“What? Girls?” I growl. “Really, Callum? I’m running late. Help me!”
He laughs. “All right, all right. Did you check the spare bedroom?”
“Yes, but that room is a mess. I’ve been going through boxes and trying to sort through things, and I think I made it worse. Percy barely even goes in there anymore because it’s so cluttered.”
“It’s cluttered because I’ve awakened a beast, and you won’t stay out of the thrift shops.”
“Hush! You love that Canadian whiskey lava lamp, and you know it!” Okay, so maybe I went a little overboard with that one, but I’m not admitting that to him. “Can you think of anywhere else? I’ve checked the living room and our bedroom already.”
There’s a pause on the other end, and it takes me a moment to understand why.Our.I saidourbedroom, not his. It just slipped out, and I didn’t even notice it. I think it was because it felt so natural to say. It’s funny how, after all the time and distance between us, we so easily slip back into who we were before everything fell apart.
“Come on,” I say, moving on and acting like it’s no big deal. “Help me, or I will accidentally let it slip to Rory that you wish you could go on more Boy Dates with Lawson—justLawson.”
I swear I can hear his teeth grinding.
“You are an evil, evil woman, Chloe Lynn Keller.”
I smile at hearing my full name. “I always liked it when you called me Chloe.”
“You like it better when I call you Clover.”
He’s right. I do.
“I do not. Now, where’s the key,Callum?”
He laughs at the emphasis I put on his name, likely thinking back to when I used to do it all the time in college. “I don’t know where the little weasel put it, but I think there’s a spare in the drawer next to the fridge.”
“Please be there, please be there, please be there,” I chant as I make my way across the apartment.
“You okay?”
“Huh? Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. You sound a bit nervous.”
“I do?”
I hadn’t realized I did, but it’s not surprising. My stomach has been in knots all morning, and I couldn’t pinpoint why.Being nervous for today makes sense, and of course Callum would catch on to that.
“I guess I am a little,” I admit. I don’t know why, though. I’ve hung out with them before, and they’ve all been so nice. Maybe it’s me hanging on to some old feelings from a long time ago.
“Don’t be. You’re going to have fun, and you’re going to look gorgeous in whatever dress you buy.”
“You want me to send you a picture?”
“Nah, surprise me. Plus, I fear if you send me a photo, I’ll get a boner, and I really don’t need that to happen on the golf course.”
“Dude! Keller just said he has a boner! It was that last swing, wasn’t it?”
The unmistakable voice of Lawson in the background makes me laugh, and I can just picture Callum dropping his head back on a sigh and giving his teammate a murderous look.
“Shut the fuck up, Lawsy! I swear I’ll club you with your putter!” He lets out a slew of cuss words before saying, “If the Serpents weren’t playing so damn well, I would request a trade.”
His words are nothing but a lie. He loves his team and Lawson, too, even if he won’t admit it.
“Did you find the key, Clover?”
Oh shit, I almost forgot about looking for it. I yank open the drawer, and items go flying. He wasn’t kidding about it being a junk drawer. There are so many random things in here, from chargers to batteries that probably aren’t even good, a pocketknife, and so many restaurant menus it’s not even funny.
