The stag hunt with the scarlet heart

Chapter 25 "Karma comes in the shape of a fucking raging bitch"

I knew something was going to happen, like someone who knows that death is coming. But the universe was silent, even when you asked it to make noise or break the window, it insults your memories, and throws to the ground every one of your attempts to reach it, it becomes muted screams, but it will reach you, the universe always reaches, and I always wanted to shout at it: 'Do it the way you wish, but do it with noise'. But fear and uncertainty were tapping me on the shoulder.

Have you ever clung to something so tightly that even the thought of letting go turns your stomach? I am sure you have; we have all felt at some point the inevitable necessity of clinging with nails and the tooth to those people or those moments that we think complete us, that make us feel alive and less alone in this world. Maybe we are selfish, maybe this is what life is all about.

Callum turns off the engine, pulling me out of my thoughts, and we share a look that says it all and everything and nothing, we look at each other, waiting for the other to come down, I have to be the mature one here, so I gather my things and open the door at the same time he does, while I'm still trying to get off this monstrosity he comes to my side and helps me. My eyes flutter.

"We should buy a ladder," I say as he closes the door, but he doesn't let me go. My body is pinned between him and his truck.

"BLASPHEMY!" He looks at me offended and then gives me the sweetest look in the world and I want to run 'my fucking ovaries'. "No way, I love putting you down."

"You can't put me down all the time, that's absurd." I let him see the obvious. His lips brush mine, a little sore from kissing.

"Am I complaining? I'm not. No one's going to stop me, okay?" I am complaining, but he doesn't let me say it because he runs a finger over my lower lip and then my upper. "Does it hurt?"

"Just a little."

My legs tremble a little as he sticks out his tongue and slowly brushes over my upper lip and then my lower lip. He does this a few times before leaving a chaste kiss. He looks past me, to my left, but all I want is his lips on mine. I try to press my body harder against his, but the sound of footsteps crunching on the pavement makes me stop and look at the spot where Callum's eyes are now focused with a curious look. I can feel the blush rising up my neck and cheeks.

Boyd is watching us, there's a lot of curiosity there. I tense up for a second until he makes a movement with his head and relief immediately rushes through my body. Then I think to myself that Callum should never know who Boyd is, I try to calm down and in those microseconds, I tell myself that we live in a city inhabited by nothing but strangers, it's not that hard to come up with an excuse.

"Callum, can you wait for me inside?" The blond gives me a critical look. "I'll explain to you later."

Callum looks at me with hesitation, I try to give him my best confident look, I must be convincing because he nods with a straight line on his lips and his shoulders tense. He looks at Boyd and Boyd nods in recognition, changing his distant look as Callum leaves a kiss on my forehead and walks away, heading towards the portal.

Before the words come out of Boyd's mouth, I have to admit something that I might not be able to do it later. I don't want to lie to Callum because hiding something, in effect, is lying. Boyd was a secret I'd been carrying around with me for a couple of years, he's my life insurance.

He gives me a critical look that makes my hair stand on end, he approaches me.

"Dave called me, your mom... They think she has a brain tumor." For a second, my brain shorts out.

Of all the things I was expecting to come out of his mouth, that wasn't even remotely close.

"A tumor? What did he say? Is she okay?" In a second, my head becomes a mess, I feel my body begin to tremble, and Boyd grabs my shoulders. "What do I do? What should we do?"