*on hold* Until Callan moved in next door, Presley was one hundred percent, completely fine with how her life was turning out.
She never regretted dropping out of college or wasting her days working in a diner for minimum wage. Boredom never plagued...
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I was such an idiot for thinking coming here was a good idea. It never crossed my mind that I'd run into Natalie, but it should have. She loved the Chance Lake summer fair. We'd gone together for as long as I could remember. The sight of Natalie with a man the size of the Rock glued to her side made my stomach dip. I panicked when I realized she'd spotted me. As she got closer, I could only think of one thing to do.
"Just go with it. You owe me," I whispered to Presley.
I saw the question in her eyes as I held her face in my hands and brought my lips over hers. She didn't pull away. Thank fuck, because I wasn't sure I could handle the embarrassment of Natalie being both the bearer and witness of my rejection.
Presley's lips moved softly against mine. I sensed her hesitation, felt her body stiffening under my touch... until it didn't. She relaxed into me, deepening the kiss. She tasted sweet, like the lemonade she'd been sipping. For a split second, I let myself forget this was a stunt to make Natalie jealous. I let my fingers roam to the ends of her hair that fell low on her back.
And then, as fast as it all happened, it ended. I pulled away from our union, capturing Presley's reaction as I did. Her eyes bore into mine as she brushed her fingers against her bottom lip. I definitely had some explaining to do. But since I was already in the thick of it, I placed an arm around Presley's shoulders and pulled her close to me.
I was pretty sure if I didn't restrain Presley somehow, she might run off in another direction and we'd come too far for that.
The tart look on Natalie's face made my chest burn with satisfaction. I saw a flicker of irritation in her eyes. Serves you right, I thought.
"Hi, Callan," Natalie said, a short laugh punctuating my name. "I can't believe we ran into you. What a small world. This is Gerald."
Natalie looked adoringly at the man who held out a monstrous hand to me. "Nice to meetcha," he said.
This is what she meant when she said she needed to explore her options? If she wanted me to hit the gym, she could have just said so.
I clenched my jaw and shook Gerald's hand. A beat of awkward silence settled over the four of us until I finally came to. "Oh, this is Presley."
"Nice to meet you, Presley," Natalie cooed. Her eyes swept over my neighbor from head to toe, but her expression didn't give anything away. I should have come to expect that from Natalie by now. She could be inauthentic and callous, which was hard to come to terms with, especially when I thought she was going to be my forever.
"A pleasure to meet you, too?" Presley said, but it was more of a question than anything else.
"Presley, this is my ex that I told you about. Remember?" I raised my brows, trying to communicate for her to go along with my lie. Luckily, she caught on quickly.
"Uh huh. Of course, I remember." Presley nodded slowly.
"Honestly, Cal... I'm so happy to see you with someone new. I was worried I'd ruined you," Natalie said. My gut instinct was to punch something, but since there was nothing nearby to take my anger out on, I balled my hand into a tight fist.
