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West blinks a couple of times then smiles, giving us both that dangerous look this time. The deejay gods grant us another slow song—thank you—and I settle into the simple joy of having a beautiful woman in my arms.
“You looked like you came over on a mission,” says Callie, relaxing into me. There are people everywhere, including my parents, and her brother, and all the people taking pictures, so I don’t hold her as closely as I’d like.
I clear my throat.
“Yeah,” I say. Stellar start, Raleigh. “I just wondered…”
“Hmm?” Callie’s expression is faintly amused.
“I was wondering what you think about West,” I finish lamely. Not what I wanted to ask, but close enough.
“About West?” She sounds surprised. “He’s one of the best men I’ve ever met. Except for my brother and Sully, maybe the best.”
“Why?”
Callie doesn’t answer right away.
“How much do you know about his family?” she says after a moment.
“Almost nothing.”
Callie nods.
“I can’t go into detail much, but West had a hard time at home as a teenager,” she says. She pauses again, choosing her words carefully. “Even back then, it impressed me how he could shoulder all that expectation and pressure while he helped Finn keep it together.”
“You mean, after your parents…” I hate that I never know how to say it.
Callie nods again. “When they died, Finn and Sully had a pretty hard time of it. Lots of fighting, failing grades, you name it, they were getting in trouble for it. West helped pull them through it.”
“He means a lot to you,” I say.
“He does,” Callie agrees. My heart sinks a little, and I wonder if I’ve gotten my hopes up too far. “But you know, Raleigh, if this weekend has taught me anything, it’s that caring about people doesn’t always look the way you might expect.”
I pull back to look her in the eye. Callie smiles a little, gently. Encouraging me to speak.
“Do you think he might…” I trail off. How the hell do I say this? “Do you think there’s any chance he and I…”
Callie takes my hand and squeezes it, leaning up to whisper in my ear.
“It’s all right to want more, Raleigh.”
I stop moving.
“How did you know?” I whisper. I don’t even know if she can hear me over the music, and I’m terrified everybody around me can tell what we’re talking about.
Which is silly and not like me at all. I take a deep breath, determined to push through it.
“You look at him like you look at me,” she says quietly. Callahan smooths a hand over my shoulder and I realize belatedly that I’m shaking; she’s trying to calm me down.
“I’ve never…”
She smiles widely. “Neither have I,” she says conspiratorially. “But maybe if we stick together we’ll be all right.”
I laugh then, daring to risk looking at West for the first time since he left us to return to his seat. He’s nodding at something Finn is saying, but his eyes meet mine and this time I know I’m not imagining the heat in them.
“You said it’s all right to want more,” I say to Callie, watching West until he breaks our eye contact. “What if I want more from you, too?”
“What do you mean?” she asks. The tiniest wrinkle appears between her brows.
