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He hands me a black box, wrapped in a white bow.
Neither of us speaks as I unravel it, opening the box to find a hat.
"It's a Stetson, I- I don't know I thought you might like it. And it was expensive so if you don't like it, I'll just return it." he rambles nervously.
I snatch the box away, "No! It's mine! I love it, I'm just shocked."
"I had personal motivations too," he attempts to defend, "I thought it would be sexy if you dirty talked me in a cowboy hat. Purely selfish."
I pull the hat from the box and place it on my head.
"You like the way I talk Echo?" I say, thickening my accent.
His pupils grow wide, "Mhm, unfortunately way too much."
"Why is it unfortunate?" I place the gorgeous brown hat back in the box.
"Because it's a weakness, and it affects me every time you speak."
"So, what you're saying is, I'm your kryptonite."
He nods.
"Come over here then Superman, I'd like to thank you."
Echo
"What's this?" Callum asks as I kiss his neck. He's sitting on the couch while I'm bent over the back, arms wrapped over his chest.
"You want me to stop?"
He turns to look at me with a brow raised, "I didn't say that."
"You know if you stood up and joined me, you'd see I'm pretty much already in the perfect position."
He chuckles, "I can see that from here, but I'm sure the view from behind is alright too."
"Alright? Shit, do I need to do more squats?" I ask teasingly. My ass is great, Callum and I both know that. He stands with a grunt, coming to stand behind me. I expect him to immediately get started on the foreplay, but he turns me around, looking closely at my face. Assessing my expression. I try to school it, afraid of what he might find if my guard is down.
I'm happy, honestly. Things have been great, even with Callum, as much as I'm still expecting the other pin to drop there. I know that guy, Sherman, the stalker, should be gone from our lives, but I'm still afraid. Looking over my shoulder like he'll appear again.
I'm terrified he'll come back. I've been kept up at night imaging every scenario of what could have happened if Callum didn't grab me sooner. The idea that this could happen again, only with someone else, and with worse results.
I try to keep those thoughts at bay. There's nothing I can do about it. I can't stop myself from living.
"I wanna go somewhere." I say.
"Where?"
"I got a targeted ad for an arts festival. It's not far from here. I do think we should Uber though."
"Okay," he stands, "Sounds good to me. Let me get dressed." He wears grey sweats and a black tee. He looks mouth-watering, but it's a good idea to change. The paps can be anywhere, and I don't want other peoples eyes on my man, not in public or pictures.
My man.
That's new. I've been feeling weird. Like im in some kind of limbo. In a relationship with Callum, but still holding him at arms length.
I can't keep torturing myself and him in this way. Callum's effort has been unwavering, and I think it might be time to let him in. For real.
