Page 4 of Bitten By Desire (Crooked Point #1)

Thursday

Present Day

“Ah you’re here!” Zoey screamed.

I slammed the taxi door closed as Zoey ran down her front steps. She pushed open her white picket fence and attacked me in a huge bear hug.

“You’re acting like you haven’t seen me in years,” I said with a laugh.

“I haven’t seen you in years, Emma.”

“We video chat all the time.”

“Which is very different than hanging out in person.”

That was true. But I’d saved up enough vacation days to stay for two weeks. The wait was worth it. Otherwise the flight here and back would have sucked up my meager five vacation days the past few years.

“You haven’t even seen my new house.”

“You showed me…”

“Via video chat? Yeah, not the same. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Mhm.” It looked like a cookie cutter house.

In a cookie cutter town. I honestly couldn’t picture Zoey here.

She’d lived in the city with me after college, but for some reason she’d transformed into a white picket fence person a couple years ago.

It was too suburban. Too housewifey. And Zoey was neither of those things .

“And it’s not just the house that’s amazing. The whole town is so cute. I can’t wait to show you around. And you can pretty much walk to everything you need. And everyone is so nice.”

Yeah…all that sounded like a nightmare. A small town meant nosey neighbors. And white picket fences meant judgy moms. Zoey wasn’t married. How was she fitting in so well here?

“Don’t you miss the city?” I asked.

“What’s to miss? The traffic? The stress? The high rent?” She grabbed my bag from me. “Take a deep breath, Emma.”

I stood there in her yard and breathed in slowly.

“That’s fresh air.”

I laughed. “Okay, fair point.” I took another deep breath.

The air was damp from a recent rainstorm.

But even the cloudy day couldn’t take away from how cute her yard was.

It had been a long time since I’d seen anything quite this green.

I lifted my camera from around my neck and snapped a picture of her smiling, the greenery the perfect backdrop.

“You still use that?” she asked and pointed to the knot in my neck strap.

I pictured Callum ripping it in two when he’d taken my camera. And his fingers trailing down my name stitched in the side. I should have gotten a new one right away. But I liked the memory.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. “It still works. So…are you going to give me a tour?”

“Yeah, let me drop your things off and we can walk to Main Street. I bet you’re starving.”

I’d actually meant a tour of her house. I was more tired than hungry. But…she’d already tossed my bag th rough her front door and was pulling me down the sidewalk.

“Okay, full disclosure…”

“You moved here because you’re secretly a swinger and everyone in this town is DTF?”

Zoey laughed. “As fun as that sounds…this isn’t about me.”

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and groaned.

“Zoey, I just got here. Please do not set me up with someone.” Zoey had been forcing me on dates ever since my breakup with Jackson back in college.

Or maybe it was more so after my one night stand with a ghost. A ghost I couldn’t stop talking about. Or dreaming about.

“But he’s so hot and…”

“Then why don’t you date him?”

“Because he’s the kind of guy you settle down with. And I’m not ready for all that yet.”

I just stared at her. “You moved to the suburbs. We’re surrounded by white picket fences.

Everything about you is screaming that you’re ready to settle down.

” Except for her outfit. She still believed that either cleavage or her stomach needed to be showing at all times.

I wondered what her neighbors thought about that.

Zoey laughed. “I moved here for this.” She grabbed my hand to pull me down the sidewalk. We turned and I was suddenly staring at the cutest little row of shops. It almost looked like a quaint little German village. Not that I would really know. I’d never left the country.

“Welcome to Crooked Point,” she said and pointed to the sign welcoming you to town. “Admit it. It’s cool. ”

“It’s amazing.” Crooked Point didn’t seem like a fitting town name when everything looked so perfect. I stared down the row of colorful shops and smiled.

Zoey squealed. “I knew you’d love it. Which brings me to my next point…we should totally be roommates again.”

“I have a job in the city.”

“We both know you hate the city. Besides, you can do photography anywhere.”

“Sure…but that doesn’t mean I’d get paid for it anywhere.”

“We’ll figure it out. Besides…you’re not going to want to leave after just two weeks. Bennett is a catch.”

“No. I’m not meeting whoever Bennett is.”

“But…he’s waiting for you in the coffee shop down the street.”

“What the hell, Zoey?”

“Emma, it’s been ten years.”

I stared at her. I didn’t know if she was referring to Jackson or Callum. But either way…it was a moot point. “I date all the time.”

“That’s definitely an exaggeration.”

“I dated Joe for like…six months.”

Zoey scrunched her face up.

“What was wrong with Joe?”

“Well, first of all…he called himself Big Joey.”

Yeah…that was a little gross.

“And I hated that his name sounded similar to mine,” Zoey said. “Shit like that gets confusing. And second of all…he didn’t help.”

“Help what?”

“You. You’re still obsessed with Coach Walsh.”

Okay, so it was about Callum. “I am not. ”

“So you don’t still search for him on Google?”

“I mean…I do it occasionally…”

“Do you still dream about him? Because you used to moan his name all the time in your sleep.”

“I didn’t realize I was doing that.” Why hadn’t she told me? “And I can’t control my dreams, Zoey.”

“And you haven’t driven back to campus to that creepy old mansion?”

“That happened one time. Five years ago. And I just wanted to see if any of those portraits were still there.” They hadn’t been. I’d broken in and the house was completely empty.

“You almost got arrested.”

“Almost is the key word there.”

She put her hands on her hips. “You need to forget about him. It was a one night stand.”

“I don’t do one night stands.”

“You did. That one time. That’s all it was.”

I shook my head. It was so much more than that.

It had been…all consuming. No one ever looked at me the way Callum had, before or since.

I compared every date to him. Every relationship.

Even every kiss. Which wasn’t fair, because I’d never actually kissed Callum.

But I’d felt his lips on my neck. God, I dreamed of that the most. I’d had a hickey for weeks.

Zoey waved her hand in front of my face. “Stop it. You’re doing that thing where you zone out and think of him.”

She knew me too well. “I’m over him,” I said.

She raised her eyebrows at me.

“I am.”

“Then go on this date with Bennett. ”

I shook my head. “I’m only here for two weeks. I’m spending all my time with you. Not some weirdo.”

“He’s cute.”

“Remember when you hooked up with that guitar player?” I asked.

“Guitar player #1 or #2?”

“Two.”

She smiled. “Oh, yes. I remember.”

“See.” I pointed to her happy face. “You liked him a lot. Just thinking about him still makes you smile. That’s all it was with me and Callum too.”

“Emma, I don’t think it’s the same at all. I’ve slept with like a thousand guys since then.”

“Gross.”

She slapped my arm. “You know what I meant. You’ve slept with how many guys since Callum?”

“Like…four? Ish?”

“What does four-ish even mean?”

“One was just a lot of third base. Bad third base.” The whole time all I could think about was Callum whispering, “You’re going to taste so sweet,” in my ear. “Okay…maybe I do have a problem.”

Zoey laughed. “You just need a better lay. And Bennett is behind door #2.” She pointed down the street to the coffee shop.

I really did not want to do this. But Zoey was right. I’d been hung up on Callum for ten years. And I was never going to see him again. Callum Walsh had been a one night stand. It was time to move on.

“He doesn’t have like a two inch dong or something weird?” I asked.

“I haven’t slept with him. But I love how you went right to penis size. Based on his shoe size I bet he’s at least six inches. Hopefully seven. If he’s eight, I may have to steal him for myself.”

I laughed. “Wait right here. Because there’s a 50% chance I’m going to walk in and walk right back out.”

“Fair. I actually needed to grab a few groceries. Meet me in the little market over there if you hate him.” She waved and walked into the closest store.

I didn’t love how agreeable she was suddenly being. Bennett definitely had a micro dick. But the sooner I did this, the sooner I could just hang out with her.

As I walked down the sidewalk to the coffee shop, a kid ran out of a different store, almost hitting me with the door. I sidestepped the door and ran right into something hard. No…someone.

The man grunted and then grabbed my biceps to steady me. His hands were so cold that a chill ran down my spine. I’d only ever felt hands that cold as they’d caressed my body. No. It wasn’t possible. I looked up at him.

Gold eyes stared back at me. The gold eyes I’d been dreaming about for ten years. But he didn’t look a day older. He was exactly as I remembered him.

“Callum?”

He lowered his eyebrows as he stared at me. Apparently I hadn’t made the same impression on him.