Claiming Callie: Part two (15 page)

#

Monday comes and
Callie
’
s determination for
Operation Get the Girl solidifies further. Even if she dislikes Maya more than ever before, her goal is still clear: get Maya and Dean back together. She pulls out her phone as she nears the edge of campus and texts Dean:
Hey. I
’
m coming to Buzz. You have Maya
’
s schedule?

A second later, her phone chimes.

Dean:
Yeah?

Callie:
Get ready to put the moves on me. We
’
re going to remind her how she felt Friday when she saw us together.

Dean:
I
’
m game, girlfriend ;)

She grunts at the title he just gave her, hating the way it makes her stomach turn inside out. She types:
K. Be there in a minute.

Callie stops at the crosswalk at the edge of campus and checks the traffic before stepping into the street and making her way
to Buzz. She shoves her phone into her coat pocket and enters. Dean
’
s at the counter, but when he sees her, he smiles and tells the employee that he
’
ll see him tomorrow. While Callie waits for him to gather his things, she meanders around the store, check
ing out the new displays next to the counter featuring Buzz goods. Black-and-yellow striped mugs with little ceramic bees hovering around the handle accompany an assortment of more modern and sleek to-go cups. Off to the side, she notices several kinds of
Buzz coffee K-cups sitting next to the bagged grounds.

“You ready?” Dean says from behind her.

Callie turns and hooks a thumb toward the display. “Yeah. You guys have your own K-cups now?”

Dean nods. “Yeah. I thought it would be a smart move. It just makes
sense, I guess, with all the single cup brewers out there. I
’
m actually working on getting our own Buzz K-Cup brewing machine, but we
’
ll see…”

“You arrange this kind of stuff?”

Dean shrugs and busies himself rooting inside the messenger bag on his shoulde
r. “Sure. It
’
s no big deal.”

“Huh.”
Callie glances
at the displays again and then back to him. “Yeah. I think that
’
s great. I just didn
’
t know,” she says and wonders what else she doesn’t know about him.

He
’
s ready to go and he
’
s staring at her, probably
wondering why she
’
s just standing there, but she needs to tell him something first. “Dean, I did a lot of thinking this weekend and I
’
m so sorry about the game Friday night. About how I screwed up the kiss.”

He shakes his head. “Callie—”

“No, I
’
m serious.
I know you said not to worry about it, but you planned all that out perfectly. And it was amazingly sweet, the perfect plan to show another girl what she
’
s missing, and then you swooped in at the end with the kiss, and I blew it. I think…
I just
…”

Got scare
d.

She bites her lip. “
I don’
t know. I guess I should
’
ve known that this would entail a kiss at some point, but I hadn
’
t thought it through and…”

“What?” he asked.

“I got so carried away with it all…the whole production of it, and with the crowd going craz
y, and then I think the reality of it hit me. That it was
you
. You and me. And Jinny was there next to me, and you were about to kiss me, and suddenly it all seemed so strange.”

He puts a hand up. “I get it. You don
’
t have to explain.” The muscle in his ja
w ticks after he says it.

Callie nods, hoping he can
’
t see through to her thoughts. That this is a partial truth.

“But I
’
m back in the game. And I
’
m going to make Maya beg for you back,” she says with as much enthusiasm as she can muster. “In fact, I’m
pretty sure she’s already jealous. Operation Get the Girl is in full force. And I won’t blow it twice.”

Twenty minutes later, with coffee in hand, Dean and Callie sit together in the lobby just outside of Maya
’
s art class. They both have an hour before the
ir own classes, and thanks to the schedule Dean was somehow able to get, they hoped she would see them together. If the look on Maya
’
s face Friday night and the fact that she felt the need to question Callie were any indication, the production he made at t
he basketball game succeeded in expanding the seed of jealousy they had planted at the interview.

Callie glances at her watch. Maya
’
s class gets out in ten minutes.

She takes a sip of her coffee and stares at Dean out of the corner of her eye. His chestnut
locks are styled in the most perfectly messy way. He wears a pair of jeans and a baseball tee, which clings to his chest, and he smells of fresh air and the citrusy scent of his cologne.

She clears her throat. Maya will be here soon, so she needs to get i
n position. They need to look like a real couple, cozy and in love. Especially after she botched the kiss Friday.

“She
’
ll be here in less than ten minutes,” Callie says. “Time to get into our roles.” She lays down on the small couch and places her head in
Dean
’
s lap. “This okay?”

“Yeah. Sure,” Dean says, then shoves a hand through his hair.

“So…” Callie can
’
t help it. She has to ask, her curiosity too great to contain. “I didn
’
t see you this weekend, so I didn
’
t get a chance to ask. What happened with Maya
Friday night?”

Dean shrugs. “She came over after you left and we talked. What did she say to you? I saw you talking to her for a moment.”

“Um. She just commented on what an awesome game it was. How great you played.”
Why didn’t she tell him the truth?
“She
didn
’
t go out with all of you?” Callie asks.

“No.”

He
’
s looking down at her as he answers.

 
God, his eyes are so blue…

She clears her throat. “Why? What did she talk to you about? You should
’
ve asked her to go.”

Dean shrugs. “It was going to be me and all
the guys, anyway. She didn
’
t say a whole lot. Just that I had a great game.”

“Hmmm.” Callie chews her lip, trying to decipher this news. That’s exactly what she just told him. Is he telling the truth?

“So, she didn’t mention me at all? Or the roses? Do yo
u thinks she’s ignoring the display? That must mean something. Maybe she just doesn’t want to let you know that she still has feelings for you and seeing you with me bothers her.” Callie smiles at the thought, because this is good for Dean. “If that’s the
case, then great. You did awesome.” She reaches up and pats his shoulder, then continues. “But what we really needed was to shove our relationship in her face again over the weekend. You know, really dig the knife deeper. But today will have to do. Where w
ere you all weekend, anyway? You
’
re usually hanging around our apartment at least a couple of times.”

“Uh, I had to take some extra shifts. That
’
s all.”

“Oh. Well, thanks. You left me alone with Jinny and Todd all weekend.” She screws up her face and says,
“
I don’
t know why, but I just can
’
t warm up to him.”

“I know.” He squeezes his eyes closed for a moment. “And please, don
’
t say he stayed the night. Just let me live in my imaginary world where my sister is innocent and would rather die with her virginity
intact than have a guy ever spend the night.”

Callie chuckles.
“Okay. I won
’
t mention how disgustingly rumpled she looked Saturday morning, then. My lips are sealed.”

Dean groans and rubs a hand over his face. When he brings it back down, he drops it to t
he top of her head, where he begins to run his fingers through her hair. Callie relaxes into him, letting the stroke of his fingers on her scalp, in her hair, soothe her.