*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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No way in hell was I going home after what Mom witnessed there earlier. I had to wait a few hours at least, to make sure the Energizer Bunnies got it all out of their system.
Mental note: buy Lysol for the kitchen counters. Might need more than one container to feel comfortable cooking in my own kitchen again.
Thanks, Brie. Thanks a lot.
Hopefully, Callan wouldn't mind if I tagged along with him for the evening... not that I'd given him much of a choice when I took the lead, marching into his house. Mom had interrupted us before, and there were ideas I still wanted to run by Callan. Not only that, I needed to get the quotes from him so I could take them to my suppliers and barter for a better deal. As long as he didn't ask me about what happened with Mom at the diner, we'd be golden. He'd be getting my help, and I'd have a place to stay that didn't give me mental images of Austin's pale ass on the quartz countertop.
"So, are you just not going to mention what happened?" Callan asked, within seconds of the door shutting behind him.
I should have known better than to think we could avoid this conversation.
This was what I was afraid of. I didn't want to get into it, especially when I was still upset about it all. After I refused Mom's very generous offer, things were tense. She quickly paid the bill, and we drove home in silence. We hugged before she got into her car to go home, but it wasn't a normal hug. This one was laced with tension and frustration from both sides.
She was frustrated with me for continuously turning down her wisdom and life advice. I was irritated with her for constantly bringing up my lack of - well... my lack of a life. She didn't mean to belittle me, but that's how it felt everytime she mentioned that I was 'just a waitress'. I'd told her time and time again what I wanted, and I wished she could respect that. It hurt that she couldn't understand why it was so hard for me to just move on with my life.
"I wasn't planning to mention it, no." I sat down in one of the uncomfortable folding chairs and crossed my arms over my chest. Callan sat opposite me.
He studied me before a mischievous look fell across his handsome face. "You're here because you don't want to go home."
I nodded slowly. "Your point?"
Callan mimicked me, his arms folded across his chest. He smirked. "If you want to hang out here instead of going back to your dirty, violated house, I think you should explain why you just refused $5000 from your mother. And I have a few reasons why I think you should comply."
My first thought was to shut this conversation down immediately and bring the subject back to the renovation. However, the so-called reasons he mentioned had me curious - even if there was almost zero chance I was going to give in.
"All right." I leaned forward in my chair. "I'm listening."
Callan matched my posture again, leaning towards me, pinning me with a confident grin. "Number one, because you inflicted a semi-serious injury on me. I am not sure I'll ever be able to be in the presence of darts again. Number two, because I told you all about Natalie and that was not easy for me. Number three, because I didn't hit you with my car the other day when you randomly jumped out onto the road. Number four, I allowed your mother to quiz me for almost an hour, all while being incredibly polite, even though at times I felt like I was on trial."
