Chapter 31 Callum
THIRTY-ONE
Callum
We kept that truck rocking until the wee hours. Then slept right there under the stars, curled up in the blankets and around each other. We didn’t sleep long though.
Soon the sun was up, shining in our eyes.
“Hey, Sunflower.”
“Morning,” Zandra murmured, voice rough from sleep. Her hair was wild. We both smelled like sex and each other.
I loved it.
Last night had been beyond anything I could’ve dreamed up.
Best date accomplished. It had felt good to finally tell Zandra about everything with Grayden.
I still didn’t know if it was the right thing to do to turn my brother away.
But I regretted not letting Grace make her own decision.
I already knew my sister was going to be angry when she found out.
I felt like a coward for not admitting it already.
And how was I supposed to read the fact that Grayden hadn’t told Grace, either? Like he was somehow trying to save his little brother some face.
I hadn’t decided yet about talking to Grayden, but maybe it was time to get things out in the open.
As we drove toward home, I suggested a pit stop at Silver Linings. Z acted like I’d just proposed we streak naked down Main Street.
“Are you kidding? Piper will take one look at us and know exactly what we were doing all night.”
“So?”
She paused. “Right, maybe I don’t care if Piper knows. She’s cool. But Sunday mornings there are busy. We don’t need everyone else knowing our business.”
“Can I at least take you out later and hold you and kiss you on Main Street? So word gets out that I’m officially your guy?”
She fidgeted in her seat. “Tomorrow. We have to tell my grandpa first.”
I really wasn’t worried about Manny. Coworkers dated all the time. A boss and subordinate? That was a bit tougher. But I was confident we could sort it out.
What was Manny going to do, fire me for wanting to take care of his granddaughter and treat her like my personal queen? Nah. Wasn’t going to happen.
Zandra was mine. I was way up on cloud ten, and nothing was going to get me down.
The rest was just details.
When we got home, we snuck in, both of us giggling even though we were trying to stay quiet. I let her wear my ball cap over her hair, because I was a gentleman like that.
I started to follow her into the bathroom when she was going to clean up, and she said there was no way she was letting me shower with her. “You’ll tempt me into doing dirty things. I’m worn out enough as it is.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
While she was showering, I changed into some clean clothes so I was at least decent, and went out to the kitchen to find coffee and breakfast. After I had the coffeemaker going, Darius came out of his room, yawning and scratching his head.
“It was quiet last night,” Darius said, pouring himself a glass of orange juice. “Everybody was out.”
“Connor too?” I poured some coffee and handed it to him.
“Yeah. If you hadn’t been so obnoxiously obsessed with Zandra lately, you might’ve noticed Connor’s been dating someone new. We’re all pairing off.”
“Wait a minute, you too?”
“I’ve got prospects.” Darius sipped his coffee, leaning casually against the counter. “How’d things go last night?”
I felt a huge grin spread across my face as I answered. “The mission was a success.”
He whistled. “First girlfriend. Look who put on his big-boy pants.”
I flipped him off as I laughed. “I was just waiting for the right woman. And Z is it.”
“Here’s a scary thought though. This could be the end of an era. Zandra was willing to move in here, but now that you’re together? She’ll want more privacy. Same with Niko’s and Connor’s girls.”
“You think Z and I should get our own place?” I hadn’t even been thinking about our roommate situation before. I just knew I didn’t want Zandra to move out.
Would she want to get a place with just me? That seemed like a big step.
Darius shrugged. “I’m just saying, things are changing around here. You ready for that?”
The thought didn’t scare me. It might scare Zandra, because I’d had to pull her along at every step. First just admitting she didn’t hate me, then agreeing to be friends and then more. But I liked having her close. It didn’t have to be any more complicated than that.
“I’m not against it,” I said. “If I’m with Zandra, that’s all I need. I’ll miss you guys though if the band splits up. It’s been a blast.”
Darius patted me on the shoulder. “Guess we all have to grow up sometime.”
Zandra and I headed in for work that afternoon. Sundays were always busy at the brewery. A lot of people dreading the start of the work week, getting their drink on one last time before Monday hit.
Today though, I didn’t give a damn what day it was. My biggest challenge was not pulling Zandra into a kiss every time I saw her. Because she was mine. My girl. My Sunflower.
Kissing at work was probably never going to be appropriate, especially when she was the one in charge around here. But at least I wouldn’t have to hide what I was feeling about her.
About an hour into our shift, Winnie and Russ pulled me aside while Zandra was in the office.
“Okay, what’s going on with you?” Winnie demanded. “You always seem upbeat, but you’re acting like somebody shot a glitter bomb up your butt. You’re fucking sparkling.”
Russ nodded. “We have a bet. I think you got the job.”
“You’re way off, my friend.”
“I knew it,” Winnie said triumphantly. “You and Zandra finally got together.”
She held out her hand, and Russ dejectedly slapped a twenty onto her palm. Ridiculous.
I glanced around to make sure no one else was listening, then leaned in closer. “You guys have to keep this quiet until tomorrow, but yeah. We’re dating now. We’ll be able to tell everyone officially soon.”
“But does Manny know?” Russ asked.
“We’re telling him tomorrow. That’s the only wrinkle left.” I almost laughed, because Manny had his share of wrinkles already, but that would’ve been rude of me. I basically had him to thank for Zandra and me winding up together.
Winnie lifted her hand for a high five. “Nice.”
“Wait, dude, I’m getting secondhand stress from all this,” Russ said, running his hands through his hair.
I clapped him on the shoulder. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“You don’t think this is going to affect the competition for general manager?” Russ asked. “How could it not?”
“Because I’ve got a plan. I’ve got this under control.”
When we’d started this competition, I’d been afraid I wouldn’t have a chance against Manny’s granddaughter.
But who needed a job title when what I really wanted was the girl?
Winnie and Russ’s third degree had reminded me, though. I had an email to send. A text might’ve been enough, but this felt like it needed to be more formal. When I next had a break, I found a quiet corner and pulled out my phone.
Dear Manny, I began.
It was getting late when Zandra hooked her pinky around mine and nodded toward the office. “Can we talk?”
“Talk? Is that code for us grabbing a quickie?” I said under my breath. I loved that she couldn’t even wait another hour until closing to get with me again. Not that I was complaining.
“That is not what we’re doing.”
We got into the office, and she shut the door, wearing her most serious expression.
“We need to have a game plan for the meeting with my grandfather tomorrow morning.”
I sat on the edge of the desk. “We’ll be fine.”
“This is not the time for you to be cute or just assume it’s all going to work out okay. The minute he tells us his decision about who gets general manager, we tell him we’re together and plan to stay that way.”
She was pacing around. I watched her fondly, thinking this was adorable.
But I should’ve told her earlier. So she wouldn’t be stressing about logistics all day.
“I think we should lead with the great news about us,” I said.
“Before he tells us his decision? But that’s asking permission instead of forgiveness. I don’t think that’s the best strategy.”
I got up to hold her hands in mine, stopping her from pacing. “Baby, he won’t need to make a decision. Because I emailed Manny this afternoon withdrawing myself. He doesn’t need to pick the general manager because it’s already you.”
“You did what?”
I massaged her knuckles with my thumbs. “I took myself out of the running.”
“But…why?” she asked incredulously. “You wanted this job. You can’t just give it up.”
“I already did. For you. I wasn’t going to let this come between us. Not after how far we’ve come.”
Should I have told her earlier? Maybe. But this was my choice. I’d done this so we wouldn’t argue.
But this was Zandra Alvarez, so of course she was arguing.
Her hands slid out of my grip. “So I get the job by default? I wanted to earn this. Not have it handed to me.”
“You’ve already proven yourself. He was probably going to give it to you anyway because you’ll be great. But if there was even a slight chance Manny would pick me instead of you, why would I take that? I’m not risking us.”
“Why would you think it would come between us? I was going to be fine either way.”
“Would you really, Z?” I’d said that lightly. Not as an accusation.
But suddenly it was like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room with a massive whoosh.
“You think I’d be angry at you if you got the job? That’s really what you think of me?” She’d been waving her arms before, but she’d almost whispered those last two sentences.
Like she wasn’t mad. She was hurt.
Shit.
I’d expected a few different reactions to my big gesture, but not this one.
“Callum, did you seriously think I would break up with you if you got the job instead of me?”
“I…”
“You did.”
“Sunflower.” I walked over to her, holding out my hands, but she edged away. “I wasn’t trying to—”
“Don’t Sunflower me. I can’t have this conversation with you at work.”
“You’re the one who started this conversation at work,” I said evenly.
“And when would you have bothered to tell me any of this? Two minutes before we walked into the meeting tomorrow morning with my grandfather? By the way, Z, I’m letting you have the job because I can’t trust you to be reasonable if you lose.”
“That’s not what I was thinking.”
She headed toward the door. I rushed to follow her, but as I stepped out of the office, she was already halfway to the kitchen.
“Zandra,” I called out, far louder than I’d intended.
Heads turned toward me, half a dozen staff members stopping in their tracks to look.
Zandra was glaring murder at me as she turned around. Every bit as furious as when she’d first returned to town. She marched back over to me. “This is exactly why relationships with coworkers are a bad idea,” she hissed.
“No, don’t do that. Don’t make this bigger than it is.”
“Because that’s what I always do, right? I get it all wrong and then I blow everything up.”
From my peripheral vision, I could tell everyone was staring. “We’re not finished,” I said to her.
“This conversation is. We need to get back to work.”
She spun on her heel, and for now, I let her go. Right now, it didn’t seem I had any other choice.