. “Just the guy I wanted to talk to,” he said. He didn’t have a chance, though, to tell me what he wanted to talk to me about, as just then the kids filed out of their classroom, and Logan rushed over to me and gave me a big hug.
“Hey, big guy,” I said. “You want to hang out with me until your mom gets off work?”
“Yes!”
“I have band practice, but Hailey’s going to bring Rocky to visit after we’re done.”
His face lit up, as it always did at the mention of the puppy.
Outside, Tony and I watched the boys climb the slide ladder, huge smiles on their faces.
