questions, she’d decided to leave it alone.
“Technically, I’m nothere,” he said, laughing. “I’m hanging out next door, but saw you over here and had to jump the fence to come say hi.”
“I’m glad you did! You should stay!”
“No, he shouldn’t,” Callum seethed, leaning against the back door frame. “Get the fuck off my property before I call the cops.”
“Callum?” Sam questioned in utter shock. Her confusion was echoed in everyone's eyes.
“I said get the fuck off my property!” Callum shouted, standing a bit taller, the taut muscles under his shirt rippling. She was sure he would fight somebody by the end of the night; she just wasn’t sure if that fight would be with Christian, or with her, or with some unsuspecting person unlucky enough to get in his way.
“Don’t talk to him like that!” Sam practically yelled as she placed herself between the two men. She was half the size of both, and definitely wouldn’t be able to do a thing to stop them, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let Callum talk to Christian in that way.
“No. It’s okay, Sam. I’m heading back next door. Come hang out over there when you get bored of this shit show.”
“Don’t fucking test me.” Callum spit at the ground by Christian’s feet before he turned and walked back into his house.
Her anger continued to build, but she wasn't sure where she should go or what she should do. A quick glance in Kristin’s direction was proof enough that they were all a bit more than shocked by Callum’s outburst.
“I’m so sorry, Christian,” Sam yelled across the yard just as he started to jump the fence. He didn’t say anything, but gave her a little wave and a nod before disappearing in the neighboring yard.
Without thinking, she burst through the back door into the kitchen. She caught sight of Callum’s black shirt heading down the
stairs and all but pushed the others out of her way in an effort to get to him.
“You can’t just treat everyone you don’t like as if they’re pieces of shit,” she screamed at him as she descended the stairs two steps at a time.
She saw him loop behind and under the stairs and assumed that was the way to his room, but she didn’t make it that far. He was there the second her feet hit the bottom step, forcing her to move with her back to the wall to put some space between them.
“Sam. Don’t. Just don’t.”
She wasn’t sure how he’d made it back to the bottom of the staircase so quickly or why his body was all of a sudden pressed so tightly against hers that she could feel the inlaid grooves in the wall at her back.
“Fuck you, Callum.” She pushed against his chest. He didn’t move a muscle. “Boss or no boss, you’re a real dick. You know that, right?”
“Stay away from him,” Callum said, bringing his face to her level to meet her gaze. Their breath swirled between them.
“You don’t even know him!” She pushed him away a second time. He still refused to budge.
“Trust me, I know him, and he is a fucking asshole. The worst kind of human there is. Stay the fuck away from him, okay?”
“He is one of my best friends!” Sam’s words caused Callum to recoil.
“He’s one of…You have got to be kidding me.”
“What do you have against him?”
“Maybe you aren't who I thought you were, either. Maybe judging a book by its cover sometimes turns into exactly what you suspected it would.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
He turned away from her as she spoke, but she grabbed his chin, forcing his gaze to find hers once again.
“Go back to the party, Sam.” He yanked her hand down away from his face and she jumped slightly when the wall reverberated with the slamming of his door.
Chapter 11 - Sam
As Sam was walking into Topline the next morning, she was greeted by a familiar face. Christian was seated in her section, waiting with a smile.