Chapter 29 - Evania #2
My heart was racing, and judging by the way he held me, I wasn’t the only one affected.
The kiss stretched longer than I had expected when I first pulled him toward me. What had started as a sudden impulse slowly turned into something slower, heavier, the kind of moment that made time feel like it was moving differently.
Eventually, I pulled back.
Not because I wanted to.
But because breathing had become necessary.
I stayed where I was for a moment, my forehead nearly brushing his as I tried to collect my thoughts. My lips still tingled, and my chest rose and fell a little faster than normal. I just stared at him, trying to process what had just happened.
That kiss had been… dangerously hot.
The kind of hot that made my brain short-circuit for a moment.
Callahan studied my face carefully, his hand lingering at the back of my neck for a second longer before slowly falling away. His expression carried that familiar mix of curiosity and quiet amusement, as if he were trying to figure out what had just possessed me.
“What,” he asked slowly, “was that for?”
I blinked at him like he had asked a ridiculous question.
“I need a reason to kiss my husband now?” I muttered.
One corner of his mouth lifted.
“Not at all,” he said calmly. “I was just wondering how I can request more kisses like that in the future.”
I looked away toward the windshield, pretending that my heart didn’t skip a beat at his words.
“No need to put in a request,” I said casually. “You’ve already unlocked unlimited kisses.”
His chuckle filled the car. The sound was warm, low, and entirely too distracting. Before he could say anything else, I waved vaguely toward the steering wheel.
“Let’s go home. I need to catch up on the period Chinese drama I’ve been watching.”
There was a brief pause. Then he laughed. Not just a small laugh either. A full one.
I turned toward him with a small glare. “What?”
“You just dragged me into a kiss like that,” he said, still clearly amused, “and now you’re thinking about a drama series.”
“It’s a very good drama series. Zhang Linghe is giving his best performance yet.”
“I’m sure he is.”
He leaned across the center console then, reaching toward the seatbelt beside my shoulder. The movement brought him closer again, his arm brushing lightly against mine as he pulled the belt across my chest.
Click.
He fastened it securely, then gave it a small tug to make sure it was in place. The small gesture made something warm settle in my chest.
“Comfortable?” he asked as he buckled his own seatbelt.
“Yes.”
Ready to go home and ignore me while you watch television?”
I smiled sweetly. “Of course.”
He shook his head, unable to hide his amusement, before finally starting the car.
The engine hummed to life, and moments later, we were pulling away from my parents’ house. For a little while, we drove in comfortable silence.
Streetlights slid past the windows as the car moved steadily through the evening traffic. My thoughts drifted back to dinner, replaying the chaos and laughter that seemed to follow my family wherever we went.
Eventually, Callahan glanced over at me.
“You know,” he said thoughtfully, “I probably should have known your family would be as unpredictable as you are.”
I turned toward him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he said dryly, “You married me. That should have been my first clue.”
I laughed. “That’s fair.”
“Your brother nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Oh, please,” I said. “You handled him just fine.”
“Did I?”
“You did. To be fair, we’re all a little unpredictable.”
“A little?” he repeated.
“Okay,” I admitted. “Very unpredictable.”
He shook his head. “I should have seen it coming.”
“Honestly,” I said with a small shrug, “it all comes from our grandparents.”
He glanced over briefly. “Really?”
I nodded. “Completely their fault.”
“How so?”
“My grandmother once convinced my grandfather to sell his car so they could spontaneously travel across three countries.”
Callahan blinked. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
“And he agreed?”
“He adored her,” I said simply.
Callahan smiled faintly at that.
“And the other set of grandparents?”
“Even worse.”
“That’s impressive.”
“They met because she accidentally stole his suitcase at the airport.”
“Accidentally? Or was it all a part of her plan?”
“We’ll never know.”
“You look awfully happy.”
“I am,” I grinned, not mentioning that it was his earlier confession that made me feel this way.
I was halfway through braiding the last section of my hair when the bedroom door opened.
The soft click of it closing again made me glance up briefly, but I didn’t stop what I was doing.
My attention returned to the mirror across the room as I twisted the braid and secured the end.
Behind me, Callahan moved quietly through the room.
I could hear the faint rustle of the comforter being pulled back and the soft thud of his phone landing on the nightstand.
By the time I finished tucking the braid in place, the mattress dipped slightly as he climbed into bed.
I reached for my satin bonnet from the nightstand. Just as I shook it open, I felt his eyes on me.
“I’ve been meaning to ask why you wear that every night?”
I glanced over my shoulder. Callahan was leaning against the headboard, his expression slightly puzzled as he watched me.
“This?” I lifted the bonnet slightly. “It’s a bonnet.”
“Okay?” he said, still frowning faintly. “I don’t get it.”
I paused for a second before pulling it over my head.
“It protects my hair,” I said simply, adjusting the elastic so it sat comfortably.
He watched me for another moment, clearly processing that answer.
“Protects it from what?” he asked.
I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my lips. I turned toward him fully, settling back against the pillows.
“From friction. Cotton pillowcases dry out my hair and cause breakage. The satin keeps moisture in.”
He was quiet for a moment, absorbing that. Then he asked, completely seriously, “Do I need to tell Emily to do the same?”
I just stared at him. My brain stalled on the question. Emily. It took me a moment to realize what he meant, and that was when it clicked.
My husband had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, because he had clearly never encountered it before. I felt something shift in my understanding of him as the realization settled quietly into place. Callahan had never dated a black woman before.
That was the only explanation for the confusion written plainly across his face.
I briefly wondered how I hadn’t noticed it sooner. But then again, my not noticing meant it wasn’t a big deal for him. So I wouldn’t make it into one either.
“No,” I said. “You don’t need to tell her that. We have different hair types.”
Understanding slowly crossed his expression. “Oh.”
He didn’t say anything else after that, but the thoughtful look lingered on his face for a few seconds before he leaned back more comfortably against the headboard. I reached for the remote and turned on the television.
The familiar opening music of my Chinese drama filled the room as the episode loaded.
Callahan glanced at the screen, then back at me. “Are we still watching The Story of Kunning Palace?”
I settled into the pillows, pulling the blanket up slightly as the episode began. “Yes.”
He watched the screen for a moment as the characters appeared, speaking rapidly in Mandarin while the subtitles scrolled across the bottom.
“I don’t understand how you keep up with that,” he admitted.
“You read the subtitles,” I said matter-of-factly.
“I’m trying," he grumbled. "It seems like a lot of work.”
“It’s really not.”
On screen, the female lead was confronting the male lead in what appeared to be an emotional argument. Callahan watched silently for about ten seconds. “Is she crying?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He’s trying to get close to her, but she’s still hung up on the past.”
“What happened in the past?”
I glanced at him. “You’re asking a lot of questions for someone who claimed he didn’t want to watch this.”
“I’ve lost my wife to this series almost every night,” he pulled me to him, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I’d rather we enjoy it together, so please tell me how he messed up.”
I sighed as I paused the episode to give him a rundown of everything that happened. If he weren’t so sweet, I would have ignored him, but he was right. It would be nice to enjoy the series with him.