We made it through the front nine, busting each other’s balls like usual, talking about work and the various cases we had, and mundane details of our personal lives.
By hole thirteen, I was four strokes ahead.
“When’s the next poker night at Luke’s?” Chad asked.
“Not sure. He’s got girl stuff going on.”
Chad often tagged along with me to Lucas’s house once a month or so when he hosted poker nights, but Lucas had been a tadpreoccupiedlately. A few weeks ago, he and Callie actually talked, and now that they were on decent terms again, he was working toward getting back into more than just her good graces.
“Girl stuff, huh?” Chad snorted.
“Yeah. I know that’s a hard department for you to understand.”
“Please, I had three dates just last week.”
“We’ve been over this, Chad. Dinner with your mom and grandma doesn’t count as dates.”
“Fuck off,” he said with a chuckle. “And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You haven’t made one comment about your conquests in order to rub them in my face, which is a bit unusual for you. Is the great Wesley Callahan lacking in that arena?”
“I’m not lacking foranything, thank you very much.” The lie rolled effortlessly off my tongue.
The truth was, my sex life was absoluteshit.
It had been a month since my two nights of quickies with Morgan. She said it wouldn’t happen again, and while I joked about it at the time, Iwholeheartedlyagreed. And we’d stuck to that. We went back to our usual bickering and pissing each other off. You wouldn’t even know something untoward happened between us. Which was fine. It was nothing more than two random and impulsive quick fixes that, like she said, shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
Afterward, however, I fell right back into my damn slump. I’d go out. I’d flirt. I’d make conversation. And that’s exactly where it wouldend. I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with me. Maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough, that a part of me had become a little too conditioned and comfortable in my abilities, and I just needed to put in a bit more effort.
Or perhaps Blake was right, and I’d simplylost my touch.
No. I refused to believe that. I was Wes Callahan. It was impossible for me to lose my touch.
I just…hit a rough patch. I’d snap back. I’d be back on my game soon enough. Ineededto be. Because since Morgan was my last, it washerI thought about every single fucking time I went home alone.
It was her rose scent that I could still smell.
It was the feel of her skin beneath my hands that I remembered.
It was the image of her coming undone that I envisioned.
It was the sound of her breathy whimpers and moans that I heard.
Andthatwas simply unacceptable.
Chapter 11
I walkedaround downtown Bayport with Callie, going from shop to shop. Two weeks into December might seem like procrastinating to some for Christmas shopping, but I didn’t have many people to buy for. My parents, Brody, Avery, Wyatt, Leah, Callie, and Gabe were the most important, and they were all relatively easy.
For my parents, my brothers and I decided to go a more lighthearted and fun route this year, chipping in to recreate ridiculous nineties-style family portraits of the three of us. We had an appointment scheduled for next week with a previous client of mine whose photography studio I helped design.
Wyatt, Brody, and I started buying gag gifts for each other when I started college, so that was simple enough for me to find something stupid for them. And Avery and Leah were both easy to shop for—a bottle of their favorite perfume and wine and some sort of small sentimental gift for each for being my honorary sisters and putting up with my idiot brothers.
I already purchased matching permanent bracelets for Callieat a local jewelry shop in Bayport. I had the appointment set for us to get them put on two days after Christmas.
As for Gabe, I didn’t have any ideas yet. He was both difficult and easy to shop for. Difficult in the sense that he never dropped hints about anything he wanted, but easy in the sense that no matter what I got him, he’d be more than grateful. I could buy the guy a sheet of stamps, and he’d act like it was the greatest gift he’d ever received. So, for him, it was just a matter of finding something meaningful that he’d both enjoy and could use.
