Meet You There | Calum Hood

11

Calum smiled as he drank a sip of lemonade from the flimsy plastic cup that filled his hand. He'd switched over after his first beer when Holland had explained her reasoning for not drinking. He didn't need the alcohol to have fun, not when Holland kept staring at him with a wistful look that made his heart skip in his chest. He had a tendency to forget things when he was drinking and he was sure that moments with Holland were ones he would want to remember.

They'd been with her friends a few hours, Calum had slowly become more comfortable around her teammates and had struck up conversations with the three other boys who had been invited by members of the team.

Interspersed throughout the day he'd been gifted with anecdotes from Holland's team about her. He'd heard stories of all kinds, from funny to sad, but what struck him most was not the stories that were told but instead the way that Holland's friends spoke about her. In every story they shared with him they spoke of Holland with great pride and admiration. They obviously respected her work ethic and valued her friendship and with every new thing he learned about her he felt his feelings for her grow.

"Cal?" She said. He shook away his thoughts and turned his attention to her. "Will you take a picture of the team?"

He chuckled as she handed him her phone. He couldn't even remember the last time someone had asked him to take a picture for them and not with them.

The girls all crowded around, Calum directing them until they all fit into the frame and snapping a few so they would have options before handing Holland her phone back.

She rewarded him with a smile and turned to lean against him. His hands rose and rested on her biceps, his chin settling on the top of her head. It felt good. It felt comfortable. He could easily see the ways his brain was beginning to work her into his future and that was a bit frightening for him.

He had never been one to let a girl get in his head like this but, he had only just met Holland really and already he was thinking about how they could deal with the time apart with his tour looming. He still wasn't even sure if she was interested in him really, though the way she relaxed against his touch was surely a good sign, he hoped.

"Do you want to go in to the game or do you want to do something else? I can get us tickets if you want but we don't have to go. I'm fine either way."

He thought for a moment and then quietly mumbled into her ear. "As much as I've enjoyed meeting your friends, I wouldn't say no to some time with just you."

She grinned and took that as her cue to say goodbye to her friends. She whispered something Calum couldn't hear to Lexi and gave her a look that he couldn't read before taking his hand and heading away from the tent. Calum looked back and offered a "Bye" and a small wave as she pulled him along behind her.

"So, what do you have in mind?" He was pretty confident that things had gone well so far but he had no clue where their night was headed, not that he particularly cared if it meant he got to spend more time with her.

"The dinner I should have let you take me to last time." She said, her cheeks red with embarrassment and he wanted to reach out and squeeze them. The notion made him feel incredibly stupid and also a little more understanding of everyone who had ever squished his own cheeks.

"You sure? I know how important it is for you to follow your coach's rules." He said hesitantly, knowing now how important her training and her role as team captain was to her.

"That's why we aren't going to break any of the restrictions. There's a clean eats place not far from here, there's a few things from Coach's diet on the menu. You in or what?" She asked, her eyebrow raised as she stared at him awaiting a response.