Chapter 11 - Paxton
Callum made a little hum of surprise as I kissed him.
Just before I pulled away, his hand moved to rest on my thigh and he parted his lips for me, deepening the kiss, our tongues meeting and sliding along one another.
The kiss was gentle and slow, a delicate, cautious thing.
Despite that, my heart raced and my entire body heated, an electric current running through me. I wanted more.
We parted a few moments later and I pulled away a bit. “I…” What? I hope that was okay? I want to do that again? I want you?
He nodded as if he knew what I was going to say. “Thank you,” he murmured softly. We watched each other for another few seconds before he let out a quiet exhale and nodded once, like he was trying to convince himself. “I should go. The whole family is probably watching us from behind the curtains.”
I couldn’t stop the surprised, nervous laugh that slipped out of me, breaking the tension a little. “Well, they do think we’re already dating, so they can’t be too scandalized, can they?”
He laughed. “Good point, but I should still get going. I have grants to find, remember?”
“Thanks for spending the day with me.”
“I had a great time,” he murmured. “I’ll see you soon.”
With that, he got out of my truck and headed into the house. I watched until the door closed behind him before putting the truck into gear and driving away, a wide smile on my face the whole drive home.
As I walked into the taproom, I spotted Tommy behind the bar.
Matty, the newest employee of Celestial Cask, a guy right out of college who wanted to learn more about the brewing industry in general and mead making particularly, was talking to a table of patrons, laughing and grinning as he talked.
Tommy was pouring a flight and chatting with a pair of women sitting at the bar.
When he spotted me, though, his smile widened.
“Hey.”
I nodded and gave a little wave before stepping behind the bar to stand next to him. “How are things going here?”
The two people he’d been chatting with thanked Tommy for his help and took their flight, sitting at a low couch near the entrance.
“Everything’s great,” he assured me. “How are you?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
I chuckled and shook my head. “Nothing new to report.”
Tommy laughed once. “Hardly. How’s Cal?”
My cheeks heated and I was sure he clocked it, because he nudged me with his elbow. “He’s good. Family stuff. You know how it goes.”
His eyebrows rose skeptically. “You’ve spent the past two days helping someone you just met mitigate their family drama?”
I shrugged, trying hard to look casual. “I…”
“You’re into him.”
“Fuck you,” I muttered without venom. “How can you even guess that?”
“Please. I’ve known you for most of our lives, and you’ve maybe dated six people in that whole time. I know when you have a crush. It’s easy to tell.”
I rolled my eyes. “How?”
Tommy just shrugged. “Have you kissed him yet?”
The heat in my cheeks intensified. “Fuck off.” I rubbed the back of my neck, which felt unusually warm.
He cackled. The bastard actually cackled. “Exactly.”
Suppressing a sigh, I tapped the point-of-sale tablet we used as a register, pretending to check our sales for the day. “He’s only here for a few weeks. It doesn’t even matter. He’ll be gone before we know it, back to the East Coast, and I’ll never see him again.”
“Didn’t you mention he has family nearby?”
I’d given Tommy a brief—and vague—rundown of the situation when I asked him to cover for me last night. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything. He only visits once a year at best.”
Tommy nudged me with his elbow again. “Long-distance relationships are a thing.”
I shook my head and turned to him. “Why are you pushing this?”
“I just want to see you happy. You’re my best friend.”
“Aw, thanks,” I said dryly.
“Fuck off.” He laughed and looked like he was going to say more when a pair of customers entered the taproom.
I looked up and my stomach turned to ice. Jacob and Angie. What the fuck are they doing here? I took a slow, deep breath, and Tommy turned to see what I was looking at. “I’ll explain later,” I said quietly. “You take this one.”
He nodded wordlessly. That was one thing I loved about working with my best friend.
He understood that not everything needed to be explained right away, and he would gladly take on a difficult customer for me if needed.
He had the lumberjack look, too, so he was able to handle issues that arose from customers getting too rowdy, not that I expected that from Jacob and Angie.
“I’m going to head out,” I said, praying they hadn’t noticed me. “Can you and Matty close up tonight?”
Before I could get away, though, I heard my name being called. “Paxton?”
I turned slowly, tightening my face into a grin that I hoped was at least semi-convincing. “Oh, hi. Jacob, right? And you’re Angie.” Jacob nodded, his grip on Angie’s arm tight. I frowned, not liking the look of it. “Thanks for coming in. Can I get you anything?”
Jacob’s frown deepened. “You work here?”
I cleared my throat. “Owner, actually.”
He exhaled, a sharp little laugh coming from him, and moved his hand from Angie’s arm to her back. “Interesting. I knew Callum was seeing someone working-class, but this… this is not what I was expecting.”
I gritted my teeth, jaw tight, before I spoke again.
“Come on in and have a seat. Tommy will be happy to take care of you.” I waited until they sat before I retreated to the back rooms, found a stool near one of the fermenters, and sat down.
Forcing myself to take a few calming breaths, I sat with my eyes closed for what felt like a long time, until someone cleared their throat in front of me.
I opened my eyes to see Tommy standing there, arms crossed.
“What the fuck was that?”
“Remember how I told you I was pretending to be Cal’s boyfriend to make his family reunion a little easier for him?
” He nodded, so I continued. “Well, it was mostly because he wanted to avoid his terrible ex. The terrible ex that happens to be sitting in our taproom right now, enjoying the fruits of our labor.”
“She seemed nice enough. Quiet. That guy’s a douchebag, though.”
“That guy’s the ex.”
He pinched his mouth together. “Oh. Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed his ex was a woman. But…” I raised my eyebrows and he kept talking. “What’s his ex doing at a family reunion?”
“That woman he’s with? That’s Cal’s cousin.”
Tommy’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was.”
“God. Gross.”
“Yeah.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said he had family stuff.” Tommy thought for a few seconds, watching me. “Want me to give him food poisoning or something?”
That made me chuckle. “I wish. Just… I’m going to go home, okay? Can you hold down the fort until closing?”
“Of course. Go. I’ll close up and see you tomorrow. Sound good?”
“Deal.”
I left through the back door, crossing the lot and making my way to the house.
The moment the door was shut behind me, I slumped against it and let out a long breath.
Fucking Jacob and his fucking girlfriend could go fuck themselves.
Working class. What a dick. Who gave a fuck what I did for a living? What anyone does for a living?
Thinking about that brought back memories of my uncle and my grandparents—my dad’s parents—of spending my days after school helping with the meadery, concocting different brews, testing small batches, mixing flavors.
Summers in the meadows helping collect honey, going to markets to buy and sell honey and mead, building relationships with meaderies across the country. Doing what I loved.
Fuck that guy, I thought. I toed my shoes off and headed to bed, and as I yanked my shirt off, my phone buzzed.
Callum: Can we get together on Monday? I have some ideas.
I flushed with pleasure knowing he was thinking about me, taking this seriously.
Paxton: Of course.
Callum: Meet me at the library around ten?
Paxton: Sounds like a plan.
With that, I finished changing and got into bed, letting thoughts of Cal, memories of the day, and daydreams of Monday carry me away.