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To everyone who has been underestimated. I hope you prove everyone wrong, including yourself.
❤️🩹
“Excited to see me?” I motion him forward with my free hand. “Thrilled. Why don’t you come a little closer so I can get a better shot? I’d hate to miss an important organ.”
“Señora Castillo bought you a gun? Why?” I lower the gun and flip the safety. “She always said a woman should be two things—armed and dangerous.”
Butterflies take flight in my belly. With the way my stomach dips and dives, it feels like thousands of them awoke after spending the last six years trapped in their cocoons.
That’s the thing about Cal. He can make anyone forget that they’re angry with him solely by cracking a joke and flashing a smile. It is his greatest superpower and my personal kryptonite.
“Mommy, who’s that?” Camila calls from the top of the stairs. Her wide blue eyes check Cal out before her gaze swings back to mine.
I have a feeling a swear jar is the least of my worries now that Callahan Kane stormed back into my life with a deadly smile and a big problem.
The world ceases to exist around me as her gaze crashes into mine. God. Those eyes. Her brown eyes remind me of the soil right after it rains—with them being so dark, they look black in certain kinds of light. It’s an underrated color that rivals all others, although Lana always used to disagree.
“You always deserved better than me.” I rip my arm free of his hold. “No. I deserved better from you.”
My body relaxes instantly in his hold, and a feeling of rightness consumes me.
I forgot how right it felt to be held in his arms.
No expectations. No disappointments. My life motto.
words to live by /s
“No need to worry. I know that there is no chance in hell that we are ever getting back together.”
hehehe
“He’s got the personality of a golden retriever.” “Yeah, a rabid one.
aw cute
This is the Cal I fell in love with. The selfless man who would stop at nothing to make me happy, even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness in the process.
I don’t stick around for the drunk man in front of me. I stay for the man I once loved more than anything.
Cal steals a fragmented piece of my heart in that moment as a single tear slides down his cheek.
Sometimes it is those with the loudest voices who struggle the hardest.
❤️🩹
No matter how much I love him, it was and never will be enough so long as he doesn’t love himself.
She looks heaven-sent, with the golden glow of the sun surrounding her like a halo, highlighting the warm tones of her hair and the edges of her curves.
“I don’t take orders from you.” “Pity. I remember there was once a time you would beg for them.” My thumb traces the bottom of her lip, earning a sweet inhale from her.
AAAAA
His eyes drop to my lips. It’s the only warning I get before his mouth slams into mine. Holy shit. Everything about our kiss is desperate. Passionate. Familiar.
My low chuckle draws Cal’s attention. Our gazes collide, and his eyes widen. “What?” I tuck a wave behind my ear. “You’re so beautiful.” His voice deepens. “Ooo. You think Mommy is pretty!” Cami’s bright gaze swings from me to Cal. “I think she’s the prettiest damn woman in the world.” The butterflies in my stomach return, their endless flapping creating a buzz in my lower half.
*swoon*
His eyes zero in on my shoes. “Fuck.” “What?” I look down but find nothing wrong. “The things I would do to have your legs wrapped around my waist while wearing those.” He looks up.
OOOOHH DAMN
She laughs until her cheeks turn pink and her eyes water. I’m enraptured by the sound almost as much as the look on her face as she turns toward me with the brightest smile. You’re absolutely helpless. I bite down on my cheek to stifle my groan.
Cami giggles, making my chest all warm and tight from the innocent sound. She looks up at me with the goofiest smile, and I return the gesture.
🥹🥹🥹
“I don’t want to pity you, but I do.” “Exactly what every man wants to hear from the woman he loves.”
HE STILL LOVES HER
A quick scan of the paper makes my heart catapult in my chest. It’s the simplest of drawings, with a big, wonky heart taking up a majority of the page. Within the red shape, she drew two blond stick figures. One has large squiggles on their arms while the shorter one has a triangle-shaped body to represent a dress. Below the heart, Cami wrote me a message. Feel better, Cow-L.
cami 🥹😭💚
I’m not looking to buy Lana’s forgiveness. I’m looking to buy into her dream, even if she doesn’t anymore.
“What was the point of going back to rehab if you were only going to start drinking again?” My heart feels like someone split it apart with the jaws of life. “I had lost my reason for getting sober in the first place.” Her brows furrow. “What? Money? Hockey? The will to live a normal life?” “You, Lana. I lost you.”
💔
“I always thought we were meant to be. I might have screwed up the timing a bit, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is no one I want more in this world than you.”
“I know I can’t go back and change what I did the last time I was here. And as fucked up as it sounds, I don’t regret it either, even though I lost you in the process. Because I would have rather known what it felt like to have had you for a summer than to have not had you at all.”
“Lana.” One word. Four letters. A thousand sparks blasting off my skin as he clasps on to the back of my neck and drags me against his chest. Our lips hover inches apart, the heat of his minty breath hitting my face.
“You’re hard.” “Astute as always.” I blink twice. “Why are you hard?” “Because you exist.”
😮💨🧎🏻♀️
My heart thuds against my chest in betrayal. It’s impossible not to have some sort of reaction as Cal throws her in the air again, earning another loud laugh before placing her back on her feet.
She cracks a small smile. It’s the first one I’ve seen directed toward me in days, and I soak it up like a plant deprived of sunshine.
I give her a little shove on the shoulder, and she curls over laughing. The sound feels as if I just injected pure serotonin into my veins.
“It was nice.” My heart thuds harder against my chest. “What was?” “Having you eat with us. It felt like…” Her voice drifts off. I refuse to let her get away with not explaining. “What?” I press. “It felt like you fit in with us.”
I might not have an answer for everything, but I do know one thing. Lana is the only woman I ever loved, and it’s time I started acting like it.
“I’ll get them to warm up to me eventually.” “How so?” “By proving I won’t hurt you, no matter how much they expect me to.” And just like that, Cal snatches another piece of my heart to add to his growing collection.
I’m sorry for being another person who let you down because I was too selfish to do anything else.”
And you… You were born to be that little girl’s mother.” She looks up at me with tear-soaked lashes and glassy eyes. “You think so?” “I’ve never been more certain of anything.”
“Nothing has ever compared to us, and nothing ever will.” I lift her hand to my mouth and press my lips against the faded scar on her knuckle.
“We don’t have a future.” “Not yet, but give me some time to prove you wrong.” A pink flush blooms across her cheeks, so I trace it with the pad of my thumb. “I don’t expect you to believe me, but I’m just warning you.”
She laughs herself hoarse. I’m hopeless as I watch in complete fascination, my chest swelling with emotion at the sight of her happiness.
“I’m a nobody, Lana.” “You’re somebody to me.”
Kissing Lana feels like the world started spinning again. Like I’ve been frozen in place until she reentered my life, tilting it back on its axis.
She darts away toward her room with a laugh, leaving me wondering how the hell I spent six years away from the one person who made me feel whole. And how do I make sure I don’t spend another day without her ever again?
While Lana is busy cutting the cake, Cami beckons me closer. I kneel down. “What’s up?” She rises on the tips of her toes and whispers in my ear, “I wished you can be my new daddy.” I wished you can be my new daddy. God. Somehow eight words make my knees as weak as my heart. I wrap my arms around her and squeeze. “There is nothing I’d like more than that.” And I mean every single word.
STOP AAAA
“Because I can’t survive losing you again. Getting a glimpse of the life we could have if I changed is enough to convince me that I will never be happier than I am with you, even if I have a long way to go before we can move forward together. You asked if I’m willing to put in the work? I’m so fucking ready, I would sell the house tomorrow.”
