“I thought I was perfect,” Mark said with a whistle, walking into the gazebo and dropping a bag of sandwiches at their feet. He leaned down and gave Samantha a kiss and situated himself across from them on the grass.
“You’re annoying. Callum is perfect.”
“I can take these craft service sandwiches away if that’s what you want,” Mark taunted.
Callum reached out and snatched the bag, grateful for a change of topic. “Don’t you dare. Your girlfriend is trying to get me drunk on wine in a cemetery.”
“It’s easy to let the blonde hair and blue eyes fool you, but she really is a menace.”
Samantha flipped Mark off and took a long, dramatic drink of her wine.
Callum unwrapped a sandwich and crumpled the wrapper, tucking it between the bend in his leg so it didn’t blow away.
“So, I was telling Callum that Ian was abusive,” Samantha picked up right where she’d left off.
Callum sighed and set the sandwich on his knee.
“Well, obviously,” Mark agreed.
“He has a new boyfriend,” Samantha continued.
“Ian?”
“No, Callum.”
“You what?” Mark directed his shocked expression toward Callum. “Since when?”
“April,” he answered, managing to interject himself into a conversation that was about him anyway.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Mark pushed.
“I’m afraid it’s not serious.”
“He moved across the country to be with him,” Samantha added.
“What’s his name?” Mark prodded, taking a huge bite of one of the sandwiches.
“Jack,” he whispered, the name sending a tingle through his spine.
“And this Jack moved to LA for you?” Mark asked.
“He says he did.”
“Well, did he or not?”
“I don’t fucking know, dude, okay? He came out here, but he’s, like, not wanting to bewith mewith me. He’s looking for an apartment of his own and stuff.”
“That sounds pretty normal and respectful to me,” Mark offered.
“Very much not like Ian,” Samantha chimed in.
Callum chewed on his thumbnail.
Jack wasn’t Ian. Rationally, Callum knew this. Jack wasn’t the asshole Callum had gone out with the night before he set up his online profile, and Jack wasn’t anyone he had ever known before. Realistically, Jack wasn’t like anyone he’d ever know again.
“He’s really handsome,” Callum muttered, a blush creeping into his cheeks.
“More,” Samantha demanded.
