Runaway [cake au] ✔

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Luke

There was no doubt that Calum seemed a bit off after drinks last night. We got back to the apartment and he went straight to bed, without staying up for a beer like he usually did. I sat in front of the TV and watched some weird late-night comedy talk show before heading to bed too, knowing that Harper would be back pretty soon.

She ended up rolling in at around three am.

Honestly, I wanted to ask what she'd been doing but I was so tired that all I wanted to do was sleep. And when morning came, she was out like a bullet before I could even say hello.

Calum and I sat down for breakfast that morning, consuming the remainders of the pastries Harper had bought yesterday. That's when the weird questions starting being thrown around.

"Do you know someone called Vic?" he asked randomly, sipping his coffee. I racked my brains, flipping through the list of people I knew, until I reached Victor. Maybe Vic was a nickname?

"Is it short for Victor?"

"I'm not too sure."

"Well, I know a Victor – he dated Harper a few years ago, I think..." Calum raised his eyebrows and stopped chewing momentarily. "Why d'you ask?"

But instead of giving me a real reason, he simply shrugged. "The name popped up last night whilst you and Michael were hammered, and I just wanted to ask."

That was strange. I didn't even drink that much last night, so I think I would've remembered if we had discussed Victor. He wasn't someone I usually brought up over alcohol, in fact I hardly even knew the guy.

"Do they still meet up?"

Okay, I wasn't entirely sure why he keep asking about Victor but I decided to answer as fully as possible in the case that Calum genuinely required this information.

"No, not that I know of. I'm not even aware of whether he still lives in New York or not."

"How come?"

"Um... his parents live in Wisconsin or something. He's been convicted of a few crimes, so they wanted him where they could keep an eye on him, something like that. Is there something going on? It's not like you to dig so deep about a person I supposedly mentioned," I asked. Calum smiled blankly, standing up.

"Nah, just curious. Thanks for breakfast, I've got an interview at that accounting firm downtown. Looking for a temporary receptionist since theirs is on maternity leave. I'll give you a call before lunch, yeah?"

However I couldn't let him go to an interview looking like a hobo. "Wait, c'mere," I said quickly, reaching my hand up to his head and brushing it through with my fingertips. I licked my thumbs and painted them across his unkempt eyebrows, picking a flake of dry skin off his cheek at the same time. "Take better care of your visuals, Calum – if you actually used them, maybe you'd have more success getting hold of all that money."

He leant in, locking eye contact with me, warm breath fanning over my face. Before I knew it, he'd kissed my lips and was out of the door, leaving me in a hot state early in the morning. How on earth did he expect me to go to work feeling all clammy? I know I'd shut him down on the 'love' front, but friends could kiss each other too, right...?

I just felt so guilty. Harper was getting on with her pregnancy with no idea of my dirty little secret, the fact that Calum was my boyfriend, my one true love, my soulmate for a good few years of my life. Add that to the kisses we'd shared since he turned up again, as well as the time we even had sex.