Page 17 of Fever Dream
It’s impossible to miss the girls hovering nearby, nor the whispered stares directed the way of the three guys. I am shielded by my treasured anonymity but even I start attracting interested glances and can only assume that’s due to the pulling power of the guy at my side. Unfortunately for me, the attention seems to be entirely female, so I know I’m out of luck for tonight.
Casey finally seems to notice our attention too because he grins conspiratorially before he sidles closer. “So, what’s yourtype?” he asks, head cocked in the direction of the nearest group of girls.
“I don’t think I really have a type,” I lie, not about to admit that my type is Casey Calloway to a T.
“Really?” he asks, lower lip stuck out in a pout that is way cuter than it has any right to be.
“I’ve never really been a hookup kind of guy,” I admit, this part at least not a lie despite my earlier plans for the night. But that was out of sheer desperation rather than something I really like to do.
“Huh,” Casey mulls, far too interested in my answer. “So, you’re more of a relationship kind of guy?”
“Something like that.”
“Not like you can talk, Callie,” Sonny butts in, kicking Casey under the table. “When was the last time you hooked up?”
Casey squirms in his seat and I am suddenly all ears, far too interested in his answer than I should be.
“So I’m not a hookup kind of guy either,” he shrugs. “Sue me.”
“Yeah, except you’re also not a relationship guy. So where does that leave you?” Sonny chides. “All alone at night with just your right hand for company.”
“I just have standards,” Casey huffs. “And girls have never really been part of the plan. And for the record, I’m a left hander.”
“Part of what plan?” I hear myself asking before I can stop.
Sonny barks out another laugh. “Oh Casey and hisplans. I’m telling you, Harrison, he used to have this big whiteboard back at home with a list of goals. Pretty sure number ten was ‘be the best footballer in the universe’.Basically, if it wasn’t written on the giant whiteboard he slept under every night, manifesting it into existence, he’s not interested.”
“Really?”
“So what if I have aspirations,” Casey returns. He sounds a little defensive, but I have no issues with Casey’s plans. Especially if they’ve left him no time for girls.
“I think it’s great to have aspirations,” I say, quietly enough just for him to hear. He glances up at me, the first hint of vulnerability I’ve ever seen on him in those beautiful eyes.
“It’s not that I don’t want to settle down one day,” he admits just for me. “It’s just not part of the plan while I’m in this phase of my career.”
“You absolutely do not have to justify yourself to me, Case. I think it’s admirable.”
“Admirable or not,” Sonny cuts in, taking a long sip before rising to his feet. “I have zero issues with hooking up. If you’ll excuse me.”
“Ditto,” Izak grins, following behind Sonny before they’re welcomed enthusiastically by the girls at the nearby table. Leaving me alone at our booth with just Casey and his big, blue-green eyes.
“If youdidwant to hookup,” he says, biting down on his lower lip, “just know that I’m not going to stand in your way.”
I’m momentarily speechless as I get lost in his eyes. I swallow around the shards in my throat and take a sip of my drink, forcing my gaze away from him.
“Well, I agreed to come out for a drink withyou,” I say instead. “I’m not here to hook up with some random.”
The smile he gives me is hard to describe but it hits his eyes, and I feel an extremely unwelcome whoosh shoot through my stomach. This is not good. Not good at all. Unrequited lust is one thing. Anything beyond that is just a raging red danger zone.
“It’s not that I don’t like sex,” he continues, unaware he is short circuiting my brain. “I’m just not obsessed with it like everyone else seems to be.”
That’s because you haven’t had sex with me.
But that’s not what I say out loud of course. Instead I say, “That’s fine too. You do know there’s no such thing as normal.”
He sputters a laugh. “That’s good to hear cos if you ever took a peek inside my brain you’d find it’s far from normal.”
“Normal is overrated.”
