Untamed Reunion

Chapter 4

Callum

“ H ello again,” I growl at her. She’s staring at me like she didn’t see me earlier, like I didn’t buy her coffee as she stared at my chest. I try to keep my cool and focus on her outfit. She’s adorned with fairy wings and all, and I feel my heart constrict inside my chest. I can’t help but let my eyes travel further south, taking in her large breasts spilling out the top of her dress. I just want to take in every aspect of her. All I want is to drape an arm around her shoulders and pull her body close to mine. I want to feel her warmth and smell her familiar coconut scent.

“What are you supposed to be?” she quirks at me.

“I’m a lumberjack, can’t you tell?” I say, puffing my chest out and putting my hands on my hips. She laughs, covering her mouth to contain herself. If making myself look stupid makes her laugh then I’ll continue to do it. Her laugh lights up the entire space.

“Yeah, if I really look at you then I guess I see it. You’re just mixing your axe.” Daphne leans over and whispers something about wielding a different type of axe and I feel the blush creep over my cheeks. Hazel giggles at the comment and I just act like I didn’t hear them.

“Should we go get some cider?” I offer, nudging a shoulder towards the booth next to us. “There won’t be any spiked yet, but it’s still good.”

“Yeah! Come on!” she grabs my hand and it’s like there’s an automatic spark.

We both jolt away from the contact, “Oh, sorry.”

“No, no it’s okay.” I scratch the back of my neck and follow behind her. There’s a decent height difference between us so I slow my stride to stay behind her. We walk a few steps, lining up to put our order in.

“I’ll take one cider, please,” her voice higher pitched than normal due to her excitement.

“Make that two,” I say over her shoulder. She turns around and beams up at me before stepping aside. I already have my card ready so I tap it to the card reader and step beside her to let the next set of people order. I like buying her these little things, I like seeing her happy. The last time we were together for any significant amount of time, she wasn’t, and I would’ve done whatever I could to change that. I wanted nothing more than to take all of her pain away, but grief doesn’t work like that.

“So, how have you been?” I ask her. What am I doing, making small talk now?

“I’ve been good,” she beams at me. “The business is doing well and I’m really happy doing it. It’s just been an adaptation, you know?”

“Yeah. It’s good to see you so happy, kitten.”

Her smile falls as the pink hue travels up her beautiful face. What did I just do? I just used her pet name, and it flowed right off my tongue. I guess habits do die hard.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I start.

“No, don’t be. Don’t worry about it. Oh, I think our drinks are ready.” She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and turns to get our beverages. I turn to Johnathan, he’s pointing at me and cracking up laughing. I wish I could punch his smug face, but for one, I’m no fighter, and two, we just got reacquainted. I’d hate to ruin that now.

I sip my drink, wishing it was spiked now more than ever, and head over to Jonathan.

“Smooth,” he whispers at me as he snickers to himself.

“Thanks, man,” I snark back. I really have lost my ability to talk to her, but every time I’m around her I can’t help but feel like there’s still a spark between us. There’s this undeniable tug that makes me feel like I need to be by her side, that I need to just be with her.

Jonathan and I follow after the rest of the group as the girls start directing people where to go for pictures. It was always tradition that we take big group pictures, and it seems that hasn’t changed one bit.

I stand back as everyone groups together and wait to be passed a phone to take the picture until Hazel starts yelling at me.

“What are you doing? Come on!”

“I’m going to take the picture,” I call back. I don’t want to intrude, especially since I’m basically the new guy again.

“Fuck no you’re not, get over here.”

Well, if she insists. I slot myself beside her and wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her close. Having her tucked into my side makes my dick jump. Her fleshy hip has my fingers tingling with the need to grab on and never let her go again.

I smile for the picture and she’s gone from underneath me, running over to ensure the perfect shot was taken.

“Okay! Let's take pictures at this cutout!” She points to the two pumpkin bodies painted on thick plywood. Whoever sticks their face through will look like they have an orange body with scrawny arms and legs.

“Callum, come take this picture with me.” I look around and point to myself, unsure if I really heard her right. “Yes, you! Come on, it'll be fun!” Well, if she wants it, I guess she gets it.

I step behind the cutout and smile as more shots are taken before we trade places with Johnathan and Daphne. They take their picture and two more from our group step up. It’s a rotating carousel of people until everyone has had their chance. We move to the next one, a dog dressed up as a clown and cat dressed up like a unicorn, and pose for that, too. We all laugh at one another and make funny faces, all in good spirit.

The sun has started to go down and everyone has gathered around the big fire pit in the middle of the field. It’s tradition that patrons all huddle around to watch them light it, which they do as the sun falls behind the trees. Typically, once that’s over, the families file out, and that’s when the adult fun starts. The booze comes out and the DJ cranks up the music.

“Okay, is everyone ready to light this thing up?” The announcer calls through the microphone. “Count down with me: five…”

“Five,” we all repeat.

“Four, three, two, one!” A large torch is tossed into the middle of the pit and all of the wood goes up in flames. Ooo’s and awe’s fill the nighttime air as the timber cracks and pops under the heat. An ember cracks up into the night sky, causing a reflection to be seen out of my peripheral vision. I turn my head to look further, and it’s a mirror attached to a tree. There’s an employee standing behind a rope.

“Hey, what’s that?” I ask Jonathan, pointing towards the tree line.

“Oh, they do a mirror maze now. Instead of it being in a fun house, like in a circus, it’s out in the woods. They give you a map and everything, it’s hard to complete and takes a while. It’s pretty spread out.”

"Interesting."

I think I have an idea.