Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

Callum had never been so glad to see La Hacienda before—if only because it meant a chance to get out of the car. His clothes were also still wet, and even though Elle seemed calmer now—and Quinn, by extension—all Callum wanted was to grab his laptop, go to a café, and lose himself in everything he'd missed at work for the past few days. He'd be woefully behind when he returned.

Funny how the desk job he'd once dreaded had become a lifeline.

If anyone had told him when he was still dreaming of playing football that he'd find comfort in the routine he'd carved out now, he wouldn't have believed them. For a moment today, even, he'd had that spark of nostalgia come hurtling back as he'd run on the sand, skillfully dribbling the ball.

A glimpse into a life he'd forgotten. His family nearby, a land he'd loved as the literal ground beneath his feet, friends laughing . . . and a gorgeous woman watching him with a look that had tempted a passionate kiss from him.

And now that woman headed up the path toward the bungalows, feeling more out of reach with each step she took.

Quinn and Elle had hurried away to find Kat and explain the change in their decision about the wedding. If they were going to pull off the wedding being here tomorrow afternoon, they would need Kat's help and expertise at this point.

But Quinn's warning and request that Callum end things with Liddy weighed heavily on him.

This shouldn't be hard.

But why am I dreading it so much?

He hurried to catch up with Liddy, but as they reached the pool area, he slowed, going rigid. Sergio stood under the safety of their bungalow porch, out of the rain.

Damn.

I guess he didn't give up so easily after all.

Sergio straightened, his smile at Liddy faltering as his gaze flicked toward Callum. Liddy paused, then checked over her shoulder.

The guilt on her face was clear enough, but why should she feel guilty? He'd told her he didn't care if she went out with Sergio.

Then why do I want to punch him for still being here?

Liddy still hesitated, and Callum caught up with her. "Looks like your date is still here," he muttered, a taut smile on his lips.

Liddy didn't answer. "Hey, Sergio." She grabbed Callum's elbow and dragged him under the shelter of the porch. "Can you give me a second? I need to change and talk to Callum."

"Of course." If Sergio thought this situation with Callum was strange, he said nothing as Liddy pulled Callum into the bungalow. Then again, she probably already explained that we're not dating.

. . . and who knows what Sergio told Sophia.

As Liddy closed the door to the bungalow, she pushed her hair back behind her ear. "Listen, you have nothing to worry about. I'm going to tell him I can't go."

Any relief he might have felt at her words was quickly drowned out by the echo of Quinn's voice. ". . . if you hurt Liddy, you and I won't be able to come back from that."

The words felt like sandpaper scraping his throat as he forced out, "You should go. Nothing has changed between us."

Liddy held his gaze. "You don't mean that."

Being cruel to her now wouldn't make Quinn less angry with him. He weighed his words carefully. "Liddy, I'm in over my head. I'm not like you. You have loads of family—who you have a relationship with—and friends. Ones who aren't furious with you for interfering with people they care about. We had fun, but we also agreed this would end."

He brushed her cheek with the backs of his knuckles. "A few more days of this would have been incredible, but the result would still be the same. It's better if we part ways now, before one of the few friends I do have starts believing I'm as rotten as everyone else seems to think."

"I don't give a damn about what Quinn and Elle think about us." She grabbed his hand. "Stop worrying about that. I don't want to go out with Sergio, Callum. It's that simple. I'm having fun with you. I..." She let out a short, frustrated breath. "Please. Just don't push me away because of something like Quinn being mad at you. I'll talk to him myself. He can't hold you responsible for the two of us getting involved. I'm a fucking grown-up, as ridiculous as it sounds to say."

If only it were that simple.

Callum dropped her hand. "I'm going to shower and then pack my things. Fortunately, I still have a room I can stay in. And chances are my mum already knows we're not a real couple, so I should probably clear things up with her." Even if that kills me.

"Callum, don't do this." Liddy's eyes shone with tears.

Goddammit.

She was going to get hurt. He'd warned her. And there was no way around it now.

I have to.

He stepped back, steeling himself to be as matter of fact as possible. "We can tell everyone we had a fight. And you dumped me, which makes the most sense."

He almost wished for her anger and irritation, but she raised a brow. "And why did I dump you?"

"Does there have to be a reason? You yourself told me how many people believe I'm an arse." He shrugged. This wasn't really a good time to bring up that disagreement from yesterday, but it made sense for their story—at least for anyone from London. "Only a handful of people—and possibly Sophia and my mum, since Sophia was there when Sergio arrived—know about our arrangement. I'd rather not have to go through the hassle of telling everyone about our ruse."

Liddy flinched. "And this is what you want?"

No.

But that didn't matter.

"I think that will be the easiest thing to do." He grabbed a fresh shirt and jeans from his bag. "Have a good time with Sergio."

He crossed the room and shut the bathroom door, flipping on the light switch.

The bathroom smelled like Liddy's coconut shampoo, reminding him of their shower earlier that morning.

"Fuck it all," he muttered, then locked the door, willing himself to stay inside.

He set both hands on the vanity, then leaned against it, staring at himself in the mirror.

Why is it taking every ounce of willpower I have to do this?

He hated this.

And then Sophia's words played through his head. "You only have yourself to blame for being a miserable bastard."

Miserable. Funny, that term.

What was it that Isla had said to him the night before he'd come down here?

"You're miserable. And I can't remember the last time I saw you truly happy."

I was happy this morning.

While Liddy was mine. Even if it had been temporary.

Until Sergio had shown up and everything had gone to hell.

This shouldn't be so difficult.

He turned the faucet on and splashed water on his face. That he was having such a hard time doing this was unnerving and incomprehensible. Sure, he'd known Liddy for two years now, but how had she possibly managed to get under his skin this way in just a few short days?

He'd had plenty of casual flings. They'd been forgettable, no matter how good the sex had been.

That wasn't the sum total of his experiences, though—he knew the other side. A committed relationship. A fiancée.

When that had ended, though, he'd been angry. Moving on from Sophia to other women had felt easy enough, and he'd told himself it was easy not to miss her after what she'd done.

But the idea of not having Liddy in his arms again . . . was a strange additional torment.

He shaved his face, then peeled the wet clothes from his cold, clammy skin. A shower did little to break the deep chill permeating through his muscles.

Once he'd dressed, he left the bathroom.

Liddy was gone, of course, as she should be.

Good.

She went with Sergio.

Even on the slim chance that she hadn't, it didn't matter. He had to stick to the plan.

His belongings didn't take long to gather, considering he'd barely spent time in the room. As he finished packing his bag, a knock came from the door.

"Open up," Isla called from the other side.

He suppressed a groan. As much as he loved his sister, he'd been looking forward to slipping away from here for a while.

Callum opened the door, and Isla breezed through without waiting for him to ask her inside. "I've been looking for you," she said, then plopped down on the unmade bed. She wrinkled her nose at the state of the sheets. "Wow, you had some fun last night in here, didn't you?"

He crossed his arms. "Is there a point to this?"

"Aiden was looking for you. Apparently, the wedding planner is going mad trying to pull some last-minute wedding for tomorrow together, and Aiden thought it would be good to remove some guests from the hotel—throw Quinn an impromptu stag night. He needs all the groomsmen."

Callum frowned. "And he couldn't just call me?"

"You haven't been the easiest to call or text this trip." Isla rolled her eyes, then her gaze landed on his bag. "Oh no. What's happened?"

"Nothing's happened."

She hopped down from the bed and barged right into the bathroom. A moment later, she emerged, a triumphant look on her face. "None of your stuff is in there. Which means you must have packed it."

"I'm going to stay with Mum the rest of the trip, that's all."

She raised her brows. "What happened with Liddy, Cal?"

"Besides Elle and Quinn finding out about our fake relationship? Ah yes, there was also the part where Quinn asked me to stay the hell away from his sister-in-law."

"That's ridiculous. He has no right to interfere in your love life. Unless he thinks you're just planning on . . . wait." Isla stepped closer to him, searching his face. "You weren't just using her as your scratching post, were you?"

"We had sex. It was never going to be anything else. I ended it."

Isla squared her shoulders. "Cal, I love you. So please take this in the best way possible when I say what the fuck are you even thinking? You clearly like this woman."

Her words hit close to his chest.

"I like plenty of women."

"I'm going to punch you, big brother." She glared at him. "You're out of your mind. The first woman who comes into your life in years that might actually make you happy, and you're going to run away lamely because Quinn doesn't like it? God, I thought you were more of a man than that."

She crossed her arms. "This isn't because of Sophia, right? You're not still harboring on to some?—"

"For Christ's sake, Isla. I'm not going to have that conversation with you again. I am not, and haven't been, remotely concerned with Sophia in years. Hell, if we're being honest about the whole damn thing, I think I stopped loving her before we even broke up."

Isla blinked at him. "Then why have you made Mum's life so impossible about it? Because she wounded your pride?"

"Don't you get it, Isla?" He shook his head, raking his fingers through his hair. He'd never really verbalized this to her.

But then again, I never knew all the pieces to the puzzle until recently.

" This place was one of the few places where I felt I belonged, even if it wasn't like you belonged here. Or Mum. But when Sophia and I broke up, it was made crystal clear to me how much I didn't belong. I understand why now better. Mum went right on having her relationship with the daughters she raised here. Her son was always disposable."

Isla blanched. "You don't really believe Mum cares more about Sophia than you, do you?"

"She's more than proved it."

Isla came closer to him and slipped her hand into his. "I don't believe it. But I understand why you would feel like that." She squeezed his hand. "But, Cal, none of that makes any bit of difference with Liddy. You're being a complete arse by letting her go. Don't you think you deserve a bit of happiness after all you've gone through?"

A bitter chuckle left his lips. "What have I gone through that I didn't bring upon myself? Quinn doesn't want me near Liddy because I've shown him my true colors. I wouldn't want me near her either, if the roles were reversed."

Her eyes softened. "You're not a bad guy, Cal. So you've made mistakes. We all do, you know. Liddy doesn't seem to care, and what's more, I think she sees the good in you, too."

"Liddy doesn't know me. I've spent the last two years making sure she never had the chance to."

Isla's mouth twisted. "Maybe that's the problem, then. You're scared. You don't want to believe she could possibly like you because it makes it easier to push her away if she doesn't." She poked a finger into his chest. "Knowing you, I'd say you're also too scared to trust that she'd continue liking you the closer she gets."

Callum stepped back, his throat tight. He felt exposed, and he didn't like it.

Enough.

"I should go find Aiden." He checked his phone. Sure enough, he had a few missed texts. "Do me a favor, will you? Can you take my bags up to the house? I'd rather not talk to Mum—or Sophia—right now."

Isla set her hands on her hips.

A disgusted look came into her expression. "You want to keep walking away from any possibility of happiness? Then do it yourself." Pushing past him, Isla left the bungalow.

Callum stared at the space she'd vacated. Great. Another person irritated with me.

He slipped the bag strap over his shoulder and exited back into the rain. Isla being upset with him would only make staying at his mum's house more awkward. Maybe he should see if any other local places had accommodations. Elle had said that some family members who hadn't been able to stay at La Hacienda had trouble finding a place to stay nearby, but right now, any other place—no matter how far—seemed preferable.

For now, though, he didn't want to make any more waves as the irresponsible member of the wedding party. He'd just leave his bags in the office and come back for them later.

He hurried toward the office, not thrilled to get rained on again, then slipped inside.

The sound of paper rustling caught his attention before he saw Sophia nearly leap away from the counter.

A man Callum didn't recognize—maybe an American from his appearance—leaned against the counter. He jerked his chin up in surprise, then gave Callum a curious look.

Why does this feel like déjà vu? She had that guilty, just caught expression written on her face and she lifted trembling fingers to her waist, smoothing out her dress. "Callum. What are you doing here?"

"Friend of yours?" the man asked Sophia. Definitely American.

Callum raised a brow. I don't even care. Whatever she was doing, it isn't any of my business. He said nothing, then pushed past her toward the kitchen. Even if she was co-owner, he was still the other owner's son. That came with some privileges. He dropped his bags in the kitchen, then headed back toward the main door.

The man had slipped out. Probably a lover. Maybe Sophia didn't want his mum knowing she was getting it on in the office during work hours.

"I'm leaving some things in the kitchen. I'll be back for them later," he said over his shoulder, not bothering to look back at Sophia.

"Wait . . . Callum."

He paused, clenching his jaw. Can this day get any worse? Turning, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Yes?"

"I—" Sophia muttered a curse under her breath in Spanish. "I wasn't expecting so many people to still be here. Your friends are staying here for the rest of the week, yes?"

Is she embarrassed? I've seen her in a more compromising situation than this.

"I believe so." He nearly rolled his eyes. "And it's fine. I won't say anything to Mum, if that's what you're worried about."

She nodded, her lips drawing to a line. "Thank you. And I did the same. I didn't tell her anything I overheard this morning."

He nodded. This wasn't a conversation he was interested in having.

As he turned, Sophia said, "What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

"I do mind, actually." Callum gave her a sharp glance. He wasn't about to discuss Liddy with her.

The corners of Sophia's lips twitched, her gaze unreadable. "Thank you, Cal. For making this so easy for me."

"Was I supposed to?" Just the day before, she'd practically ranted about how their breakup had been his fault.

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Goodbye, Callum."

This time, Callum was only too glad to escape back outside. Funny how when he'd been young, he went out of his way to find moments to be with her. Now, she just felt ordinary.

Even if their conversations weren't fraught with tension, he didn't know what he would have to say to her anymore.

It had been so long since he'd really talked with any woman, though. Maybe that was why he couldn't get Liddy out of his head. Everything with her had been unexpectedly effortless. They could talk about anything, even if it was about the fruit in a market or work.

Stop thinking about this, for fuck's sake.

He'd come here for his friend. Nothing more.