Page 53 of Flights and Sights

“I have gifts,” he said, stepping inside.

I stepped close and gave him a quick kiss. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

His smile brightened even further. “Me too.”

It didn’t take us long to get settled in the backyard, each of us with a drink in hand, watching the kids run around screaming and having fun with water guns and carrying on easy conversation as the day passed. It really did seem like everyone was there. I even spotted Angie and Jacob off to the side, chatting with some of my other adult cousins.

Paxton stood after a while. “I’m going to run to the restroom.”

“Sure thing. Need a hand?” I winked at him.

He snorted and shook his head. “Maybe later.”

“I’m counting on it.”

As soon as he disappeared into the house, I looked back at the yard to notice Jacob approaching. My stomach soured, but I braced myself for impact.

Once he got close enough to talk, he stopped in front of me. “Callum,” he said with his typical air of superiority.

I sighed softly. Keep it polite, I told myself. “Hi, Jacob. How’s Angie?”

He flinched but smoothed out his features quickly. “I’d rather talk about you.” He took a seat next to me, where Paxton had been. “How are you?”

“Fine. Paxton is good, too.”

“Yeah, well. That’s what happens when you settle. Everything is just fine.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure. What did you want?”

“I just wanted to let you know, if you ever wanted to…” His voice was soft, quiet but not tender. “I’d take you back, you know. If you apologized.”

My eyes widened. “You want me to apologize? For what?”

“You know. Don’t act like you don’t know. This is all your fault. You’re the one who set me off. If you could just…” He waved his hands vaguely in the air. “None of this would’ve ever happened.”

“That’s not how it happened. And I’m with Pax now. I’m not interested in rekindling our relationship. Ever.”

“You could do better, you know. Better than Paxton.”

“Do you mean with you? That you’re better than Paxton?”

He shrugged casually. “I mean…”

“You know what? I’m over it. You cheated on me constantly. Every other sentence was a lie. You treated me like I was disposable to you.”

“I—”

I held up a hand to stop him. “No. I’m not interested, Jacob. Go back to Angie. Go back to whoever you want. Just don’t bother me anymore. Ever again.”

“You’ll regret this,” he said menacingly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Go.”

A second later, someone behind us cleared their throat. Jacob and I both spun to see Paxton standing there, his face stock still. “You heard him.”

Jacob huffed and stormed away and that was that.

I glanced up at Paxton. “Thanks.”