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Calum stared at him, biting the inside of his lip.What the hell?Was there a gang of heavies around the corner waiting to jump him? He folded his arms and leaned back. ‘What do you want?’
‘We need to talk.’ Arran ran his palm down the leg of his jeans. ‘Can I come in or do you want me to say it on the doorstep?’
‘That depends,’ Calum trained his gaze on him, ‘on what you want to say. If it’s something inflammatory, then save it and leave. If it’s something constructive, then… well…’ He flicked his pointer finger, gesturing for Arran to come in. Would he? Or swear a lot then bugger off.
Skimming his hand over his hair, Arran crossed the threshold, then folded his arms. He glanced around, his chest heaving. He opened his mouth. Nothing. Looking down, he shuffled his feet.
‘What’s this about?’ Calum steepled his fingers and leaned forward.
Arran huffed out a sigh. ‘I need to say some stuff.’
‘Oh yeah?’Here we go.
‘About what happened when we were at school.’
‘Right.’ Calum summoned his poker face. He was well practised at it. Thanks to the man in front of him.
‘It was bad shit.’ Arran kept his eyes fixed on the far wall behind the spare desk.
‘Too right it was.’
Arran bowed his head.
‘Of course I regret my actions,’ Calum said. ‘But I’m not going to apologise. You were a bully and you had to be stopped. I should have gone about it differently.’ He hadn’t meant to hit him so hard but the overpowering desire to punish him after months of supressed pain had reared inside him and erupted alongside a potent cocktail of teenage hormones.
‘Yeah, yeah.’ Arran threw up his hands.
‘So, is that it?’
‘No. I didn’t play fair. I shouldn’t have picked on Will.’
‘It wasn’t just Will.’
‘Or Hannah. Or you. Or anyone. I was an idiot.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Calum nodded. ‘Why are you telling me this now?’
‘Rhona heard… your side of things from a friend and told my parents.’
‘My side of things?’ The truth?
‘Yup. I guess I didn’t want people to know about my part in it.’ Arran glanced at the floor, then slowly raised his eyes to Calum. ‘What happened afterwards got out of hand. This war between our families.’
‘I had nothing to do with that. Your family believed I was the bully and made sure that was the story that got spread around.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Nothing can make that go away.’
‘Maybe we could…’ Arran ruffed up his hair. ‘You know?’
‘Nope.’ Calum leaned his elbow on the desk, rubbing his fingertips together. ‘I’ve no idea why you’re here. What do you want from me?’
‘Nothing.’ Arran swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. ‘I’m trying to apologise, you know. Sorry and all that.’ He threw out his palms and pulled awhat-do-you-say?face.
Calum snorted and leaned back. ‘Right. Just like that? Sorry and it all goes away?’
‘Na. It’s just a word, not a magic wand.’
