Page 16 of Flights and Sights

Charlie gave him a sly grin and nodded. “Am I late?”

With a roll of his eyes, Cal tipped his head in my direction. “Charlie, this is Paxton. My boyfriend.”

Charlie’s eyes widened. “Boyfriend? You didn’t tell me—” When Cal glared at him, he stopped talking and cleared his throat. “You didn’t tell me… he was joining us.” He turned his gaze to me. “Good to finally meet you, Paxton.”

Angie leaned forward and fixed her gaze on Charlie. “Callum and Paxton were just telling us all about their new long-distance relationship. I’ve learned so much.”

Jacob huffed out a breath.

The server reappeared to deliver our food, and as he did, I noticed Cal’s glass was empty. I leaned close to him and tapped his glass. “Another?”

He gave me a look I couldn’t quite decipher, his gaze soft, his hazel eyes bright. “Thanks,” he murmured with a nod.

“Shit,” Charlie muttered when I gestured toward the server for a refill. “I need a drink too.”

Chapter 8 - Callum

The rest of the evening went smoothly enough, though the urge to kick Jacob in the shins throughout the meal was strong. I was grateful for Charlie and Paxton, who seemed to hit it off, playing off one another while I tried hard to ignore Jacob’s narrowed eyes as he glared at me every time Paxton touched my hand or draped an arm across the back of my chair.

As we stood after the meal, Paxton put a gentle hand on my lower back, causing heat to rise in my chest and up my neck. Every time he touched me, in fact, warmth washed through me and my heart thumped a little harder.

Before we left, Mom and Dad came over to say goodbye, Mom wrapping us each in a tight hug, Dad shaking Paxton’s hand firmly. “It was good to meet you, Paxton,” Dad said. “I’m just sorry we didn’t get more of a chance to get to know each other. Will you be joining Callum at some of the other reunion events?”

Paxton gave him a winning smile, which made my heart flutter. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

When we made it out to the car, Paxton hurried around to open the driver’s side door for me.

I chuckled and shook my head. “Who says chivalry is dead?”

He gave me that grin that made my stomach flip and shrugged. “Are you okay to drive?” When I nodded, he gestured to the car. “Then your chariot awaits.”

As we got onto the road, the music filled the space between us. Paxton reached his hand out as if he were going to take mine, but hesitated and then adjusted the volume on the radio.

“So that was… something.”

I gave a soft laugh and nodded. “It definitely was.”

“Your ex is a real piece of work.”

“Tell me about it.”

A moment passed before Paxton spoke again. “Do you… you don’t still have feelings for him, do you?”

I couldn’t stop my startled laugh. “No. Definitely not.” I glanced at Paxton and he was nodding. “Why do you ask?”

He shrugged. “I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. If you wanted to get back with him, we could manufacture some drama to make him look like the good guy. I mean, it would be difficult to pull that part off, but I could try.”

“Absolutely not.”

When I glanced at him again, his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Okay, then.” He cleared his throat. “That definitely makes my life easier.”

I hummed softly and the two of us fell quiet as I drove. When I pulled into Paxton’s driveway and put the car in park, he lingered for a moment.

“Thanks for inviting me. I had a great time.”

“Despite Jacob?”

He laughed. “I liked needling him. I could tell we were getting under his skin.”