Finding Callan

by Quell T Fox

  “Where did you learn to cook?”

  “Books.” I nod because that just makes sense. I don’t doubt for a second that he’s telling me the truth. “Would you like some juice?”

  “Mhm.” It’s all that comes out because my mouth is full.

  “Alec, do you want more?” He shakes his head slightly, not moving his eyes from his screen. I know he’s not focused; he’s distracted. I can sense it in the way he’s sitting. He looks tense, but I also feel a wave a tension radiating from him. Suspicious.

  He gets up from his spot, dropping his plate into the sink and then heads down the hallway and disappears into his room. As usual.

  “What’s up with him?”

  “It’s Alec. That’s how he is.”

  “Yeah but he seems… I don’t know. Extra Alec-y?”

  “Alec… y?” He shakes his head and stifles a laugh. “You’ve been spending too much time with Lenny if you’re making up words now.” I roll my eyes and continue with my food. “It’s just how he is. He’s moody. Some days are bad and the rest are okay. But that’s who he is. It’s always been that way. “

  “Sounds miserable. “

  “We all have our own cross to bear.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Friday

  -THURSDAY-

  I’m lounging on the couch with my feet propped onto Callan’s lap. I’ve been watching TV for the last few hours while Callan reads. Alec has stayed hidden away in his room. He hasn’t even come out to pee. It’s late afternoon and the sound of laughter comes from the hallway and I perk up, hoping that it’s the guys. I didn’t realize how much I was going to miss them. When the laughter turns to silence, a sadness falls over me and I lay my head back down.

  “They’ll be back soon.” Callan says without removing his eyes from the book. When I first decided to use him as a footrest it bothered him, but he’s slowly accepted it. I plan to desensitize him, because I plan to fuck him. Though, I do enjoy him this way. It gives me a sense of control. I can’t make up my mind about him and I don’t know why I’m worrying about it in the first place. I want to be the naughty student that needs to be punished, and at the same time I want to watch him squirm beneath me. It’s a real problem. I guess if these are the problems that I have in life, I can’t complain. Oh, that and the fact that I have four boyfriends that aren’t human.

  Four boyfriends.

  I’ve definitely lost my fucking mind.

  The laughter sounds again, but this time I ignore it. Assuming it’s whoever is staying in the suite across the hall. That is until I hear the beep of the door unlocking. My eyes shoot to that direction immediately and in walks a very serious looking Maddox, followed closely by laughing Lenny. At least they’re acting normal.

  I don’t waste any time before jumping up and running to him. Lenny that is, not Maddox. He doesn’t deserve this part of me, not yet. I leap into Lenny’s arms and he catches me, dropping his backpack as he does. His arms go around my waist and then his hands move below my ass to hold me up. The contact warms my insides. My arms are around his neck and I squeeze him. Hard. Every bit of that black hole that’s been buzzing in my chest is fully gone, once again.

  “Hey, Sugarplum. Did you miss me?” I nod my head and keep squeezing. I don’t want to let him go. I did miss him – and Maddox… a little – but I don’t care about that right now. I have Lenny back in my arms, and I don’t want him to leave me again. “Don’t leave me again.”

  “I won’t.”

  I pull back to look into his bright blue eyes, “promise?”

  His eyes soften, and I sense a very strong feeling coming from him. One that I refuse to call by name but know that I, myself, won’t be able to ignore for much longer. I don’t know how it happened, but the times I’ve spent without him are the times I notice it most.

  “I promise.”

  His words cause me to smile and I press my lips to his softly, bringing my hands up to cup his face. His lips are soft and warm, and I want more. So much more. But we are so rudely interrupted by a grumpy vampire, that can only be so grumpy because my lips are on someone else right now, and not on his.

  “If you’re quite finished, we have something to talk to about.”

  “Why is it that we always have something to talk about when I’m in the middle of something?” I turn my head towards Maddox, and he looks at me like I’ve sprouted another set of ears.

  “When has that ever happened before?”

  Come to think of it, I don’t think that it has.

  “Not the point.”

  “That was exactly the point.” He’s completely dumbfounded, and I can’t say that I blame him.

  My eyes go back to Lenny and we both shrug at the same time. He slowly places me back on the floor, my feet hit the cool tile and I miss the contact instantly. I grab onto his hand, needing more. I go to our ‘meeting spot’ and take my normal seat beside Lenny. Callan is already at the table. Loud banging pulls my attention down the hall. I catch Maddox planting one last bang on Alec’s door and a moment later it’s being pulled opened by one pissed off Alec.

  “What the fuck do you want?”

  “Meeting,” he says, turning and walking back towards us.

  “Fuck you and your meeting!” He shouts and then slams the door shut. Maddox doesn’t look phased at all. He doesn’t even flinch at the unexpected slam of the door. Maddox takes a seat, folding his hands on the table. He opens his mouth to speak, but Lenny beats him to it.

  “Meeting adjourned!” If only it was that simple to stop this meeting.

  Callan has the look of a sibling that knows his brother is in deep shit. Maddox looks like he’s about to strangle him, and I, I just laugh and laugh and laugh. Partially because that was really funny, but the other part? It pisses off Maddox. Which is my new goal in life. Have I mentioned that yet?

  “We’ll talk without him. He doesn’t pay attention anyway.”

  “What exactly do we need to talk about?” I ask.

  “The break-in.” Maddox leans back in his seat, staring off behind me at nothing in particular. “They were some of us.”

  “How do you know that? Do you have cameras?” Why do my words come out so snooty when I talk to him?

  “We do, but they were turned off. I know because I could smell them. There were three and they were powerful”

  “Does this happen often?”

  “Never.” Callan speaks up.

  “We’re the rejects of our society. The only reason we’re even still taken a bit seriously is because of Alec. People are terrified of him after what happened.” Lenny adds.

  “What do you mean?” Lenny opens his mouth to answer my question but Callan cuts him off.

  “It’s not our story to tell.” Callan’s words have been said too often, I can tell.

  “It doesn’t matter. Nothing like this has happened before. And it seems really strange to happen now that we’ve found you. And nothing was taken. The place was destroyed but everything was still there. The back office wasn’t even touched. They went through and broke bottles, tables and even the equipment.”

  “Yeah, my favorite drum set.” Lenny pouts like a child that’s just dropped his ice cream cone into a pile of mulch.

  My eyes dart to Lenny. “You play the drums? You’re in a band?”

  He smiles proudly. “We are a band.”

  Holy fucking shit. I am absolutely certain that this is all some evil joke being played on me. How could these guys be everything that turns me on? It’s impossible, right? It has to be. It’s too good to be true. I’m not that lucky. All though, one of my boyfriends is a blood sucking vampire so… balance? Yeah, I’m going with that. Balance.

  “Let me guess who plays which instrument!” I say all too enthusiastically. Lenny’s face lights up at my words. He loves games.

  “How about not. We have more to discuss. Play your games later.”

  “Ya know, if you want me to join your little club here,” I spin my finger in a cir
cle, motioning at the guys sitting around the table. ”You should try being nicer to me. Ya know, buttering me up a bit. “

  “Completely unnecessary.” He responds smoothly.

  “Oh ya? And why is that?”

  Maddox leans over the table, getting closer to me, his eyes level with mine. “Because if you wanted to leave, you’d be gone by now.” He says dead seriously. His eyes have taken over this extra dark color, with little flecks of silver in them.

  Fuck. He has a point.

  I purse my lips, sit back in my seat and cross my arms. Both pissed at him for being an arrogant jerk and the fact that my game is over. So much for milking this for all it’s worth.

  “Do you have any leads?” Callan questions. There is a long pause before Maddox breaks his eye contact with me and answers the question. “No, but I have their scent. If I come across them again, I’ll know it. But someone is trying to send us a message, piss us off or something. As I was saying, it’s odd that it happens now when we finally find her.” He tips his head in my direction.

  Asshole.

  “We have all this trouble finding her, thinking she doesn’t exist. Now we do and this happens? Maybe it’s a coincidence, but I don’t believe in coincidences. We all need to be on our toes and keep an extra eye out around us.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Are we done?” Lenny’s tone is taking on that adorable whine that I lo–like so much. Yep. Almost got me there.

  “You don’t take this seriously, that’s not my problem. I can’t protect you all the time. You need to grow up at some point.” Maddox says sternly. He gets up from the table and walks coolly to his room, closing the door behind him just hard enough for me to know that he is pissed off. Lenny turns to me instantly.

  “Back to the game. You obviously know I play drums, what about the other guys.” I want to talk to him, to tell him that Maddox is right. If this is happening because they found me then we all need to focus and take this more seriously. But I’m not that person. I’m not the mom here. If Lenny wants to act this way, then let him. Who am I to judge? Plus, I think he understands what’s going on. He isn’t stupid. Just because he isn’t taking it seriously on the outside, doesn’t mean he isn’t on the inside. A defense mechanism, that’s all. That’s who Lenny is, and I’m all about being true to who you are.

  “Okay, so give me a minute to think.” I take a good look at Callan and then picture Maddox and Alec in my head. Hmm. I think I got it. “So, this is what I got. Maddox is definitely the front man, singing and guitar. There is no way he’d let anyone else do that. Alec is bass and Callan is rhythm guitar.” I clap my hands and throw my fist into the air, knowing that I’m just that good.

  Lenny sucks in a deep breath, placing both hands palm down on the table. “FAIL!”

  “What? No way! No way in hell am I wrong.” I pout.

  Callan sits back in his chair, completely still. He starts twiddling his thumbs and his cheeks are tinged pink. What is there to be nervous about right now?

  “You were right about Alec, he is on bass, but totally wrong about Mad and Cal.” He leans back in his chair, a proud look on his face. “Callan is the singer.”

  I need some new panties. Shit, I’m not wearing any.

  “Shut the fuck up!” I look from Callan to Lenny and then back to Callan. “You.” I point to him. “You are the singer in a band? You who can barely even speak to me is the lead singer in a band? What… how?”

  Mind blown.

  “It’s not like we’re famous. We don’t go on tour and sing in front of millions of people. We started playing when we were kids and then we would only play at the bar every now and then. Besides, we haven’t played in years.” Callan’s words are shaky.

  He’s worried that I’ll ask him to sing for me. Someday, Callan, but that day is not today.

  “I hope you know that I will have to see this.”

  “Anything for you.” Lenny says and then winks.

  “I need to shower.”

  “What’s for dinner?”

  “Figure it out, it isn’t my turn to cook.” Callan disappears into the bathroom. And I realize that he didn’t take any clothes in there with him. Yes, this is where my thoughts go.

  Lenny pouts again.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll cook.” Partially because I want to impress these guys and partially because I need to be in this vicinity when Callan comes out of that bathroom. I need to get laid. Which I plan on doing tonight, by the way. One way or another, I’m getting some tonight.

  I get to cooking and Lenny hangs out with me in the kitchen playing a game on his phone. He makes a sound of disappointment every now and then and I can only assume that he’s losing at whatever it is that he’s doing. Alec and Maddox stay locked away in their rooms, pouting like little bitches. Maybe that’s mean, but I’m not too happy with them right now. So nice is not on the menu for tonight. I’m not entirely sure why I’m mad, I just am. Perks of being a woman. Just as I start layering the meat, cheese and noodles – I’m making lasagna by the way – the bathroom door swings open and out walks Callan in nothing but a towel. I try not to make it obvious, but I don’t think that works. Since I drop the spoon that I was using to scoop the ground beef. It slaps the table, beef juice splashes everywhere and then it falls to the floor.

  Smooth Friday, real smooth.

  “Fucking fuck!” Lenny laughs under his breath at my choice of words, while Callan scurries away to get his bag. I keep my eyes on him, the muscles in his back flexing with each step he takes, the way they tighten as he picks up his bag. His hair is still wet and slicked back, his chest is bare with a small trail of hair around his belly button that leads to a very, very happy place. I notice a decent sized scar on the side of his belly button and my chest suddenly hurts. Why do these guys have so many scars? He catches me ogling but I’m so mesmerized by his beauty that I don’t care. He brings his bag with him and disappears into the bathroom again. I’m biting my lip so hard that it hurts. I may be bleeding.

  “Hey, earth to Friday?” Lenny’s voice snaps me back to reality. “Damn girl, you’ve got it bad.”

  “Shut up.”

  “You know, if you say yes you can have a piece of that too. It’s what he’s waiting for. He’s saved himself for you.” He pokes my nose with his finger. When did he get in front of me? “Let me get that for you.” He brings his thumb to my chin and wipes something away. Drool? No. I wasn’t really drooling… was I?

  I know that what he’s saying is true, but I can’t make this decision just because I want to fuck Callan. That’s not right. What kind of relationship would that be? It needs to be more than that. I mean, I did already make my decision about staying, but like I said, sleeping with Callan is going to be a big thing. I know that. I bring my mind back down to earth and get back to layering the lasagna and then throw it in the oven. Shouldn’t be much longer until it’s ready to eat. Just as I’m about to sit down, get comfy and watch TV, Callan comes out of the bathroom once more, this time in a pair of grey sweatpants – Lord fucking help me! – and a white t-shirt – I am on my damn knees, praying for help. He places his bag in its spot against the wall and moves to stand in front of me.

  “Friday?”

  “Yes, Callan?” I furrow my eyebrows, because he’s being weird. Yes, talking directly to me is weird. For Callan.

  “Can I take you on a date?”

  “A date?” The words come out breathless. That’s the last thing I was expecting. “Uh, yeah. Of course. When?” I try to fix that and make myself sound cooler, but I totally fail. I sound more desperate than anything.

  “Tomorrow night.” He picks up his book from the end table and goes outside to the balcony.

  I look to Lenny who is laying on the other couch and mouth the words what was that?

  His response is to make a hole with one hand and shove his finger into it multiple times. The universal sign for sex. I shake my head and get comfy on the couch.

  After flipping
through the channels, I finally settle on a horror movie.

  “Why are you so far away?” I ask in a whiney tone. Lenny is definitely rubbing off on me.

  “I’m not far away, you are.” He says, rolling over and half hanging off the couch.

  “Just shut up and come here.” He rolls off the couch the rest of the way, falling to the floor and landing on his back with a thump. “I… don’t… think… I can… make it.” He coughs dramatically. I roll my eyes so hard it hurts. I’m speechless for a moment, but then the laughter comes, and I can’t stop it. I’m crying. There are actual tears coming from my eyes.

  “Come oooon. Get your butt over here.” He rolls over again, pushing himself up on all fours and crawls over to me, climbs onto the couch and lays beside me, pulling me into him. Thoughts of Alec pop into my head and I consider telling Lenny about last night but decide against it. That’s not something I want out in the open right now. I don’t want any chance of it getting back to Alec. I fear that would completely ruin things between us. (When did I start caring about things between Alec and I?) And what if he doesn’t remember? The exact moment I let out a sigh of contentment, the timer goes off. Lenny and I both let out a groan.

  I get up and walk to the kitchen, turn off the oven and pull out the glass dish and leave it on the stove to cool down. I skip back to Lenny who is now taking up the entire couch, laying on his back. I straddle him and run my hands up his chest. His hands go to my hips and he pulls me down into a kiss. It’s full of need and hunger. He missed me too. Knowing that makes me happy.

  I feel him growing hard between my legs and I press into him more, needing him to know how much I want him. I pull back from the kiss, “can I tell you a secret?” I ask into his lips. He nods slightly. “I’m going to say yes,” I whisper. He starts kissing me again, using his tongue softly and slowly. He pulls away this time, moving his lips to my ear. “Now let me tell you a secret.” He pauses for a moment. I can’t see it, but I feel him lick his lips. ”I already knew that.” He whispers back into my ear.