The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence, #1)

“I love it when you ramble. It’s cute.” I put the bottle to my lips and slant my head back, sipping a shot, letting her know my answer. I aim the bottle in her direction with my gaze on her. “Your turn, unless it’s not true.”


Her fingers tremble as she wraps her hand around the bottle. I watch her mouth move as she inclines her head back and takes a deep swallow. I probably shouldn’t be staring, but watching her lips move is distracting and turning me on.

She coughs, her cheeks puffing out as she places the bottle on the table and smears the sleeve of her shirt across her lips. “God, it burns so bad.”

Luke collects the bottle from the table and gets to his feet. “I have to fucking take a piss.” He opens the door of the basement and staggers outside, leaving it cracked behind him.

Callie looks at me bewilderedly. “Why did he go outside?”

“It’s a drunk thing with him.” I relax back on the couch with my arm still around her. “He likes to go outside and piss.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Callie tucks her leg underneath her. “He seems pretty drunk. What if he wanders out into the trees and gets lost?”

“He’ll be fine.” I wave her off, not wanting to talk about Luke anymore.

We sit quietly for a moment and I watch her out of the corner of my eye, wanting to touch her so badly, like I did earlier in her room.

Callie rotates her body toward me, pressing her lips together, restraining a smile. “So you really made Tami Bentler a yes or no letter?”

“Let me clarify that that happened in third grade.” I relax on the couch, grab her shoulder, and guide her down beside me, so we’re lying side by side and I wrap my legs around hers.

She bumps her head on the arm of the chair as she gets situated. “Ow… what did she say?”

“Here lift your head up.” I tuck my arm under her, before she lies down, letting her use it as a pillow. “She said no way.”

She turns on her side, facing me. “That’s so sad. I would have said yes.”

“Would you have?” I question. “Because I wasn’t as charming as I am now.”

She chokes on a laugh and then lowers her head toward my chest. “I kind of had a crush on you back in grade school.”

“What?” Fixing a finger under her chin, I elevate her head, so I can look into her eyes. “Really?”

“I think you know that almost every girl did, which makes me surprised Tami said no.”

“I think Tami may have taken the letter better if it was from someone like you.”

“You mean… she liked—likes girls?”

I shrug, staring up at the ceiling. “That’s what I heard, but who knows if it’s true.” I pause, glancing down at her as she wets her lips with her tongue. “How drunk are you?”

“I’m not drunk at all,” she says. “I had two tiny swallows.”

I pinch her side and she cradles her arm against her ribs protectively. “Yeah, but you’re tiny and a lightweight.”

“I’m not that tiny,” she protests. “And I promise I barely feel a thing.”

I pause, examining her eyes, and then move forward with caution. “So if I kissed you right now, I wouldn’t be taking advantage of you?”

“No, but I might be taking advantage of you. Your breath smells about as bad as the bottle.” She fans her nose with a smile.

“Trust me. You can take advantage of me and I won’t mind, even when I sober up.” I press my lips to hers, feeling my heart thump in my chest as her breath catches.

It grows silent as we lie with our foreheads touching and our breaths mingling. I place my hand on her hip, shutting my eyes, feeling the intensity of the moment like an open wound.

“I have a question,” Callie whispers. “How many people saw Luke walking in that robe?”

“You know how every Christmas they do that caroling thing down in the town center?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he walked through there.”

She laughs, rolling in to me, and nestling her face into my shoulder as her leg slides across my stomach. “There are always a ton of people there. Oh, my God, I bet my parents were even there. They always go.”

“I know…” I smell the scent of her hair; shampoo mixed with cigarettes from Luke smoking in the car on our way here. “Callie, I….” Fucking hell. What the hell is happening to me? “I really want to kiss you right now.”

She freezes, her chest grazing against mine as she exhales. “Oh yeah?”

I sweep her hair out of her face and she peers up at me through her long eyelashes. “Can I?”

She stays motionless for a second and then nods her head. “Yeah, you can.”

I let out a tense breath and lean toward her, tipping my head to the side as I seal my mouth to hers. Nipping softly on her bottom lip, she lets out a breathy moan that floods my body with a hunger. I dive into the kiss, opening my mouth and caressing her lips with my tongue. She’s warm and tastes like Jack and I want more—more than we’re probably ready for.

Grabbing her waist, I pull her onto my lap so she’s straddling me. “I can’t stop myself with you.”

A tiny gasp escapes her lips as my hard cock presses against her. “Kayden…” she starts, but trails off as I knot my fingers through her hair and escort her face toward mine. Moving my lips down her neck, I suck on her skin, devouring the taste of her.

“I have to tell you something.” The back of my mind screams at me that I need to shut up. That I’m drunk and what I’m going to say isn’t good, but I do it anyway. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

Her body goes rigid, her breath feathering against my neck. “What?”

“You and me… I like it so much. I’ve never liked the idea of being with anyone before.”

Exhaling slowly, she pushes upward and climbs off the top of me. “I think maybe we should talk about something else.”

“Like what?” I’m worried I’ve scared her, like I’ve done with myself.

“Like something that makes you happy,” she suggests. “Or something that you’re not going to regret in the morning.”

“That’s you. Callie, you’re the only person that’s ever made me feel happy about anything. That night you saved me, you changed something in me—you made me want to live.” I tell her the truth, knowing that when morning comes around, it’s all going to catch up with me.

Chapter 17
#21 Create Memories That Belong to You

Callie

Last night was interesting to say the least. Kayden was drunk and saying things to me he probably wouldn’t in a sober state, so I stopped it. I don’t want him telling me things just because he’s drunk. I’ve seen Seth ramble on about nonsense way too many times and he never means most of it.

I end up falling asleep on the bed in the corner and when I wake up, I have an, “oh shit” moment. My phone is beeping with a thousand messages from my mom. I don’t even bother checking any of them. I spring up from the bed and hurry over to the couch where Kayden is lying on his side with his eyes shut and his arm draped over his face.

I glance over my shoulder at Luke, sleeping on the floor with his head on a pillow and then crouch down in front of Kayden. “Wake up. I need a ride home.”

He breathes quietly, his chest lifting and falling, so I place a hand on his cheek, running my thumb along the scar below his eye. “Kayden, please wake up. My mom is freaking out.”

His eyelids lift, his pupils shriveling as the light hits them, and it looks like he wasn’t even asleep. “What time is it?”

I check my cell phone screen. “Almost eleven. Were you awake the whole time?”

He shrugs, sitting up and stretching his arms above his head. His shirt rides up and I try not to stare. “I’ve been awake for a while. Thinking about stuff.”

“Oh.” I straighten my legs and search the room for my jacket. “Can you give me a ride? Or should I wake up Luke?”

“That’d be walking into dangerous territory,” he says, getting up from the sofa. “Luke is not a morning person.”