41. Callie
Chapter 41
Callie
My ride home with Adam has been silent. I can’t say I hate it. I’m not exactly in the mood to talk, but the fact that I left Will alone with Adam and came back only to find my brother waiting…
It wasn’t what I had hoped to see, but I’m trying not to jump to any major conclusions. When I asked where Will went, Adam just shrugged and said he needed to go. What the hell did that mean?
Finally, riding up the elevator to our floor, I muster the courage to ask some questions. “So, did you tell Will to leave?”
Adam turns to me with a sigh. “No, I didn’t.”
Okay, that doesn’t help me much. I swallow before asking, “Are you mad at me?”
“Fuck no.” Adam laughs. “Cals, I haven’t said anything because I thought you needed some time to process. I’ve known about you and Will before you guys even knew. I might not have been the best brother, but I’m not blind.”
Part of me wants to feel relieved that he genuinely seems fine with it, but also slightly annoyed because Will was right about Adam knowing from the beginning.
“So, you’re okay with this? I might lose my job, Adam. I know you pushed for me to get it, but even if they don’t fire me…if Olsson says I have to break up with Will to keep it, then I’m quitting. I love the job and I’m grateful for it, but it’s not worth losing him.”
With that declaration out in the open the elevator dings at our floor. Stepping out I look down my hallway then back to Adam. “I know you said you were proud of me and if this changes things, I’m sorry, but?—
“Callie.” Adam puts his hands on my shoulders. “It’s okay. Fuck the job. I want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy.”
Pulling my brother into my version of a bear hug, I fight back the tears. “ We both deserve to be happy, Adam.”
Adam huffs a small laugh. “We will be. You just go get your happiness first for me, okay?”
Stepping back, I wipe the tear that escaped. “I don’t even know where Will went.”
“I don’t think he’s gone far.” Adam squeezes my shoulder. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”
I give Adam a small nod before turning to walk to my place. I hesitate in front of Will’s door for a moment but then I hear banging coming from my apartment. When the noise stops, I wait outside my own door until I hear it again.
“What the—” I mutter as I swing my door open and find Will walking to me with a hammer in his hand and a spare nail in his mouth. Damn, if today hadn't been an absolute clusterfuck of a day I might have jumped him from this look alone.
“Hey Blaze,” Will mumbles before taking the nail out of his mouth and stepping toward me. “Close your eyes.”
My eyes close immediately upon his request but he didn’t say anything about being quiet. “What, why?”
I hear him lay down the hammer and nails, and when his hand takes mine, I jump for a second. “Callie, baby, relax, I?—”
“No, I will not relax when you leave me after a very emotional day,” I huff, still keeping my eyes closed. I probably shouldn’t be so irritated, but he left without a word.
“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Will’s hand cups my cheek with a soft caress. “Can I show you something?”
I nod and he links his fingers through mine. “I would ask how you got in here, but I already know the answer.”
Will chuckles softly as he pulls me to what I’m pretty sure is my living room. “Yeah, thanks to that, it made my grand gesture a little easier to pull off.”
What? “Grand?—”
“Open your eyes, Callie.”
At first I’m a little scared too, but when Will squeezes my hand I open them to find my wall full of pictures of us. Some look like blown up versions of our Polaroids from our date and some are ones of Will that I’ve taken over the last month.
“I—Will…how…what…” I fumble words as I take them all in.
“I started going through our Polaroids during Spring Training. I knew I wanted to do something special with them, so I sent a couple off to get scanned and resized. The pictures of me are obviously one’s you took, but I feel it’s important to note that they are all ones of me looking at you.”
Walking up to the wall I look over every picture he hung up. The ones of us together and the ones where he’s smiling at me.
Will wraps his arms around me and I rest my head back on his chest. “I knew I wanted these hung up the day that we told Olsson about us. I must’ve had some sixth sense or something because when I kicked my sisters out this morning it was to get these.”
A happy tear slides down my face as I look at the photos in front of me. “I love them. Thank you,” I whisper.
Will spins me around and cups my face. “Callie, I know this wasn’t our plan, and I know today was stressful, but selfishly, I don’t care. I don’t feel bad about hitting your asshole ex. I don’t care about the fines or the penalties for me because you are the only thing that I care about.
“I love you, Callie. So, if Olsson gives us an ultimatum just know that you’re the one I’m picking.”
“I love you too, Will. So much.” My lip trembles for a moment but then Will captures my mouth with his in an all-consuming kiss.
His hands thread through my hair as he pulls my face closer to deepen our kiss. God, I don’t think I’ll ever get over how he kisses. Every time it feels like some form of revival.
“I love you, Blaze.” Will repeats his declaration and even though I’m supposed to be the flame, I want to melt.
“I love you too,” I whisper back. “Wait, where are these frames going?” I ask, pointing at the stack leaned up against my couch.
“Oh, those are going up in my place.” Will steps back to the stack and takes the small one that was turned around backward. “But this one goes in your bedroom.”
Turning the frame around it’s our tamest Polaroid that we took that night where Will’s gripping my chin and kissing me.
A blush creeps up my cheeks. “Hmm, this might be one of the best pictures I’ve ever taken.”
Will leans down, picking up a new unopened pack of Polaroids. “Want to see if we can top it?”
Waking up the next morning I had hoped it would be to Will lying next to me. Instead my bed is empty and I can hear several voices in my kitchen and loud clunks of pans.
Rolling out of my bed, I throw on Will’s sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants before stumbling out to find not one, not two, but three baseball players in my kitchen. None of who are my boyfriend, mind you.
Beck’s standing over the stove with the unmistakable sound of bacon popping in his pan. My brother is stirring something in one of my mixing bowls, and Tripp is using a juicer I can only imagine he brought with him for homemade orange juice.
“What the hell is going on?”
All of the guys' heads whip to me with an overzealous cheer of my name. My face must show every bit of confusion I feel because Adam walks over to me with a chuckle. “Will called us, thought you might need a distraction.”
My heart skips a beat. “A distraction from what? Where is he?”
Adam sighs. “He went to talk to Olsson.”