“I’m Rhiannon, childhood friend of this asshole who now lives in London.” She grinned. “You must be Alejandra. I’m so happy to meet an Olympic medalist!”
“Nice to meet you too.” Alejandra laughed, caught off guard but warmed by the welcome.
Rhiannon was hilarious, pouring them beers on the house while Callum waved to familiar faces and introduced her as “a friend.” Though with their hands laced together, it was obvious she was something more, and yet they hadn’t talked about it. And she wasn’t sure when was the right time. Apparently, the road trip was their first date. Were they still on that first date? Sometimes she wondered why she was so terrible in expressing her emotions. Why didn’t she learn from Sofia? Even though with Ilias she needed a push, she wore her heart on her sleeve. But Alejandra no, she wore her pussy on her sleeve, and that’s why she had bonded with Callum through sex and now she was deep into the “I’m falling in love with this guy and I don’t know how to handle it.” Or maybe she did, she was just scared of… She frowned. What was she scared of? He was perfect. Maybe she should bring up the subject herself. A mind spinning kiss from him stopped her spiraling brain and reminded her that worrying wasn’t doing her any good. Callum had showed her in many ways how he cared about her. A label wasn’t going to change anything even though…Yeah, maybe she’d like to be his girlfriend.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” she whispered in his ear, barely audible above the music. Too many beers and too much water.
He nodded, giving her a soft smile, and squeezing her ass as she left.This man.
When she came back, after a long line in which apparently the entirety of the female tenants of the pub needed to pee at her exact same time, a woman was practically draped over Callum, whispering something into his ear.
Her very competitive personality threatened to push her forward and push that woman far away from him. But the crowd helped slow down her pace. She studied his expression. It said everything she needed to know—he wasn’t happy. He kept puttingdistance between them, as she clawed at his neck to whisper something in his ear.
The woman wore a sleek suit far too polished for a Welsh pub, her hair perfectly styled, and she was far too close to him for Alejandra’s comfort.
“Hello?” Alejandra said, stepping forward. Trying to be calm and collected, but wanting to mark the territory. She hadn’t almost lost her life at Pipeline to have the only good thing happening to her lately been swiped away from her by a clingy—and clearly drunk—woman. “I think you’re draped over the wrong man.”
The woman turned, eyes scanning her with a very judgemental look. Callum immediately stood and guided the woman to his stool, putting space between himself and the stranger.
“He’s mine,” the woman slurred.
Definitely drunk.
“Is he now?” Alejandra tilted her head, but Callum’s hand wrapped around her shoulders. “She’s my ex. Let’s go.”
“Are you sure?” Alejandra asked softly, eyes on his.
“Yeah. I—let’s go down to the beach. Is that okay?” He looked extremely tense, like the interaction didn’t sit right with him as much as it didn’t sit right with her.
“Sure,” she said, smiling. “Let’s go.”
“He was mine!” the woman screamed as they exited the pub.
Callum’s shoulders were tight as they walked down the quiet street. The noise from the pub was far away now, just the sound of the waves crushing on the shore down to the beach lulling them. It somehow felt reassuring, that sound that she had missed dearly in her days in London. She had never realized how addicted it was, how it was like her North Star, her constant companion wherever she was in the world.
“You okay?” she asked, glancing up to see his jaw clenched under the stubble.
“Yeah. Sorry about Vanessa.” He sighed. “Didn’t expect to run into her. She must’ve found out I was home and guessed right with me being at Rhiannon’s pub.”
“Want to tell me a little about her?”
“She’s not important,” he said. “She hasn’t been for the past five years. We were engaged, and then she broke up with me because I wasn’t enough in the political world.” He paused, as they kept strolling towards the beach. “She’s a far-right politician. As I told you, we met at Harvard. We knew each other from Aber but we never actually interacted. She helped me through the injury, and then we outgrew each other.”
“How long were you together?”
“Ten years.”
“That’s a lot.” Considering her longest relationship was a year long. That was fucking long, which worried her a little. Could she spend ten years, let alone the rest of her life with someone when her past relationships had been…horrible?
“I know.” Then he added, “But she doesn’t matter.”
Alejandra nodded, but didn’t speak. Her mind spiralled slightly. She had seen how hard Sofia had suffered from Thomas’ betrayal after eight years together. Ten years was a lot of shared past. Would she be able to replicate that?
Callum stopped suddenly, turned, and cupped her face in his hands. “Alejandra. I need you to understand this.” His forehead rested against hers, his voice barely above a whisper. “Now that I know what this could be, whatwecould be…” He exhaled shakily. “I can’t go back to that. I wantyou.I want more than friendship. I want you to be my girlfriend. I want us to be endgame. Because with you, I feel good—not just the sex, but everything. I feel like I’m home.”
Her heart raced like never before. Not even after winning the Olympic medal. It felt good to look into those blue eyes and see a promise she needed, a declaration she had been wanting but scared to ask. He seemed sincere. Callum had never given her a chance to doubt him. In reality, she was the one who gave him plenty of reasons to doubt this—to doubt her. It was Alejandra who insisted on the no contact bullshit. It was her career driven mind and what if's about her injury that showed him over and over where her focus and priorities were. Alejandra could have brought up all of this, but the words that slipped out of her mouth were the calmest she had ever spoken.
“Okay,” she whispered to his lips, her hands on his stubbled cheeks. “Okay, Callum. I want to be your girlfriend too. I want you to be my boyfriend. I want us to be endgame.”
