By the time they exited the restaurant and were back in his car, she realized she had done nothing all afternoon but be frustrated by Christian and think of Callum.
*******
“Any plans for the rest of the evening?” Christian asked as they drove back toward the city.
“If I told you I was reviewing the Circle of Willis, would you believe me?”
“Probably.” Christian laughed and then shook his head as he pulled the car over onto a dirt road.
“What are you doing?” she questioned as he let the car slow to a stop.
“Come hang out with us.”
“Who is ‘us?’” Sam’s eyes narrowed in question.
“Some of my friends you don’t yet know because you are always stuck inside a book.”
Her shoulders sank. “I don’t know. We’ve already been gone for two hours and–”
“You have gone to two parties atthathouse in the last two weeks and you have never once come out with me. This isn't even a party. It's the middle of the day. We are going to play disc golf at The Cardinal.”
“The Cardinal?” That was directly beside Callum's townhouse complex and she wanted to be anywhere but near there.
“Yes. It’s about to be our last year before you are shipped off to med school and then I’ll only get to annoy you via text and during holidays. Please stop saying no to everything.”
“I might not get into med school.”
Christian threw off his seat belt and leaned over the console until he was directly in her face. He cupped her cheeks with two hands. She wanted to pull back, but she was stuck within the confines of the car.
“Samantha Adelaide Williams–”
“You know I don’t have a middle name.”
“It’s the name we came up with when we were kids.”
“It’s not legal.”
He ignored her. “Samantha Adelaide Williams, I am going to need you to stop shit talking yourself and go ahead and accept that you are going to be an amazing doctor. You are going to save lives.”
She gave him a tentative smile. “You think so?”
“I know so.” He kissed her temple and she felt a chill race through her.
“If that's the case then I should get back home and–”
“Nonsense.” Christian threw his hands up in the air and then put the car in drive. “You have already memorized everything there is to know in every textbook ever written. I’m not letting you say no to this.”
She stared his way and then off into the trees beside them. He had spent the better part of three years asking her to hang out with his friends and she had spent the better part of those same three years feigning a too busy schedule just so she wouldn’t have to see him get handsy with some girl who wasn’t her.
“I can only stay an hour, okay?” she relented and turned back to face the window, still not ready to be anywhere near where Callum might be.
The walk from the parking lot to the field was almost more than Sam could bear. She could just make out the row of townhomes where Callum lived and she knew once they turned the corner she would have a perfect view of the community pool and their back porch.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she noted their porch was empty, but then promptly felt the urge to vomit when she spotted them lounging by the pool. It wasn’t a particularly hot day, yet Sam felt a flush cover her skin as she took in Callum’s chiseled physique. Neither him nor Drew, nor any of the plethora of other people who seemed to always surround them noticed her and she sent up a prayer of thanks at that realization.
She was thankful she’d remembered her sunglasses as it allowed her to covertly stare.
God, he was beautiful.