Sometimes Moments (38 page)

“P
ick a country,” Callum said.

Peyton gazed down at her lap to find him staring at her. Gently, her fingers continued to stroke his hair as she thought about her answer.

“Austria.”

“Why Austria?”

She picked off the cherry blossom that landed in his hair and said, “Because of Mozart, Belvedere Palace, Wiener schnitzels, and sachertorte.”

He chuckled. “Liar. I know the real reason why you want to go to Austria.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Oh yeah? What is the real reason why I want to go to Austria?”

Callum raised his eyebrow and confidently stated, “Inspector Rex.”

“Don’t you dare make fun of Komissar Rex!”

Callum sat up and placed both palms on her cheeks. “I will not make fun of your beloved detective dog.” His lips lightly touched hers before he said, “We need to go to Austria one day.”

She tilted her head at him. “We?”

Callum nodded once. “I need to try Wiener schnitzels.”

We’ll never make it to Austria together.

Peyton frowned at the thought and the memory. It would only be a dream. The idea of going to Austria without him left her empty inside. Those were their dreams, and she didn’t want to share them with anyone but him. But it was a broken dream they’d never live. Tonight would be their last.

“That’s him, isn’t it?” June asked next to her.

“That’s him,” Peyton agreed.

“So I should thank him for my album?”

Letting out a laugh, Peyton turned to face June. It was incredible that a famous, Billboard-charting artist consider her a friend. June was smart, talented, and absolutely stunning with her green eyes, black hair, and sun-kissed skin tone. June was flawless and every inch the celebrity. But Peyton saw the real June, the June who struggled with writer’s block and enjoyed sitting by the lake with her guitar.

“That album was all you, June.” Peyton smiled.

June rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t have been brave enough to show my producers without you. I was thinking about having a small release party here, promote the hotel’s rebuild.”

Peyton’s mouth dropped. “Really?”

“Of course, Peyton. This hotel was my inspiration and I want to be part of its new beginning. How is next week? It’ll be enough time to market it and I’ll have the team set up a giveaway for some fans to come down for an intimate concert.”

Just as Peyton was about to reply, June’s guitarist was dragging her to the stage.

“We’ll talk in the morning, Peyton,” June told her.

Peyton smiled at June before she let her eyes sweep the wedding. Everything looked perfect. People seemed to be enjoying themselves as they laughed and danced. Somehow, she pulled it off.

Towards the end of the cliff, she noticed Callum talking to Jenny. Callum nodded a few times and gestured with his hands before he hugged Jenny. When they finished their embraced, Jenny wiped her cheeks and then they both started walking in Peyton’s direction.

“You okay?” Peyton asked once they stopped in front of her.

Jenny nodded and said, “Everything’s perfect. Listen, Peyton, I have things here covered. You’ve been up since five. You go home and rest. I’ll make sure everything is taken care of. It hasn’t been an easy week for you.”

Peyton’s eyebrows met as she looked at Jenny and then Callum. “I can’t leave the wedding. Oliver and Ma—”

“Peyton, Oliver and Marissa won’t care. I just have to stay a little longer and then I’ll come by your place,” Callum said.

“Fine,” she said. Truth be told, she was tired. Hanging fairy lights and setting up lanterns had really done a number on her. It wasn’t how she’d wanted her last night with Callum to go.

Callum stepped forward, placing his palms on her jaw as he lips softly grazed her forehead. “I won’t be long,” he promised.

She gave him a tight smile. “Goodnight, Jenny,” Peyton said before she walked over to the small, portable building that acted as her office and grabbed her things.

Peyton stared at the ceiling as she waited for the bathtub tap to drip. Once the drop landed in the hot tub of water, she breathed out.

“Twenty-seven.”

Then another drip.

“Twenty-eight.”

And another.

“Twenty-nine.”

And another.

“Thir—”

“Peyton?”

Callum’s voice stopped her count. She turned her head to the side and stared at the bathroom door.

“In here,” she called out. Then she submerged herself a little more into the hot water and let her head rest on the porcelain tub.

Seconds passed before Callum walked into the bathroom. Then he walked over to her before he crouched so they were eye level. Her lips curved into an honest smile, grateful to see that he hadn’t left. As she’d walked home, that’s what she had feared the most—his leaving without a goodbye. After a call to Aunt Brenda about the success of the wedding, she had tried to silence her over-calculating mind with a hot bath. But the silence of the bathroom had just served to further increase her mind’s activities.

However, seeing him squashed the doubts. Having him in front of her made her heart leap and ache. Her heart was bipolar when it came to him.

“How’s the rest of the wedding?” she asked as she placed both hands on the tub and turned her body to face him better.

“Beautiful. You and Jenny did an amazing job,” Callum said.

“You helped, too.”

He leant forward and gave her a chaste kiss. “Don’t sell yourself short, Peyton.”

Her mouth tugged upwards at his compliment. Each drip she heard behind her made her realise just how quickly seconds were passing them. Soon, morning would come and they’d say goodbye.

“Take your clothes off and hold me,” she instructed in a soft voice.

Callum didn’t say anything as he removed his suit jacket and dropped it on the floor. She took in every movement he made until he was only left in his dress pants. Then his hands were on his belt as he unfastened it and unbuttoned his pants. Her heart beat fast against her chest as he pulled down the zipper and let the slacks fall to his feet. Stepping out of them, he stood naked in front of her.

Crouching back down to face her, Callum stroked her wet hair back and kept his grey eyes on her. She saw it in the way he looked at her—he wanted tonight to be memorable as they closed their book. They’d had a lifetime of love in a short period of sometimes. It was more than she thought she’d have with him and more than most people would have in life.

“I will never forget you, Peyton Olivia Spencer,” he whispered. His words travelled through her veins and settled into her burning heart.

Afraid she would plead for him again, she pushed up from the tub, away from his touch, and sat straight. She gave him the room to sit and hold her. Carefully, he placed one foot in the water and then the other before he lowered himself behind her. He stretched out his legs on either side of Peyton’s body and rested his hands on her hips, pulling her in to lean into his chest.

Peyton drew up her legs as Callum’s chin settled in the curve of her neck and his hands were on her shins. She felt all of him against her back as she stared at the bubbles that surrounded their bodies.

“Callum,” she said, trying to ignore the sad tone to her voice.

“Yes, Peyton.”

“This is going to end horribly for us, isn’t it?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

His lips grazed her neck, sending shivers down her spine, and then he pressed another one just below her ear. His breath touched her skin before he said, “Yes.”

Peyton’s lips made a fine line, and she nodded. “Then bring it on.”

His soft chuckle influenced the smile on her face. The moment Peyton moved, his hands left her, giving her the space to turn her body to his. When she positioned both palms on his chest, his breathing was heavy rather than consistent intakes of air. Then she tilted her head slightly and stared into his eyes.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, covering her hands with his before bringing her left hand to his lips and kissing her palm.

“Austria,” she replied.

“Oh,” he let out, staring at their connected hands. “I’m sorry we never got there.” The remorse was thick in his voice.

“It was just one of those things, Callum. Things we said because we were young and dumb. We thought we were invincible. But the truth of it all was that we were naïve and high on love and the belief of forever. We were teenagers who thought we could outplay the universe.”

Callum looked down at their hands before he said, “The universe outplayed us in the end.”

The sad look in his eyes could break her heart all over again. She didn’t want this to be sad. She wanted a few good memories. Ones that would keep her company at night. Ones that would guide her through the shadows and into the light. Peyton pulled her hand from his and placed it on his shoulder. Then Callum’s eyes met hers before her hand mirrored her previous actions.

“Hold me, please,” she said.

Callum nodded. “All night I will.”

That made her smile. She wrapped her arms around the back of his head and sat in his lap. That’s when she felt him touch her
there,
but she didn’t want them to make love in the tub. She wanted him in her sheets for the last time. Then she pulled his ear to her chest, allowing him to hear her heart beat for him.

She didn’t care that this embrace was eating away the seconds, the minutes they had left. This was a sometimes moments. Hers. His. Theirs. No one would ever take this exact moment away. She knew what sometimes moments were. They were a beautiful way of hiding the fact that sometimes doesn’t mean forever. That sometimes leads to ‘The End.’
Their
end.

Sometimes moments would keep her living in denial for the rest of her life, and she was okay with it. Because sometimes was what she would have and hold on to. This time, she was sure she couldn’t have a life after Callum. He had marked her further. There would be no man after him. It was Callum or no man at all for her heart. It was a choice her brain had agreed upon.

“Callum,” she said as she closed her eyes.

“Yes, Peyton.”

She held him closer to her chest. “I don’t think I could love anyone as hard, as strong, as pure, as intense, or as heartbreakingly as I love you. You should know that I’ve only ever wanted to love you.”

Callum’s arms wrapped around her back and held her tight. “I’ve only ever wanted to love just you. I only loved just you. I will only love just you—all of you, Peyton. When I leave, you’ll be the one my heart loves more than anything that has breathed or existed.”

Peyton didn’t even try to hold back her tears as her heart began to crumble. “You’ll find her,” she whispered, letting go of the hope that it could have been her.

Callum shook his head against her breasts. “I found her when I was a teenager. I found her again almost a month ago. I’m holding her…but I have to let her go.”

He has to let me go… I have to let him go. I have to let him be free.

Peyton untangled her arms and placed both her hands on the side of his head, pulling him up to face her.

She took a deep breath.

And then exhaled.