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God, how I wished she was holding onto me like that.
But she wasn’t.
She would be Doug’s girl now.
Well, for however long he wanted her around, anyway.
The look on Niall’s face was priceless. I’ll never forget the horror in his eyes at seeing Callie slide onto the back of Doug’s ride. They took off, and it started something that day.
But it was also known that Callie and Niall were a package deal. She never went out without him, and he never left her side even though he was outraged she was hanging with the local dirt-bike group.
Doug would always vent about how much of a prude Callie was—that she would hold his hand but never did anything else with him and would pull away if he tried. Not being a patient man, Doug grew more petulant as time progressed, but I was secretly hoping it was because whenever we were in the group, Callie’s eyes never left mine—she may have been Doug’s girl, but I had her full attention.
We spoke every now and then when Doug was distracted by a broken engine or some other thing he was focused on, and we started to grow closer.
As Doug was losing interest in Callie, my interest was growing exponentially. Even though Niall was an A-grade loser, we accepted him into the group because Callie wouldn’t come near us without him. She always denied there was any attraction, but I knew for sure that Niall loved her.
I mean, who wouldn’t?
Callie was beautiful, kind, smart, funny, came from a solid background—everything you would wish for in a girl and so much more. Honestly,
I was captivated by her. She amazed me every time we spoke.
We had a habit of finding ourselves locked in hour-long conversations in old-man Harris’ barn. Callie loved it in there, said it felt like a home away from home. Although Callie had a wild streak she used to hide from her parents, she was prim and proper most of the time.
Let’s face it, going out with the leader of the dirt-bike group was unheard of in her family’s class of acceptable suitors. That little tidbit of information she hid from her parents. But one day, when Doug turned up at her house, the shit really hit the fan.
Callie’s parents yelled and screamed, banning her from seeing Doug again. It didn’t really matter because Doug was tired of Callie not putting out, so he broke it off with her the next day. I was so relieved but devastated at the same time. We hadn’t gotten to know each other overly well, but in the time we had been together, I knew I wanted to marry her. So, I had a decision to make. I could stay with Doug and the boys who I now called my brothers and never see Callie again, or I could stop being in the gang and stick with Callie and Niall.
It was a no-brainer as far as I was concerned.
Callie’s parents didn’t seem to mind me hanging around. For some reason, they seemed to take pity on me—the kid who was too poor to own anything other than a pushbike. Her parents didn’t see me as any kind of threat, but rather as a friend who’d been there for Niall, and I guess the third wheel.
Niall would talk to me about how one day Callie would see how perfect they are for each other and they would get married at his parents’ mansion over on Burdette Lane. I went along with it as I always thought Callie was way too good for me anyway.
Didn’t stop me from wanting her, though.
One day, Niall was out of town with his parents, Patty and Eleanor, so Callie and I took a walk up to old-man Harris’ barn. She surprised me by taking my hand as we walked. In those days, girls never made the first move—that was the guy’s role. I never thought she’d be into me, so I never tried. That’s the thing about Callie, she was never your conventional girl next door. Callie did what she wanted, and no one would stop her.
We made it to the barn, and we climbed up the haystacks to the very top. The barn smelled of stale grass, the tangy, earthy smell agitated my senses, but we sat watching the chickens roam around the barn floor. They pecked at the feed old-man Harris had scattered that morning, and it made for entertaining viewing as they fought against each other for their food. Callie was always in awe of the baby chicks and the way she smiled whenever the new ones would hatch.
It melted my heart.
We were lying on the hay looking up at the wooden ceiling, talking about how Niall and her have grown up together and how he’s kind of like a big brother. She held my hand, and as her thumb slid across the back of my hand, it sent a shiver up my spine. Callie did things to me emotionally and physically—she made me feel and believe in a life I never thought possible. She didn’t care that I came from a poor background. All she cared about was that I was there with her.
I already knew by that stage I wanted to marry her, but at that moment, I felt perhaps she wanted that too. The chemistry was undeniable, and I’m sure we could have set that haystack on fire with the sparks emanating from us.
I rolled on my side so I could look at her. She was so beautiful, and it took every ounce of my strength not to lean in and kiss her. Callie rolled too, so we were facing each other, then she looked into my eyes and my stomach flipped. I’d never felt about anyone the way I felt about Callie. I couldn’t stop myself from touching her, so I swallowed hard and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and then stopped to caress her cheek. Callie smiled at me, and I swear I exploded—the way she made me feel from a simple gorgeous smile astounded me. Every. Single. Time.
“Callie, you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” I said, and she smiled again. I wanted to kiss her so badly, but I’d never kissed a woman before, and had no idea what to do or even how to do it.
Callie was willing me with her eyes, and she looked so delightful. I wanted to smother her with my lips. Mine parted slightly as she licked hers inadvertently, then she moved in closer to me, so close I could smell her beautiful lavender-scented hair. My hand caressed her cheek, and I pulled her slowly toward me. I had intended on stopping and asking her if she wanted me to kiss her, but she didn’t give me the opportunity. Instead, she pushed me back down on the hay, leaned over me, and her soft, supple lips met mine for the first time.
Damn, it was like the Fourth of July!
My lips were tingling, and my heart was thudding in my chest. Her mouth opened, and my tongue found hers, and despite it being the first kiss either of us had ever had, it was monumentally perfect. I don’t know how long we kissed for, all I knew was the sun was setting in a cacophony of brilliant colors, and I needed to take her home. Otherwise, Bernard would have my kidneys for dinner and trust me, you didn’t want to mess with Callie’s father.
Slowly I pulled away from her, and it took everything in me to do so. I was breathing heavily, and I wanted her so badly, but I restrained myself. With a girl like Callie, you didn’t go in all guns-a-blazing and take her straight away. I needed to woo her and make her see why I was the right man for her—not Doug and certainly not Niall—but me.
