32. Callum
32
CALLUM
“I forgot how competitive you are.” I had to pick up the pace as I trailed behind Nadia, who was laser-focused on winning. She was moving down the pier like a hunter in the woods, searching for its prey.
“What’s the point of playing if you don’t play to win?” Nadia glanced over her shoulder with a mischievous gleam in her eye. “Second place is just the first loser.”
A wide smile spread across my face, reaching from ear to ear. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had this much fun or felt this young and carefree. Of course, I knew that a big part of that was because of what Nadia represented to me. We’d been together at a time in my life when I hadn’t had any responsibilities when I was young and carefree. We were together at a more innocent time.
Although I didn’t feel very innocent right now, I’d been doing my best to keep my mind out of the gutter, but I couldn’t help but notice how incredibly hot Nadia looked tonight. Her outfit reminded me of when she’d dressed up as Cher from Clueless, who had been my childhood crush. I’d grown up watching Clueless a dozen or so times a year because it was my mom’s favorite comfort movie. Her job as a nurse and midwife could be stressful, and whenever she needed a “cinematic hug,” she put it on.
“Yes! Sixty-nine!” Nadia shouted, drawing quite a lot of attention from the crowd around us.
I turned to where she was pointing and noticed that the next number on a white ticket to pull for a pickup at the Crab Shack was 69. Nadia quickly snapped a pic.
“Cross it off,” she commanded like a drill sergeant.
She’d tasked herself with taking the photos, and I was on admin duty, making sure to keep track of the items we’d collected and what we still needed to get. I placed an X next to "Find the number 69” only a second before she pulled the list toward her so she could look at it. After a brief once-over, she lifted her head and went back to Terminator scanning mode.
I glanced down to see what we still needed. It looked like we only had a few more things to collect.
Selfie Scavenger Hunt
5 Heart-Shaped Things 1111
Something Starting with the Letter Z
Something Starting with the Letter M X
Wear a Stranger’s Hat X
Arm Wrestle Someone
Go Down a Slide X
Take a photo with an Animal X
Find Something Old X
Find Something New X
Find Something Borrowed
Find Something Blue X
Dance with a Stranger X
Find the Number 69 X
We just needed to find something starting with the letter z, find something borrowed, arm wrestle someone, and find one more heart-shaped item.
“Okay, I’m going to go up to that table.” Nadia motioned to a couple seated in the dining area of the Crab Shack as she handed me her camera. “You’re on camera duty.”
“Got it.”
I had no clue what she was about to do, but when it came to Nadia, I found it best to just go along for the ride and not ask questions. I held the camera in place and watched as she spoke to an older couple. I wondered if she was going to arm wrestle one of them. When they handed her their salt, I snapped a photo. She walked over to me, and I took another pic of her holding it like a trophy. Then one final snap of her returning the salt to the couple.
When she came back, she took her phone and edited the photos together with the words borrowed salt before sending it off.
“Cross borrowed off the list.”
I marked another X next to something borrowed.
“Are you Callum Knight?”
I turned around and saw a boy with curly brown hair and big brown eyes who looked a little bit younger than Matty. He had a shirt with mine and Martinez’s faces on it. It was merch from our third fight. It was crazy to see because there was a chance I hadn’t fought in this kid’s lifetime, but because of YouTube, he knew who I was.
“I am, yeah.”
His eyes widened. “Can I take a picture with you?”
I glanced up and saw that he was with a woman I assumed was his mom, who appeared to be more than happy for her son to be having this interaction.
“Sure. What’s your name?”
“Eric.”
“Nice to meet you, Eric.”
I stood beside Eric, and his mom snapped a few photos of us.
When she finished, I asked, “Can you do me a favor, Eric?”
His head bobbed up and down eagerly.
“I have to arm wrestle someone for a game my friend and I are playing.” I showed Eric’s mom the scavenger hunt checklist. “Will you arm wrestle me?”
When he heard my request, his eyes doubled, growing to half-dollars.
“You can use two hands,” I offered.
He looked at his mom, and she nodded in encouragement.
He looked back at me, still seeming unsure. I was just about to tell him not to worry about it when Nadia bent down and whispered something in his ear. Eric giggled and immediately agreed, “Okay.”
“Hey,” I protested playfully. “No secrets.”
“It wasn’t a secret,” Nadia explained. “It was a strategy. Right, Eric?”
Eric nodded his head emphatically. Nadia lifted her hand, and he gave her a high five.
Moments ago, this kid had been starstruck from meeting his ‘hero,’ me, and now he was totally enamored by Nadia. That was the effect she had on people. When she walked into a room, everyone was drawn to her, regardless of their age. When she spoke to you, it was like the sun was shining on you. When she loved you, you were the luckiest person in the entire world.
I still didn’t know how I managed to fuck things up with us, but I knew it had to be my fault. I shouldn’t have moved to Arizona. That was the only thing I could think of that could have been the final straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. If we hadn’t been long-distance, I don’t think we would have ever broken up, not for real, anyway. I’m sure we still would have “broken up.” At least until we matured or went to therapy, but I don’t think we would have really ended for good if I’d stayed back East. I was selfish. I thought I could have my career and my relationship with Nadia. I took for granted that she’d always be there for me. I was wrong.
“Alright, let’s do this.” I shook off those melancholy thoughts and put on a happy face for my young fan. We sat down at one of the small bistro-style tables that lined the pier.
“I’m keeping my eyes on you two,” I teased as I glared at Nadia and Eric.
Eric and I placed our elbows on the table. He gripped my hand with both of his, and we stared into each other’s eyes. Both Nadia and Eric’s mom held their cameras up, and Nadia counted us down. When she said one, Eric strained, and I pretended to try and resist him for about fifteen seconds before being defeated as Nadia snapped pictures.
After he won, Nadia and his mom cheered wildly, and we said goodbye to them. We began heading back down the pier in search of the other items on our list.
“What did you say to Eric?” I asked.
“I can’t disclose your opponent’s strategies.”
“You’re on my team,” I reminded her.
“Ah! Z!” She pointed to a nasty clear baggie with a half-eaten sandwich beside a trash can and snapped a photo. “Ziplock bag. Mark off something that starts with Z.”
I did as instructed and also put an X next to arm wrestle someone. I had no clue how the other teams were doing, but we were flying through these, and we’d even stopped long enough to grab cotton candy and a pretzel, which was a tradition of ours every night we were at the pier. If we were here during the day, we would get a snow cone and roasted peanuts.
“What do we have left?” she asked.
“We just have to find one more heart-shaped thing.”
“Seriously?!” She grabbed the list, and I couldn’t help but take the opportunity to study her profile as she studied it. She was so fucking beautiful.
She handed the list back to me with even more determination. As I followed behind her, all I could think about was all the years we’d wasted being apart. Being back here, on this pier with her, made everything else in my life, except Matty, just feel like filler. Even my career.
“Are you looking?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder.
“Yep.” I was looking at something heart-shaped; I just didn’t think her ass would count.
“Look!” She bent down, and I had to suppress a moan.
The hem of her skirt lifted, revealing her creamy thighs. I wanted so badly to run my hands up them and find out what underwear she was wearing. Or if she was wearing any at all. I’m sure she was. I think her not wearing underwear was more of a fantasy thing than a reality thing.
Her face was beaming as she spun around, holding a seashell in the shape of a heart. “This is a good one.”
“It is,” I agreed.
“Done!” she exclaimed as she pressed send. The expression of pure joy did something to me. It cracked something open in me that had been closed off for a long time. “We did it!”
“You did it,” I conceded.
“No, you helped.” She patted me on my arm and spoke to me like she would one of her first graders.
“Thanks.” I smiled, but then my smile slowly dropped as a realization hit me.
“What?” Her huge blue eyes stared up at me.
“Nothing.”
She pointed up at me. “That face doesn’t look like nothing.”
“It’s just…where we’re standing.”
She looked around, and then I saw it dawned on her, too. We were in the exact same spot where we had our first conversation beside The Chill Zone snow cone stand. I asked her what her name was and gave her some of my Big League chewing gum.
“Did you ever think about me?” I asked, knowing I might not like the answer. It was my biggest fear, that I hadn’t even been a passing thought in her head when she was my whole world.
She blinked up at me, her expression blank and unreadable. “What?”
“After I left. Did you think about me?”
A wrinkle appeared above the bridge of her nose as her brows knitted together. “Are you serious?”
I nodded.
“How could you…” She shook her head back and forth. “Yes…all the time.”
Her phone buzzed, and she looked down at it. When she looked back up, she said, “We won. They’re wondering where we are.”
I didn’t want to go back to the party. I knew we had to, but I just didn’t want to go back yet. I was scared if we went back now; then I wouldn’t get to talk to her about anything real. I had big decisions to make in my life, and I needed to know if she wanted or cared to be a part of them. I looked over at the Ferris wheel where we’d shared our first kiss and felt drawn to it. It was like we had to ride it.
“Do you want to go on?”
She bit the inside of her mouth. I could see the indecision behind her baby blues as she decided whether or not she wanted to go back and join the rest of the bachelor/bachelorette party or stay here and recreate our first meeting. She took in a breath and nodded. I placed my hand on her back and guided her to the ticket window. Sounds of people on the pier enjoying themselves were all around us, but all I could hear was the beating of my heart. It was whooshing in my head.
We didn’t say another word to each other as we stood in line for the tickets and then for the ride. From the moment I asked her if she ever thought about me, something changed—something shifted between us. It was selfish of me to bring up the past when so much of my future was unknown. But in my defense, the only thing I’d ever known for sure, the only constant, the only choice I had never questioned was Nadia. Which is why nothing else had ever felt right without her.