Sebastian caught it immediately, shooting Callum a knowing look. Asma, however, seemed blissfully unaware—or just didn’t care—about the quiet tension her newfound relationship had injected into the group.
Callum had walked into that mess tonight. One week away, and suddenly everything had shifted.
Omar and Asma were now a thing.
And Leif looked like a Viking who’d just been betrayed by his blood brother. Which was complicated. Because Callum knew Leif genuinely liked Omar. Not in a casual way. Not in awe’ll laugh about this later way.In a real way.And this is going to explode at some point.
Callum just prayed it wouldn’t be tonight.
He needed this. Needed to sit here, drink a beer, crush everyone at Risk, and pretend his life wasn’t quietly unraveling in multiple directions at once. Because right now, the only thing keeping him afloat was a woman living in Spain.
“We’re… getting to know each other,” Callum said, trying to keep his tone casual, unaffected.
Which was a lie. Or at least, an understatement.
You don’t think about someone like that if you’re just “getting to know them.”
He could feel Leif’s relief from across the room, that the spotlight had shifted away from Omar and Asma.
“I can’t believe you’re dating Alejandra López Romero,” Sebastian said, raising a blond eyebrow. “Omar had a thing for her at the Olympics and she didn’t even look at him.”
“In my defense, everyone had a crush on her, and she had a boyfriend back then,” Omar admitted easily. “Another surfer from the UK, I think. She was off-limits.”
“She can be a stuck-up bitch sometimes,” Asma added, far too casually.
Callum pinched the bridge of his nose. “Asma, could you not?”
“What? I love her,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. “But the no contact thing? Come on. Who does that? Who ghosts Callum fucking Evans?”
“A professional athlete?” Sebastian offered. “It’s ingrained in our minds since we’re kids. The goal is to win, and Ale’s one of the most focused people I’ve met. After winning gold at the Olympics, she was already thinking about winning another USL title. She’s obsessed with being the best.”
Then he looked directly at Callum.
“How’s she doing since the injury?”
Callum exhaled slowly, gaze drifting for a second before he could stop it.
“Not great,” he admitted. “She spiraled a bit in Ericeira.”
Understatement of the century.
“I get it, though,” he added quickly. “When I blew out my knee and missed the Olympics, I felt like I didn’t exist anymore.”
“Ooooh,” Asma cooed sarcastically. “Cute. Trauma bonding.”
“Why are you like this tonight?” Callum groaned.
He couldn’t deal with this. Not tonight. Not when everything already felt too close to the surface.
She smirked, unapologetic. “Because it’s fun watching my best friend fall in love with someone who took way too long to realize how much of a prize he is.”
Callum stilled for half a second.
Fall in love.That’s not—That’s not what this is.Is it?
“Someone should take their own advice,” Leif muttered under his breath.
Sebastian patted his shoulder, handing him a beer that Leif took and basically chugged.
