“My name used to be Callie,” I told him.
Or, at least, one of them was.
He didn’t even twitch when I said that.
He just hit my phone screen, so I set about putting groceries away.
But I didn’t hide I was listening to every word Hutch said when he started saying them.
It started with, “No, this isn’t Callie.This is Callie’s new man.”
Callie’s new man.
Lord, Hutch had a way of making a girl shiver.
Then it went on with, “Listen, motherfucker, I don’t give a shit about anything you have to say.I’m calling because word got to my woman you’ve got your panties in a twist that the woman who scraped you off a year and a half ago has moved on.Take a fuckin’ hint, man, move on too.”
The “panties in a twist” was class.
Bryce was sure to hate that.
After that came, “You do you.And she’ll slap a restraining order on you.I know you’re scrambling hard to convince yourself you aren’t a lowdown, filthy piece of shit for what you did to your wife.You can run from that and do it hard for a long time.It doesn’t mean it isn’t gonna catch up with you.It is, because it has.You fucked up your wife’s life.You’ve fucked up your kids’ lives.Everything you touch turns to shit.And you’re gonna have to live the rest of your life understanding that.Except for Callie.She’s where she wants to be, with who she wants to be with, and you do not factor.”
There was a short pause, and then there was, “Your call.Make a fool of yourself.Waste your money.You’re already a joke.We talk about you and laugh about your ass.”
That was a lie.
But it was a good one.
Hutch went on, “We can always use a new punchline.”
And with that, he hung up.
He looked at me.
“He’s coming, isn’t he?”I asked.
“No clue.I think he might have a mental defect or a learning disability.At the very least, and I’m not tellin’ you something you don’t know, the man struggles with the skill of simply listening.”
It was my turn to smirk.“I should have just given you the phone when you first asked, because that was all kinds of epic.”
He didn’t respond to that.
He said, “I gotta train Tonks.Then I gotta get back to my dogs so I can get back to you so we can spend the night fucking.”
“Is there a lot of walking on this sanctuary tour?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to go easy on me tonight so I don’t pass out halfway through the tour and lose my cool auntie vibe in front of the kids?”
“No.”
Of course that’d be his answer.
“Do you want me to?”he asked.
Of course I didn’t.
