Page 127 of Shattered

She wasn’t sure if that was really a thing, but she liked the sound of it.

“Next time, huh?” She pushed a strand of his hair behind his ear.

He gave her a quick and sweet kiss on her lips. “Yep. Next time.”

He turned to play with a tendril of her hair as he spoke. “That’s what my tattoo is.” She furrowed her brow in confusion and he clarified, “The one you asked about that night we went to Social. It's an architectural compass that is broken and a navigational compass that isn’t pointing north. It represents how I fucked up the path my parents laid out for me, and how I probably will never go in the right direction. I’ll never be on a path that points north.”

She waited for a moment to make sure he was finished speaking.

“Thank you for telling me. It’s truly beautiful.” She smiled. “And it makes so much more sense now.”

He laughed. “Thank you.”

“I think I’m starting to realize something, though.”

“And what is that?” he said as he pulled her closer to him.

“Maybe it doesn’t matter what path someone issupposedto take. Maybe, instead of a path, it should be called a series of turns. Some turns are good and some are bad. But sometimes taking that wrong turn may be exactly what you need to lead you in the right direction.”

He kissed her brow.

“You wouldn’t be where you are today without all those turns. Good and bad. And I guess, good or bad, I wouldn’t be where I am either.”

Callum smiled. “I have to say, I very much like where our paths are leading us now.” He pulled her in for a deep kiss.

“Me too. And I think maybe I’ll love where this path ends up,” she whispered against his lips when they finally separated. “But, I’m sorry about your brother.”

Callum flopped back to stare at the ceiling once more. “Me, too. He used to be my best friend.”

“Maybe you can get back to that one day?”

He looked back at her then. “I would like that, but I don’t know if he would. I don’t even think he would answer if I called. He may have even blocked my number by this point.”

He ran his hands over his face and she watched as his shoulders sagged into the bed.

“I also lied to you.”

Concern coated her features. “About what?”

“When I told you I don’t date. I did date. Once. And then I messed it up.”

She wasn’t sure whether to let him work out what else to say or to start asking questions. Thankfully, he started talking before she had to decide.

“Her name was Rebecca. It was the end of my sophomore year of college. She and I had been friends in highschool, but nothing more. She had a full ride to Georgia for nursing. We happened to meet up on spring break and then just hit it off. We dated for the entirety of our junior year. She ended up leaving Georgia and her friends and her scholarship to move to Columbia so we could be closer. So we could be together.” A sad smile played on his lips. “But then everything happened with Millie, and then my dad, and then Connor decided I was worthless, and…I don’t know. I kind of broke down. I broke up with her three weeks after she moved here. She moved here for me, and then I ended it, and she had nothing. I think she even had to delay graduation by a year because some of the courses didn’t switch over.”

Her fingers traced the line of his jaw. “Callum.” She wanted to tell him it was okay. That he wasn’t a bad person just because he did an inconsiderate thing when his life was falling apart.

“I just wanted you to know. I’m sorry I lied, but I just didn’t want to screw you up, too. I didn’t want to fuck up your plans like I fucked up hers.”

“You won’t. You haven’t. And you can’t really blame yourself for what happened. Sometimes good people make bad decisions. They make a wrong turn, or they do the wrong thing. But that doesn’t mean they are bad people, it just means they are human. You were going through something, and you did what you had to do at the time. I’m sure she forgives you.”

He nodded, but she could tell he didn’t really believe it.

“Have you kept up with her?”

“I snoop through her social media every now and then. She’s engaged. His name is Chad.” Callum made a gag noise and Sam laughed.

Then he turned over to face her and kissed her cheek.

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