Murder fuck buddies.Mentor and mentee.Soon-to-be roommates.Though she hadn’t actually given him an answer on that.Their relationship was far too complicated and multifaceted to fit into one label.
“I’d love to come,” Fink announced loud enough for Cassidy and Hauwa to hear.
Her eyes widened.Mr.Ultra-Private wanted to attend a holiday with her?
“Is that—” Cassidy gasped on the other end.“You’re with him now?”
“A man?”Hauwa commented.“She got rid of the wench?Thank you, Jesus.”
Sydney couldn’t help but chuckle hearing her former foster mother’s comment about her ex-girlfriend.Hauwa never liked Brooke.Cassidy, true to form, made the best of things and played nice.Sydney was convinced Cassidy hadn’t met a person she didn’t enjoy.She found the best in everyone.Even if they didn’t see it in themselves.
Including Sydney.
“Last year.”She sighed.“We’ve been broken up for a while.”
“I’maware,” Cassidy grumbled.“I told her that.She just forgets sometimes.”
“What is his name?”Hauwa asked.“For the place card.”
“F—”
“Callum,” Fink interrupted.“My name is Callum.”
Again, she stared at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed.His name was Callum?Since when?
“He sounds lovely,” Cassidy said as the doorbell rang.“Gotta go, sweetie.See you in two weeks.”
The call ended, but Sydney’s gaze stuck on Fink or Callum.Whatever his name was.
Should she be offended?He withheld that name from her when she asked.All he gave her was the nickname, but for her foster mothers, he let it fly.No problem.That felt insulting.
“Callum?”she asked.
He nodded.
Wait.There was a chance he’d lied.She should pump the brakes before she took umbrage.“How did you come up with that?”
Hadn’t he asked her the same question about her own moniker?Turnabout was fair play.
He furrowed his brows.“What do you mean?”
“That’s not a common name.If I were giving a fake one, I’d use something like Mike or Tom.”
He chuckled.“Why would I do that?”
“You didn’t tell me when I asked.”She got closer to being offended.
He shrugged.“You know it now.”
“So, your reallegalname is Callum?”This felt way more monumental than him asking her to move in with him.While both were enormous gestures, this was far more personal.
“Callum Patrick Rafferty,” he announced, full of pride and using a horrendous Irish accent.“Aka Fink.”
Slouching in her seat, she was in awe of him.Most people learned their lover’s names immediately.If they cared to.Fink had denied her that initially.
Not now, though.He opened up to her.Not only had he invited her into his fortress of solitude, but he had told her hisactual real name.This was serious.Far more important than she ever expected.
“I guess you were telling the truth when you said you were Irish?”she asked, gesturing to the large tattoo on his neck.
