Callum glanced up at me, grinning like he could read every thought running through my head. “Thinking about her?”
“Nope,” I lied.
He smirked. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“Occupational hazard,” I said. “Bartenders aren’t supposed to lie. We just listen.”
“Yeah, and pour whiskey for yourself while you’re doing it.”
“Multitasking,” I said, climbing down again.
We stood in silence for a bit, both pretending to care deeply about light placement. The town square across the street was already glowing with decorations, and the air smelled faintly like pine and woodsmoke. A lot of the homes around here depended on fireplaces to keep the places warm.
The first snow of the season had dusted everything white, the kind that made Reckless River look like a postcard instead of a place where your truck wouldn’t start before coffee. I moved the ladder and stepped up again.
“You could always try to make peace,” Callum said finally.
“With who?”
He gave me a look.
“Not happening,” I said.
“Come on,” he said. “It’s Christmas. Time for forgiveness. Reconnection. Maybe a little—”
“If you say holiday spirit, I’m jumping off this ladder.”
“Holiday spirit,” he said with a grin.
I groaned. “That ship has sailed, Brother. Sailed and sunk.”
Callum chuckled. “How do you know that?”
I arched a brow at him. “Those were literally her words.”
He winced, his laugh turning sympathetic. “Ouch. You never told me that.”
“Yeah,” I said, jamming another staple into the wood. “Real poetic, too. I think she even threw in an icy kiss. Fitting, considering she’s cold as hell when she wants to be.”
“Maybe she was just protecting herself,” he said.
“Maybe I should’ve stuck to flirting instead of… whatever that was.”
Callum smirked. “Pretty sure what that was involved your bed and a lot of bad decisions.”
“Six, to be exact,” I muttered before I could stop myself.
He blinked, then burst out laughing. “Six? Damn, Drew. You didn’t mention that part.”
“Because it’s irrelevant,” I said, glaring at the staple gun.
He kept laughing. “Yeah, sure. Totally irrelevant. No feelings involved. Just a half-dozen friendly cardio sessions.”
“Exactly,” I said.
Callum grinned. “So why are you blushing?”
“I’m not.”
