Page 71 of Shattered

Everything reminded him of her. He knew he should just break down and tell her how he knew Christian. It was the right thing to do. But telling her would mean breaking someone else’s trust and the promise he had made to them. He knew she deserved to know, but he also knew that knowing would crush her. Knowing would shatter her world, and he would not be the cause of any more pain or…

“Ow!”

The customer jerked away and Callum stilled as he saw a streak of red trickle down the man's arm.

“Shit. I’m so sorry man.” Callum wiped away the evidence of his mistake as he apologized.

“Went kind of deep there.”

“Won’t happen again,” Callum promised and went back to working through the design that perfectly matched the hue of Sam’s hair.

*******

By the time he walked in the door, he was a shell of a person. His entire afternoon had been spent staring at things that reminded him of her.

Drew slid a beer over his way as he plopped down at the kitchen table.

“I have a proposal.”

“What’s that?”

Drew took a deep breath and Callum knew this was something big.

“I’m going to ask Mel to marry me.”

Callum sat straight up, smiling more broadly than he had in weeks.

“Oh, shit. That’s like a proposal-proposal.”

Drew rolled his eyes, smiling. “I know.”

“Congrats, man!” Callum reached out to shake his best friend's hand, then stood and chose to bring Drew in for a massive hug. It wasn’t every day that your best friend decided to pop the question. He quickly pulled back to find Drew’s face practically beaming with excitement. “I get to plan the bachelor party right?”

Drew laughed. “You and Micah can fight over it.”

“Duly noted.” Callum nodded his head in mock seriousness as he sat back in the chair.

“There is something else to add to that.” Drew stated with a concerned look.

Callum furrowed his brow. “Okay.”

“You’re miserable.”

Callum eyed him as he downed half the beer, wondering where this was leading.

“Thanks.”

“I’m serious. The semester is almost over and our lease is up in a few weeks. What if we let Micah know we aren’t coming back for next year and we move down to Charleston?”

“That’s quite a suggestion.”

“I’ll move in with Mel, and you can stay with us until you find somewhere to rent. She and I have been talking about moving in together anyway. And if you didn’t want to stay with us, you could stay at the house in Mount Pleasant if needed.”

Callum groaned at the suggestion.

“Don’t get all fussy. We both know you love that place, even if you feign hatred for it.”

Callum decided not to acknowledge the statement about his parents' beloved beach house. “What about Topline and Inked?”

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