24. Callie
twenty-four
Callie
Eli : Good morning, princess.
I chuck the burner phone Mason set up for me across the bed. I’m not responding to his message. I refuse.
It’s been two days, and all I’ve received from him are “landed”, “good morning” and “good night” texts.
He has yet to answer any of my questions about what’s going on or to tell me when he plans to return. His lack of communication leads me to wonder what’s going to happen when he comes back.
Will things go back to the way they were before the fall, or was he telling the truth when he said things have changed?
Placing a pillow over my head, I scream my frustration into it at the top of my lungs. I’m angry, lonely, bored, and running out of patience.
I miss my mom. I miss Eli. I miss doing anything that isn’t sitting in this house alone.
Rationally, I know Eli’s busy running Blaze. His company is highly sought after, and he has some of the highest-paid and most recognizable faces in movies and music on his roster. Add in Hudson being out of town, and he has more work to contend with than usual. But the irrational part of me, the part I can’t shut up no matter how hard I try, is freaking out the longer he’s away.
What if he regrets kissing me? What if he changes his mind and thinks it’s best to keep things professional? Or what if—and this is the worst of all—he meets someone else while he’s away?
The last thought makes me sick to my stomach.
For the last two years, I’ve thought about no one else. Only Eli. The moment he laid his hand on my hip, I was his. His mark seared into my skin.
I tried pushing my feelings for him aside. I even went along with a few PR dates Silla made me attend. Beyond garnering attention and increasing my visibility, I hoped I’d find a spark with one of them.
Wrong.
Good men in Hollywood are hard to find. The men I met on those dates were shallow, egotistical assholes.
I did like one. Ian West. He’s best known for his role on the hit teen vampire show. We went out for about a month, and had a few suitable dates and talks, but that was the extent of it. He didn’t even kiss me. Ian was using me to cover up his broken heart. His ex and costar’s recent engagement to an extreme sports guy—whom she also cheated on Ian with—devastated him.
Before Ian, there was Chad James-Mitchell.
I met Chad on the set of Ella in High School. He was older and sweet. He would help me run lines and do my homework. Chad was everything a teen girl could ever dream of. He had the all-American boy next door good looks, with baby-blue eyes and long blond hair. To top it all off, Chad could sing and dance.
We flirted throughout the first two movies, and when I turned eighteen; he asked me out. Chad was my first love, my first sexual partner, my first heartbreak, and my biggest regret.
Along with the covers, I push my thoughts about the past away and head for the bathroom to take a hot shower. I turn the water on to the hottest setting and strip. Once the room is steamy, I step under the spray, enjoying the massage setting on the shower head.
Thanks to the alarmingly vast supply of Epsom salts, arnica, pain relief creams, ice packs, and heating pads in the house, only a little stiffness in my neck and bruising on my butt remain. I have to hand it to Eli’s baseball player brother; he understands what the body needs to recoup.
I lift the bottle of shampoo, and my mind drifts back to Eli. A few hours after he left, a basket of the hair and body products I love to use arrived in at the front door with a note. Callie, This scent suits you better. See you soon. -Eli
How he knows what products I use, I don’t know. But the gesture filled me with a warmth I hadn’t felt in quite some time. He cares and sees me more than he lets on.
Once I finish in the shower, I get dressed and head to the living room, where I fill my morning with yoga, stretching, dancing, playing the guitar, jotting lyrics, and anything else to keep me occupied until I give up and lie on the couch.
I don’t know how much time has passed, but when the doorbell rings, I’m startled awake from my position on the sofa. I lie as still as possible, my heart racing as icy fear slices through me. Panic has me rolling off the couch and onto the floor, hiding in case the person outside can see me inside.
“Stay safe .” Eli’s words replay in my head as I wait for whomever is here to leave.
“Callie, it’s Rylann. I’m so sorry, but this kid is pressing on my bladder, and I really have to pee. I’m coming in,” Eli’s sister-in-law shouts right before the automatic deadbolt turns with a whine and the door swings open.
I’m on the carpet, lying on my stomach, when she waddles inside in a hurry.
Her mouth falls open in surprise at my position on the floor before she bursts out laughing. “Oh, shit.” Her eyes widen and she rushes out of the room, squeezing her legs tight.
“You owe a dollar to the swear jar, Momma.”
“Bite me. I gave birth to you,” Rylann shouts from the hallway.
I look over to find Rhys standing by the door, laughing. Hopefully, he’s laughing at his mother’s foul language, not my ridiculous position on the floor.
“Hey.” I wave at him from my spot on the ground.
“What are you doing on the floor?” he asks, scrunching his nose in the most adorable way.
“Um...” I rise onto my knees, mulling over how I want to answer that. In the end, I go with a half-truth. “I was asleep on the couch and fell off when your mom rang the doorbell.”
“I’ve fallen out of bed before,” he adds nonchalantly. He makes his way into the living room as I sit on the sofa, watching him.
Rhys walks over to my guitar, sitting in the case on the coffee table. “Cool guitar.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ve never seen a purple one before.”
“It was my mom’s.”
Rhys stares at the guitar, equal parts curiosity and awe. It evokes memories of watching my mom play as she sang whatever silly song she would make up.
“Want to play it?”
“I don’t know how,” he replies, shaking his head.
“I can teach you if you like.” The suggestion slips easily as I reach over and pull the guitar from its case.
“Really?”
“Really.” I pat the seat beside me. “It’s easy once you get the hang of it, but it takes lots of practice.”
“My uncle Cam says practice makes you better.” He takes the spot next to me, an infectious smile on his face.
“Your uncle sounds smart.”
“He plays for the Evaders,” Rhys boasts, puffing out his little chest.
“I’ve heard. I also heard he’s really good too.”
“The best.” He beams at me.
“Go on and take a seat.”
Rhys sits on the sofa, his little feet dangling.
“Are you lefty or righty?”
“Righty,” he confirms, making this an even easier lesson.
“Me too.” I describe the different parts of the guitar, pointing them out as I place the instrument in his lap and rest the curve on his little thigh. “You want to hold the neck with your left hand and strum with your right. But first…” I pull the pick out of the first fret and hand it to him before showing him the chords.
He listens intently as I explain how to place his index finger on the E string on the second fret and his middle finger on the D string.
“Don’t forget to curl your fingers so you don’t touch the other strings. Now, strum.”
Rhys gently sweeps the strings with the pick in a downward motion over the sound hole. The pitch has a little too much vibration, but by the look on his face, you would think he played an entire song.
“That was great, kiddo,” I say.
“Thanks. Mom, did you hear me?”
I look up to find Rylann watching us from across the room, looking at her son like he hung the moon.
A pang hits me in the chest, squeezing tight, making me miss my mom even more.
“That was so good.” Rylann turns to me and smiles. “Thank you. You’re great with him.”
“He’s the great one. Quick learner.”
She nods and motions for me to follow her to the kitchen. “He is. And he has the uncanny ability to be good at everything he does, just like his father.”
“Eli mentioned something about Rhys really taking to baseball.” Eli spoke so highly of Rhys; I feel like I know the little guy so well already.
“He has, just like the rest of the men in this family. I must say I like it a lot better than football, but I wish Rhys stuck with soccer.”
Eli played baseball? I tuck the tidbit of information away like I’m hoarding treasure.
Rylann heads to the refrigerator and pauses. “Do you mind?”
“Please. Take whatever you need.” I take a seat at the island, and watch as she grabs two bottles of water and hands me one. “Thank you.” I twist the top off and take a sip of water as Rhys fiddles with the guitar.
His tension on the strings increases, making the tune sound better with each practiced strum.
“So, how much longer do you have in your pregnancy?” I ask, curious about the beautiful woman in front of me but also not wanting to assume she’s about ready to pop.
“Another week, give or take. I’m counting down the days until he arrives.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” She sighs, lying her hands on her stomach, a peaceful smile pulling up her lips. Rylann looks radiant, reminding me of my mom again, and I can’t help the pang of sadness that hits me.
“Are you excited?” I probe, forcing my conflicting feelings aside.
“Not as excited as my husband, but yes. This little man is baby number three.”
“Wow. That’s a lot of kids,” I mumble before I can stop the words. I slap a hand over my mouth as Rylann laughs.
“Not according to Jace,” she divulges.
“He wants more?” I swear I can feel my eyes bug out of my head at her answer.
“He’d have me give him a baseball team worth of kids if he could.”
“Holy shit, that’s crazy,” I shout.
“Callie, that’s a dollar in the swear jar,” Rhys bellows from his spot on the couch.
Rylann rolls her eyes. “Ignore him.”
I’m into Rhys’s cute game and go along with him. “Can I pay you later? I don’t have cash on me.”
“Sure. But it will cost you a dollar late fee,” he lobs back like he’s negotiated terms with multinational corporations for fun and won.
“He’s strict,” I laugh.
“He’s a pain is what he is,” she teases and looks in her son’s direction, waiting for his response, which comes through as expected.
“Heard that.”
“You were supposed to,” Rylann sings.
Rhys chuckles to himself as he continues strumming the guitar.
“Anyway, Callie, I came by to apologize.”
“For?” I ask, taking a sip of water.
“For hurting you, and I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable with my outburst about Eli bringing you home. I just thought…”
Her sentence falls off, but I understand where she was heading, so I cut her off before she continues. “No apology necessary. It was a pleasure to meet all of you. To be honest, I’m happy you’re here. I was going stir crazy being all by myself.”
“Why didn’t you call? I would have come by sooner.” Rylann pouts, but it’s good-natured and teasing, in that sweet way a mom would tease you, and it makes me feel comfortable and at ease. She’s so genuine and kind.
“Oh, well, I didn’t want to impose.” I pick at my T-shirt, slightly embarrassed.
Rylann places her hands on her hips. “Impose? You are Callie freaking Wright. Impose away.”
“Thank you.” I chuckle.
“I feel like I know you, but I don’t. It’s so weird.” She shakes her head, clearly still baffled by my presence.
It’s difficult for people to rectify the person I’ve portrayed and the real me. A lot of people I meet struggle with this. I spent my informative teen years in movies, and they watched me grow into a woman.
“Don’t worry about it. It is weird,” I assure her.
Rylann holds her swollen belly as she laughs. “You obviously get that a lot.”
“I do, but I’m used to it. I kind of like it sometimes. The people not knowing me part. It’s nice to keep some things just for me.” It is an odd thing for me to share with a stranger, but Rylann takes it in stride.
“Totally understandable.”
The doorbell rings again, stalling my heart in my chest.
“That’s just the girls.” Rylann pats my hand, placating my nerves.
“The girls?” I ask.
She bites her lip, a flash of guilt crossing her face. “That would be my best friend, Scarlett. When I told her where I was going, she invited herself over. Do you mind?”
A wash of social anxiety hits me, and Eli’s voice pops into my head, reminding me to be myself. He trusts his family, and so can I. “Not at all. The more, the merrier.”
“Good, then you won’t mind that Emery is here too.” Rylann grins at me, popping up from the stool and waddling to the door. She greets the women at the door and lets them in.
My mouth almost falls to the floor when Margot Robbie’s body double walks in. She has a mischievous smile plastered across her face as she crosses the room to me. Not far behind her is Emery, and a tall blond man I don’t know but who is scorching hot. Like, really hot. With the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. He could be in movies; he’s that good-looking.
“Callie, this is my bestie, Scarlett, and her husband, Levi, who I did not know was coming by,” Rylann clarifies, breaking my obvious check-out of the very married man.
“He’s hot, isn’t he?” The woman Rylann introduced as Scarlett bumps my shoulder and wiggles her eyebrows suggestively at me.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to. I-I—” I stutter.
Emery covers her mouth with her fist, hiding her laughs as my face turns tomato red.
“Oh please, look away. I know he’s hot. And all mine. Isn’t that right, baby?”
“You know it, short stack,” her husband flirts, winking at her. “Nice to meet you, Callie. This is for you ladies to enjoy.” He places a paper bag on the kitchen island. “Sorry for the intrusion, but I’ll be heading out. Ry, want me to take Rhys? I have the kids in the car.”
“That would be great. Thank you, Lee.”
Levi shouts to Rhys, who is still on the couch, enthralled with the guitar in his hand. “Hey. Rhys, buddy, want to head home with me? Your dad will be home soon.”
Rhys finally looks up from the instrument in his hand and at Rylann, a silent “can I” written across his face. She nods her approval, while he places the guitar back in the case on the coffee table and slides the pick through the strings on the first fret like it was before.
My heart melts at the care he gives my guitar, his eyes lingering on it before reluctantly walking away.
“Thanks for letting me play, Callie,” Rhys says, walking our way.
A thought occurs to me, and it’s out of my mouth before I can stop it. “Do you want to come back tomorrow and play with me again?”
His eyes bug out of his head in shock at my offer. “Really?”
“Totally. You’re a natural. Maybe I can teach you a little more before I leave.”
“Mom?” Rhys looks at Rylann again, as do I, hoping I didn’t cross any lines.
“If it’s alright with Callie, it’s alright with me.” Rylann turns to me. “Same time tomorrow after summer camp?”
“Perfect.” I’m giddy at the prospect of not only the company but of sharing my love of music with someone young and interested.
“Freaking awesome,” Rhys shouts, punching the air. “Did you hear, Uncle Lee? Callie’s going to teach me how to play the guitar.”
“I did. You are one lucky dude.” He holds out a fist for Rhys to bump. “Go wait by the door,” he directs Rhys before making a beeline over to Scarlett. He wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her. And I mean kisses her. Tongue and everything.
Whoa. The guys around here are really into their women and showering them with affection.
“Gross,” Rhys mumbles, while all I can do is gawp at the couple making out in front of me.
“Holy sh…” my words trail off as the two break apart and Levi slaps Scarlett’s butt.
“See you later, baby.”
“Later, baby.” She sways on her feet as he exits the house, Rhys in tow.
“Does this sort of thing happen all the time around here?” I ask, fanning my face.
“Yes.” Emery grabs the bag from the counter and pulls the contents out, lining them up on the counter.
Scarlett joins Emery, and as they move around the kitchen, grabbing a blender and ice out of the freezer, making the space feel more like home for the first time since I arrived.
“What are you all making?” I ask, curious about the lime-green liquid Scarlett pours into the blender.
“Margaritas,” she explains. “You’ll love them.”
“Oh. I, uh, I don’t drink,” I admit.
Scarlett looks at me with wide eyes. “Like, ever?”
I shake my head. “I’ve had champagne before, but not usually. Drinking isn’t good for my voice.”
The three women in my kitchen place a hand on their chests and gasp.
“Margaritas are the lifeblood around here.” Scarlett gasps.
Emery chuckles. “Stop it. You’re going to make us sound like lushes.”
“Hush, you.” Scarlett bats at Emery with her hand like an annoying bee.
My mouth goes dry under their scrutiny. For something to do, I reach for my bottle of water and take a sip.
“It’s a good thing these are virgins, then,” Rylann declares with a smile.
“Please don’t tell me you’re a virgin too, or I might die,” Scarlett quips.
I spit my water across the countertop, choking on the liquid now burning my lungs.
What the fuck ?
Rylann rushes over and pats my back. “Look what you did, Scar. You broke her.”
“I didn’t break her. She’s fine. She’s just been around too many uptight Hollywood people, is all. She’ll survive,” Scarlett snipes.
“Sorry,” I mumble.
Emery wipes the counter with a smile. “Don’t worry about it. Scar takes some getting used to. She has no filter.”
“That’s no way to talk about your business partner,” Scarlett scolds Emery.
“Sorry, boss bitch,” Emery sings as Rylann chuckles at the two.
My head swivels between them as they go back and forth, with Rylann cutting in occasionally, joking and making drinks. A strange sensation fills my chest as these women treat me like I’ve always been a part of their group. With Silla always hovering and controlling me, I’ve never had friends before.
I like it.
Rylann places glasses on the counter, Emery fills them, and Scarlett spikes hers with a mini bottle of tequila.
She shakes the bottle at me. “Are you sure?”
“Another time?” I offer, hoping I will still be around.
“I’ll hold you to that, missy.” She places the bottle on the counter and sips her drink with an approving hum.
“Let’s go sit in the living room. My back is killing me.” Rylann picks up her glass and waddles to the couch.
The three of us follow her, taking spots around her like she’s the sun and we’re planets orbiting around her.
Taking a sip of my drink—that I don’t hate—I quietly sit and listen to the three most beautiful women I’ve ever seen talk about work and their kids. I learn Scarlett has two sets of twins, and Emery is pregnant like Rylann, hence the virgin margaritas.
This must be what a girls’ night is like. Friends talking, gossiping, laughing. It seems strange and humbling to sit here with these women. At this moment, I’m just Callie. Not a celebrity.
I could get used to nights like these. Surrounded by friends talking about their lives while I listen and laugh along with them.
“Mind if I ask what’s going on between you and Eli?” Rylann asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Me and Eli?” I squeak, noticing that the room is dead quiet. “Umm. What about us?” My palms turn clammy, and my skin itches as the three of them stare at me and wait for an answer.
When the silence stretches a little too long, they turn to each other and have a silent conversation with their eyes. It’s spooky and oddly adorable.
“Are you … together?” Rylann asks, her eyes hopeful.
“Together, fucking. Whatever you want to call it,” Scarlett retorts.
Damn, Emery was right. Scarlett really has no filter.
I can feel my face getting hotter as I sit here, wondering what I should and shouldn’t say. Fuck it. “No.”
“No?” The sadness in Rylann’s is catching, sinking my hopes as well. “But when we saw you guys, he was acting jealous and overprotective. Only a man in love does that.”
“A Miller man does that,” Emery corrects her.
“And Walker men,” Scarlett interjects.
“Eli is not in love with me,” I rush out too quickly, making them all smirk. “Seriously. I’ve known him for the last two years, and before the last few weeks, he’s been nothing but a huge asshat to me.”
“Eli? Really?” Emery asks, shocked, like she can’t picture Eli being anything but sweet.
Nodding, I tell them all about the rude and disrespectful things he’s told me to my face or mumbled under his breath. How he’s ignored my presence on more than one occasion while we had working meetings with Hudson. How he treated me at the club before the accident.
A Cheshire Cat’s smile spreads across Scarlett’s face. “Oh, sweetheart, he’s tugging on your pigtails like a kid on the playground. He likes you.”
“Yes!” Rylann claps. “He so likes you.”
Butterflies swirl in my stomach at the notion of Eli liking me. He kissed me and has been quite charming lately. “You think?”
“He so likes you,” Rylann sings.
“Definitely.” Emery smiles, taking a sip of her drink. “And the way he was looking at you the other night…” She makes an exaggerated shiver. “It was hot. I’m surprised you two haven’t, you know…”
I’m fifty shades of red as images of Eli kissing me and more fill my head.
“Look at her face. Something happened. Spill,” Scarlett demands.
I can’t help breaking into a laugh at her directness. It’s refreshing.
“Fine. There may have been a little kiss,” I admit, biting back my grin.
Rylann leans forward and whispers, “Please tell us you like him too.”
Like? No. I’m halfway in love with him.
I keep that to myself but admit, “Yeah. I do. But he doesn’t see me that way. At least, I don’t think he does. But he does now. I don’t know. It’s all very confusing.”
“We need details, and maybe we can help you figure it out.” Scarlett takes a huge pull of her drink and waits for me to dish.
Even though I only just met these women, they’ve given me the type of friendship I’ve always dreamed of having. A friendship I’ve only pretended to have while portraying fake characters in movies.
Not sure if I’ll ever have the chance again, I tell them everything that’s happened between me and Eli, starting with the first day we met. When I finish telling them about the last two weeks—how he’s opened up to me, the accident, the change in his behavior and, of course, the kiss.
“I need you to listen to me carefully, Callie,” Rylann implores.
The serious tone in her voice has the giddy flipping around in my stomach turning to stone. I nod, prepared for whatever she has to say, hoping like hell it’s not a threat of some sort.
“He likes you, but Eli used to work for a terrible man.”
I nod. “Harold Campbell. He was the biggest creep I’ve ever met.”
“So, you know about all the horrible things he’s done?” she asks, relieved she doesn’t have to spell it out for me. Or maybe she does. I don’t know for sure.
“Yes,” I hedge.
Who hasn’t? The shocking things that came out about that man would make your skin peel off and crawl away to hide.
“Eli is not him. Down to his very bones, E is one of the good ones,” she presses, confirming what I already know about him.
“I know.” It’s one of the many reasons I picked to work with him and Hudson all those years ago. My gut told me they would keep me safe.
“Then crossing the line from working together to being together is a big deal. Only go there if you’re sure about him,” she begs, getting to the point.
Rylann’s words hit a sensitive nerve in my heart. Not because she’s warning me away but because I never thought about how being together could affect Eli’s career, how people perceive him.
Tears prick my eyes, tingling the back of my nose.
“Oh, no, Callie. Don’t cry.” Rylann wraps her arms around my shoulders and pulls me in for a warm hug. She smells like a tropical drink made of limes and coconut topped with a cute little pink umbrella.
“Sorry, I just… I’ve been so selfish, thinking only about my feelings for Eli. I never stopped to think about the consequences if he had feelings for me. How being with me could hurt him.” I sniff, wiping away my tears.
“Way to go, Rylann. I was going to tell her to seduce Eli until he breaks, and you break Callie instead.”
The mix between a chuckle and sob slips out as Emery, Rylann, and Scarlett laugh with me.
With reluctance, I leave Rylann’s hearty hug, but with an idea. “Can I sing something new to you all?”
“As long as it’s not Heart Wishes ,” Scarlett teases, referring to my hit song from Ella in High School .
I groan. “Definitely not.”
I hate that song so much. It’s still my number one requested song. Everyone loves it, and I know I should be thankful for how it put me on the map, but it reminds me of the heartbreak and turmoil I was going through. That song reminds me of my mom’s setback at the hospital that sent her retreating into herself. It’s a vestige of everyone’s applause when I cried singing the last note. I wasn’t acting. Every heartbreaking tear was real. The song is a constant reminder that all my wishes for my mom to get better never came true. Still haven’t.
Pushing those thoughts away, I pick up my guitar and play the song I wrote before the accident. It’s a little spicy, but in a way, it also expresses my feelings for Eli.
The girls clap and cheer at the end, making me blush.
Rylann beams at me. “You love him.”
Not ready to admit that to her—or anyone—before the man himself, I change the subject. “What do you think? Is it good?”
“It’s an amazing song, Callie,” Emery admits. “I think you should play it for him. It will tell him exactly how you feel.”
“I think you should seduce Eli,” Scarlett advises without an ounce of shame.
Ignoring Scarlett, I turn to Rylann—who, only after a couple of hours, I know is the levelheaded one—and wait for her advice.
“This is going to sound very unlike me, but go with Scarlett’s plan,” Rylann suggests, making Emery gasp in astonishment.
Scarlett cackles. “That’s why we’re besties.”
“Are you serious?” I ask, perplexed.
“Oh yeah. Totally serious. Then, after you have crossed the line, play him the song so he doesn’t freak out. If he’s anything like Jace, he’ll want to be a gentleman and take things slow. You’ve been crushing on him for two years, and he probably has on you too. Just go for it like I did with Jace. Make him want you until he snaps.”
“I don’t know how to seduce a man. I’ve only had one serious boyfriend, and he initiated everything.”
“It’s not hard, my friend,” Scarlett assures me. “Slight touches, kisses on his cheek close to his mouth, a bat of the eyelashes.”
“Ask him to bring you a towel to the bathroom and stand there naked, waiting for him. Or mention that you aren’t wearing panties. Jace likes that one.”
Emery sniggers and points at Rylann’s stomach. “Bet he still does.”
Rylann, honest to God, blushes a bright pink but doesn’t deny it.
“Oh, and if all else fails”—Emery lowers her voice to a whisper, letting me in on her secret—“let him walk in on you using your vibrator.”
“Good one, Em. That will make him nice and jealous. He’ll either whip out his dick and jerk off on you, or he’ll be ripping the toy away so he can shove his toy inside you,” Scarlett spouts, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
I blush. “You all are crazy.”
I must be the crazy one, though, because everything they are saying conjures images of the sexy man doing all of those things to me.
“But we are married to the men we pulled these tricks on, so take our advice or don’t. It’s up to you.” Scarlett sips her drink as she watches me with her knowing eyes.
Can I actually do the things they said to do?
You walked out in those yoga shorts.
Maybe Eli needs another little push. Then, once he’s over the line, he won’t be able to deny the chemistry between us, and he’ll see how great we are together and that we’re worth the risk of crossing it.