So Twisted

by Melissa Marino

  “What are you staring at?” Callie asked.

  I shook my head out of my thoughts. “I wasn’t staring. I was just—”

  “Staring,” she said. Instead of probing further, she saved me any explanation. “This is so good. Thank you for taking us. I’ve never been.”

  “How could you live in Chicago and have never been to Wildberry?”

  She shrugged, dragging her fork across the syrup that had gathered in the corner of her plate. “Well, before,” she said, motioning between us. “If I wasn’t still sleeping through breakfast or recovering from work the night before, then I was in class. I didn’t get out for brunch much.”

  It was a subtle reminder of her life before she was with us. “You weren’t always so busy, right?”

  “Always,” she said, without missing a beat. “When my dad died, I had to step up with my little sisters and help my mom. Then, I had to take care of myself on top of that.”

  I didn’t know any of this, but really, I didn’t know much about Callie.

  “Your daddy’s in heaven?” Delilah asked.

  Callie closed her mouth and mumbled something to herself. “Sorry,” she said to me. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  I reached across the table and put my hand on hers, a gesture neither of us was used to in public. “You can answer her. She gets it a little.”

  She held my gaze for a moment, a mixture of sadness and fear hidden behind her green eyes. Just as soon as my grip on her tightened, she pulled her hand away and shifted to Delilah.

  “My daddy got hurt in a bad car accident and went to heaven. I was fourteen years old then, and I still miss him a lot. But”—she brushed her hand across Delilah’s curls—“you don’t need to worry about that. You have one of the best daddies ever, and he’s not going anywhere.”

  “I’m five now since my birthday, and I still don’t have a mommy,” Delilah said matter-of-factly. “Like how you don’t have a daddy.”

  “And I think we’re both pretty amazing,” she said. “All families are different, right?”

  Callie looked at me, and I winked. She handled it perfectly. She’d never mentioned her dad before. In fact, she never mentioned much about her family at all. She knew a lot about my family already, about my history, but there were these large chunks of her life I was missing. I was going to have to make it a priority to get in there and find out more.

  “You’re staring again,” Callie said annoyed. “Do I have something on my face?”

  She wiped at her face with her napkin, but I yanked it out of her hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. I just wanted to say I’m sorry about your dad.”

  She took in a deep breath and blew it out in a long, staggered exhale. A pain that profound never lessened. I could see it all over her face.

  “Thank you,” she said. “It was a long time ago, but…thank you.”

  The remainder of brunch was quiet, the noise of the restaurant and Delilah’s chatter filling in the gaps between us. Once finished, we moved on with the rest of our day. First, the Art Institute of Chicago and then a visit to Cloud Gate.

  “Can you believe I never knew it was named Cloud Gate?” Callie said. The lake breeze blew her hair around her face as the sun warmed her cheeks to subtle pink. My eyes drifted between her and Delilah, who was running and twirling beneath the sculpture.

  “No. I can’t believe it,” I said, laughing.

  “I thought it was just the Bean, you know? I mean, that’s what everyone calls it. I thought—” She paused and pointed her finger at me. “Bean. Pancake beans.”

  “Now you got it.”

  She was smiling into her reflection off the stainless steel panels of the Bean. I stepped behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She instantly struggled to get away, but I held her tight.

  “Aaron.” She squirmed. “Delilah.”

  I wanted to say “Who cares?” but I knew she did. We both did, but for a moment, I wanted to pretend we were just us. I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and held it up to our reflection.

  “Look up there, Calliope,” I said.

  She backed herself in to me, tilted her head up, and matched her smile to mine as I snapped the picture. We were just another couple among hundreds there doing the same, but we were different. We only had moments, and we had to take those moments when we could. I glanced over at Delilah who was making silly faces at the Bean.

  “Now, look at me,” I said.

  She dipped her head back, and I kissed her only briefly, but long enough for me to snap another picture. “There,” I said. “I wanted documentation of kissing you at the gate to the clouds.”

  Her head shook as she spun around. “So full of schmoopy, you are. Delilah,” she called. “Come here!”

  She ran over, slipping her hand into Callie’s. “What?”

  Callie brushed Delilah’s hair back and straightened her shirt. “Take a picture with your Daddy.”

  Callie started to step away, but I grabbed her hand and tugged her back. “Let’s take one all together.”

  “Aaron.” She sighed.

  “Come on. It’s just a picture,” I said.

  I didn’t want to push, especially over something simple, things like photos. So I waited to gauge her reaction.

  “Yes!” Delilah said. “Come on, Callie.”

  She smiled. “You, I can say no to,” she said, pressing her finger into my chest. “You, I can’t, Delilah.”

  The three of us squeezed together, grinned into the Bean, and I snapped another picture. Another moment saved.

  “Now what?” Callie asked. “Home?”

  “Nope,” I said. “I thought we’d head over to Lurie Garden, walk around a bit, and then Sophie is coming to pick up Delilah for the rest of the day.”

  “Who’s Sophie?” she asked.

  “She’s the other lady that watches me sometimes. Can we go get a pretzel when she gets here?” Delilah said.

  Callie raised her eyebrows and smirked. “Two ladies not enough for you?” she asked.

  “Actually,” I said, “anything more than one is one too many for me, which is why Sophie is coming for her.”

  She began to fidget again, shoving her hands into her pocket and avoiding eye contact. “And what does that mean?” she asked.

  “A few more surprises.”

  “I hate surprises, Aaron.”

  * * *

  Once Sophie picked up Delilah, after we went to Lurie Garden, we took a stroll down Michigan Avenue to Water Tower Place. It was a beautiful day, one of those rare early summer/late spring days in Chicago where it was warm enough to go sans jacket, but cool enough to not get overheated. With her done with classes for the semester, and the first time we’d been alone in ages, I’d never seen Callie so relaxed and completely mindful of her surroundings.

  I trailed behind her, an opportunity to stare at her ass and take in her excitement. She was viewing the city like a tourist, and it made me wonder so many things.

  “I remember you saying in your interview you hadn’t always lived here,” I said. “When did you move to Chicago?”

  “Ah, six years ago,” she answered without turning around.

  “For school?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Where did you grow up, then?” I asked.

  “California. Central coast. Do you think we can take one of those architectural tours of the city sometime?”

  She was deflecting. Maybe. Or maybe she really was just enjoying the day and didn’t want to talk about her past. Either way, I wasn’t going to push it. There would be plenty of time to hear, to know, all I needed to.

  We crossed Michigan Avenue and were a few blocks down before turning to head down Rush Street. Distracted, I almost bumped into her when she abruptly stopped in front of a bar.

  Her head tilted up to the sign, RETROCADE—AN OLD SCHOOL ARCADE BAR. “Are you kidding me?” she asked. She stepped up to the tinted windows and leaned in, cupping her hands over the glass
to try to see inside.

  “What?” I questioned.

  “This is seriously awesome,” she said with her face still pressed up against the glass. “I haven’t been to an arcade in like, well, since I was kid.”

  It certainly wasn’t a stop I’d planned for the day, but it couldn’t hurt to make a detour. Spontaneity and unexpectedness was something I wasn’t used to in a relationship, especially when I was with Lexie.

  “Want to take a look?” I asked.

  Her head spun around, and she nodded. “Do you mind?”

  “Like I can say no to you,” I said, opening the door for her.

  I followed her inside, taking a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dimness in contrast to the sunny outside. It was crowded for late afternoon, the bar area filled with twentysomethings drinking draft beer and watching a NASCAR race. Callie stepped farther inside, turning around to take in her surroundings. Her face lit up from excitement and the glow of the games and neon signs.

  She grabbed my hand and dragged me through a maze of games before stopping at a row of old-school ones. “They have so many,” she said.

  She looked back and forth between them all, and I didn’t know if she was deciding on what to play or waiting to see if I was game.

  If she only knew.

  “Are you waiting for me to impress you with my above-average arcade game skills?” I asked. I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was looking, and when I saw no one was, I grabbed her ass, giving it a playful squeeze. “Or we can just get out of here and get a hotel room for the rest of the afternoon.”

  I pressed my lips to the side of her neck and waited for her to agree that a place alone to do whatever we wanted was a better option than a large arcade with sticky floors.

  She snorted and turned. “I wouldn’t underestimate my Ms. Pac-Man playing abilities, Matthews. I would annihilate you.”

  Always keeping me on my toes.

  I had to bite down on my lower lip to keep from smiling. “Is that a dare?”

  She shrugged. “Call it whatever you want, but if you’re game, you’re going to need a whole lot of quarters, so I can wipe that grin right off your face.”

  This was a side of her I hadn’t seen much of outside the bedroom. Of course, there were times she was dominant there, but outside? Not so much. It was both a turn-on and, well, a massive turn-on.

  “Keep smiling, pretty boy,” she said. “I’m going to wreck you.”

  I leaned up against the machine and folded my arms. “You’re pretty confident, huh?”

  “Yes. And you’re not. I can tell you, I’m very confident.”

  “Okay. How about a friendly bet, then?”

  “Name it.”

  I ran through a list of possible wagers, most of them deviant in a sexual nature. It must have been written all over my face because she called me right out on it.

  “And before you even go there, no. The answer is no,” she said.

  “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

  “Yes, I do. You were either going to propose breaking the World Record for the amount of blow jobs in twenty-four hours or, well, butt sex, of course.”

  I let out an incredulous gasp in an attempt to fake my way out of her spot-on prediction. In my defense, I hadn’t thought about the twenty-four-hour blow job.

  “That is ridiculous,” I said. “Despite what you think, I am able to think of other things involving you that don’t include sex. Frankly, I’m offended, Calliope.”

  “See,” she said, pointing at me. “I know you’re lying because you only call me Calliope when you’re trying to butter me up or get in my pants. And for the record, I’m an exit-only girl, so you can just get any kind of bum fun out your mind.”

  She had me again. Shit.

  “In an attempt to save what little is left of my dignity, I’m going to get quarters and then we’ll get down to business. Want a beer?”

  “Yes, please,” she said, smiling. She hopped up on the stool next to Ms. Pac-Man to await my return…

  And have me embarrass her.

  But it was Callie who embarrassed me. Badly and by over one hundred thousand points. In fact, if there was a term for utter obliteration with a side of eating crow, it would be referred to as me.

  “Well done,” I pouted while draining my beer.

  “Thank you,” she said, wrapping her arms around my waist. “And now I know what to bet on.”

  “You can’t make a bet after you’ve already won,” I said. “Besides, isn’t my humiliation enough for you?”

  “Aww. Poor baby,” she said, playfully tapping my cheek and giving me a quick kiss. “Actually, I think the win for me can be mutually…beneficial…for the both of us.”

  My internal antennae became alerted. “What did you have in mind?”

  She took my hand and led me out of the bar, the sky slowly losing the sun to night. We walked, with our hands to ourselves, a few blocks until we reached Red, a small, romantic Italian restaurant hot spot. She paused in front of the door and jerked her head toward the entrance.

  I looked down at the front of my jeans. “Not really dressed for a nice dinner. Plus, you had me waiting so long while you played, I ate a slice of pizza because I got hungry.”

  Her laugh came out loud. “I had no idea,” she said. “And I don’t want to go in for dinner. Just want to pick up something that’s a favorite of mine from here.”

  Intrigued, I followed her inside and up to the crowded wait stand.

  “Can we get one slice of tiramisu to go, please?” Callie asked the hostess. She side-eyed me and winked. “And one spoon. If that’s okay with you, Aaron?”

  My plan was to take her to dinner and a movie, but the arcade messed up my plans. Retrospect? It was the best thing that could’ve happened. We were able to step outside the box, and because of that, we both were able to see a different side of each other.

  “There’s nothing wrong with a little sugar from time to time, Calliope.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  CALLIE—

  The early morning sun had begun to peek through the curtains and reminded me it was time to return to my room. It was my morning ritual, and although it was day after day, I never minded. I’d look to my right, and there, lying next to me, would be the most beautiful man I’d ever known.

  One day. One night. They all rolled into the next with a delicious blend of passion, delight, and excitement.

  One week into the next. The month turning into the following. It’d been almost four months since I moved in and became the nanny. It was the most exhilarating four months of my life.

  I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek before sneaking out of bed and his room. Tiptoeing down the hallway to not wake Delilah, I entered my room and closed the door quietly. I crawled into my bed, and while it usually didn’t take me long to fall back asleep, I struggled for an hour to find sleep. When I finally realized at six a.m. it wasn’t going to happen, I decided to shower and get ready for the day. I rose from the bed and headed to the bathroom, turning the shower water on to get it nice and hot. Steam began surrounding me, and once I stripped naked, I stepped under the heated water.

  The warmth poured over me, washing away the night and relaxing my stiff body. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t comfortable sleeping in Aaron’s bed, I was, but it was the constant turning over of thoughts in my mind that kept me from a peaceful night’s sleep.

  I couldn’t remember a time when I felt so many different areas of my life coming together so perfectly. I was about to be in the home stretch with school, starting my last year in the fall. Plus, with the money I was making working for Aaron and not having to pay rent, I was able to start making a dent in my student loans, which was a huge relief. I adored Delilah and was lucky I was getting paid to spend time with such an amazing little girl. It didn’t escape me how attached she’d become to me, but considering she’d never had a permanent female figure around, besides her grandmother Leslie, I embraced it.


  And then there was Aaron.

  There was no way I could articulate what had transpired between us during the last several months. What started off as purely physical attraction had turned into something much more. We trapped the words we wanted to say deep inside, allowing physical touch to convey our emotions and desires. With every kiss, every caress, I let him into my heart more and more, and although I didn’t know for certain, I sensed he was feeling the same thing. Something happened to us. We didn’t need to identify it and dress it up in fancy words or discussions; it was just there. I didn’t need to ask him because I knew in his actions, his touch, that he felt it, too.

  Every day, I felt it more and more. I was completely in love with him. He was filling a part of my heart that, until I met him, had been left untouched and ignored.

  I’d been so lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed how long I’d been in the shower. I stepped out, dried off my body, and wrapped a towel around my head. When I opened the bathroom door I almost screamed when I saw I had a visitor sitting on my bed.

  “Hi there,” Aaron said with a sexy smile.

  “Shit,” I responded, holding my heart. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  “I’m sorry.” He stood up from the bed, freshly showered as well.

  I took the towel off my head and wrapped it around my body. “What are you doing in here?”

  He stepped in close to me, putting his arms around my waist. “Why did you cover yourself? Didn’t we talk about this before?”

  “I asked you a question first.”

  “I couldn’t sleep after you left, so I got up and showered. Thought I’d get a head start at work and stopped to say good-bye.”

  “What about…,” I started to say.

  His head dipped down and he placed a kiss on my neck. “Delilah’s still asleep.” His grip on me tightened as his nose ran across the skin below my ear. “Now, I want you to answer me,” he whispered. “Why did you cover yourself?”

  “I…mmm…you smell nice,” I said, taking in his scent, Ivory soap and mint and…just Aaron.

  “As do you,” he responded, nibbling on my neck. “Are you avoiding answering my question, Calliope?”