Chapter Five

Callum came back from his lunch break and groaned when he saw who was sitting in his section yet again. It hadn’t even been a day!

He put on his apron and went to the window that looked into the kitchen, spotting Tracy.

“Tracy, please tell me someone else is handling table twelve,” he pleaded.

Tracy chuckled, “No such luck, buttercup. Is it really so bad to be waiting your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Callum exclaimed. It was a bit too loud and he flushed when the diner’s patrons stared at him. Including Mason and the people he was sitting with. It didn’t seem to be a casual lunch as all three men were dressed in suits. And of course, Mason was mouthwateringly handsome. The jerk.

Tracy laughed and put up three plates, “I think you know where these are to go.”

Callum grumbled under his breath thinking it was just his luck that he arrived just in time for Mason’s table to be served their meals. At least there was a chance he could maintain a distance, although that chance was more of a vain wish as there was no doubt Mason would strike up conversation.

Grabbing the plates, he reluctantly walked over to table twelve and gave each man their meal.

“Hey, Callum, how’ve you been?” Mason asked, smiling at him.

“We saw each other yesterday,” Callum replied shortly. He faced one of the other men and gestured to his empty glass, “Would you like a refill, sir?”

The man nodded and winked, “Thanks, babe.”

Callum’s eye twitched but he ignored the obvious advance and grabbed the glass. As he was leaving the table, he heard Mason growl, “He’s off limits, Jameson. Get your head back on task.”

Callum returned shortly with a filled glass and set it in front of Jameson. He tried not to pay attention to what the men were talking about but managed to pick up that it was related to Mason’s club.

“Anything else I can do for you guys?” Callum asked, really hoping that they would answer in the negative.

The man who Callum didn’t have a name for shook his head but Jameson opened his mouth to speak. Callum knew he would not like whatever it was Jameson wanted to say if the leering glint in the other man’s eyes was of any indication. Thankfully, Mason growled low in his throat and Jameson snapped his mouth shut, shaking his head.

“Mason?” Callum asked when Mason didn’t respond to him, still scowling at Jameson.

Mason’s murderous expression immediately morphed into an adoring smile as he shook his head, “Not right now, Callum, thanks. But when does your shift end?”

“Not for a couple hours,” Callum replied vaguely and then quickly walked away before Mason could get a much more specific and helpful answer out of him.

Callum managed to continue his shift without any problems since he didn’t have to go back to Mason’s table. Eventually, it appeared that the three men finished their business and Mason flagged Callum over for the bill. Mason paid and then his two business associates left. They had been there for quite a while, Callum’s shift was almost over.

Callum was wiping down another table when he sensed someone stand behind him. He decided to ignore the person unless they directly asked for his attention.

“You have no idea how arousing this view is.”

Callum shot straight up and spun around, face red with embarrassment as he faced Mason who was only just letting his eyes drift up from their previously lowered position to meet Callum’s startled eyes.

“What the fuck, Mason?” Callum demanded when he got his mortification under some semblance of control.

Mason shrugged one shoulder, grinning, “Not my fault you were bent over like that.”

“Was there something you wanted?” Callum said through gritted teeth.

“You,” Mason replied with ease and a wicked smirk.

Callum closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with the hand that wasn’t holding the damp rag he had been cleaning with.

“Wasn’t last night enough? Or for a matter of fact, most of yesterday?”

“Well,” Mason made a pondering face with pursed lips, moving forward until Callum found himself trapped between the table he had been in the middle of cleaning and Mason’s unfairly attractive body with the other man’s hands planted on either side of him on the table, forming a cage. “If you multiply all of that by infinity and square it to the power of infinity, then no.”

Callum closed his eyes and groaned. Just as he was about to open them and tell Mason off for being an idiot, warm lips were pressed onto his.

“Mason!” Callum exclaimed, pushing at the shifter’s chest. His face returned to a shade of a ripe red strawberry.

“Well, don’t you move fast.”

Callum looked over Mason’s shoulder and sighed in relief when he saw his best friend standing there with her hands on her hips. Even though she always wore skintight dresses, sometimes in obscene colors that hurt Callum’s eyes, she still exuded this menacing aura that dared people to mess with her. It might be due to the fact that her heels were studded or spiked enough to take out a couple eyes, her trademark studded leather jacket, or that she was a very open vampire.

“Georgia!” Callum exclaimed, quickly slipping out of Mason’s hold and going over to the much safer person. “What’re you doing here?”

“Remember that party I’ve got to go to?”

“Umm, no?”

Georgia sighed and whacked the back of Callum’s head.

“Ow! What was that for?” Callum whined. Georgia hadn’t held back. Well, she never did but it hurt all the same.

“Remus is holding a stupid party at his place and all the vamps in the state were invited. I have to go and you’re coming with me.”

“No way,” Callum said. “Remus hates me. He tried to decapitate me the last time you dragged me to one of his shindigs!”

“What?”

Callum turned around to face Mason who had a murderous expression on his face to accompany the chilling tone he used to utter that one word. He had forgotten he was there.

“You’re exaggerating, Callum,” Georgia said sounding unaffected. In truth Callum could tell she was just trying to indirectly placate Mason who looked like he was about to shift and tear through the city to find Remus and rip his balls off then let him bleed out till he died for a second and final time. He didn’t think vampires could survive getting their balls torn off by jagged wolf teeth. At the very least it’d hurt so much he’d wish he were dead, again.

“I still don’t like him and he certainly does not like me,” Callum said, keeping a wary eye on Mason. He wasn’t too worried about him going on a rampage to find Remus because he highly doubted Mason even knew who Remus was, much less where the racist eight hundred and something year old lived, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Remus was quite influential and the last thing Callum needed was a war between shifters and vampires because Mason was needlessly overprotective.

“Well that’s too bad. It’s not like you’ve got any plans for tonight so you will be my date. I can’t take Evelyn for obvious reasons.”

“I do too have plans!” Callum protested, his mind racing to think of something believable because unfortunately, his only plan for after his shift ended was to sit on his bed in his underwear and draw or catch up on the comics he was following. That wouldn’t really fly with Georgia.

Georgia cocked her hip and raised a perfectly plucked brow, “Oh really? And what pray tell would those be?”

“I, uh, I’m…”

An arm wrapped around Callum’s waist, hand curling around his hip possessively, and he was pulled into the side of a muscular body.

“He’s going drinking with me,” Mason replied.

Georgia blinked, “Again, damn do you move fast. I told you he worked here what? Three days ago?”

Callum gaped, “You’re the reason he stalked me all of yesterday?”

Georgia shrugged, “He was really interested and besides, Cal, you need more relationships and a boyfriend will do you some good.”

“But I don’t need or want a boyfriend,” Callum argued. “I’m perfectly happy being single and you can’t tell me I need to get laid because I do on occasion.”

“One night stands are fine and all but you use them to feed, a chore rather than actual interest, nor have you gotten into a relationship or even a measly date in the past two years that I’ve known you, and it’s not for the lack of offers. Just because Ju—”

“It’s not just because of that!” Callum cut her off. “Look, G, I’m just not interested in having a relationship. Now, excuse me, I still have forty minutes left of my shift.”

Slipping out of Mason’s hold, Callum walked past Georgia and went to seat a group of women.

Callum ignored Mason and Georgia as he made himself busy. He really did not want to talk about Justin, especially in front of Mason and where he worked. Justin was his business and his business alone.

When it was time for him to clock out, he said goodbye to Tracy and his other coworkers and quickly left the diner after grabbing his bag from his locker, heading straight for his apartment.

“The hell do you think you’re going?”

The strap of his bag that was not over his shoulder was grabbed and pulled hard enough for him to lose his footing and go crashing to the floor on his butt.

“Oww, Georgia, why?” Callum groaned.

Georgia stood in front of Callum, arms crossed over her chest with Callum’s bag in hand as it had slipped off his shoulder when she pulled it, expression dead and far from amused. “I thought you were ‘going drinking’,” she said, temporarily uncrossing her arms to create mocking air quotes.

“I am,” Callum said as he got to his feet, rubbing his aching backside as he tried to think on his feet and took his bag back. “I was just going to grab my jacket from home first and drop my bag off. Besides, it’s too early to go get shitfaced.”

“Uh-huh…” Georgia was not convinced.

Callum sighed, “I’ll send you a picture of me and Mason drinking while you’re at Remus’ and if I don’t then I’ll go to any and every party you go to for the rest of the year. That good enough for you?”

Georgia grinned, “Fantastic. Have fun on your date then.”

“It’s not a date!” Callum protested but Georgia was long gone before he could get all the words out.

“Two dates in a row, must be my lucky week,” Mason said, startling Callum into dropping his bag. Though Callum was probably more startled by the fact that Mason wrapped his arms around the halfie from behind, nestling his face in the crook of Callum’s neck and inhaling deeply. “You smell really good.” He licked a stripe up Callum’s neck and added, “Taste good too.”

Callum’s face was going thermonuclear. He turned around in Mason’s hold and pressed his hands against the shifter’s chest, trying to get away. Mason only tightened his hold and pulled Callum closer to his chest, not allowing the halfie any room to push away. Mason’s hands slid down dangerously low, just barely brushing the curve of Callum’s ass.

“Mason, let go of me!” Callum hissed. He was beyond mortified, especially since his coworkers and Tracy could see him through the windows of the diner.

“Hmm,” Mason hummed, pretending to think about it. “I dunno, I kind of like having my hands on you.” A hand slid down and patted Callum’s ass. “Especially right here.”

“Mason!” Callum scowled. His face couldn’t get any redder. “Let. Go. Of. Me.”

Mason pouted then smirked, “I will if you kiss me.”

“No,” Callum immediately responded.

Mason shrugged, still smirking, “Then I guess we’ll just be standing here like this. Or maybe like this.” He moved both his hands down into Callum’s back pockets and started massaging Callum’s ass through the fabric.

Callum squeaked and tried to push away from Mason again but it was no use. The shifter was levels stronger than him and the grip on his ass was firm and unrelenting.

Callum looked around and saw people staring, including Tracy and his coworkers who were grinning smugly at him. They were never going to let him live this down.

“I fucking hate you,” Callum grumbled. “Were you being serious? About the kissing thing and you’ll let me go?”

Mason cocked a shoulder, “Wanna test it out?”

“Really fucking hate you,” Callum groaned but what more did he have to lose? Quickly, he stood on his tiptoes – Mason was that much taller than him – and pressed his lips to Mason’s cheek.

“I know I didn’t specify but I think it was obvious that I wanted you to kiss my lips, love,” Mason said, clearly amused.

Callum looked to the side and muttered, “I gave you your stupid kiss now let me go.”

Mason chuckled but kept his word and released Callum, who instantly created a distance of three feet between them, watching the shifter warily.

“So do you have a bar in mind for tonight?” Mason asked as if he hadn’t just completely humiliated Callum in public.

No matter how bad Callum wanted to run away and not go drinking with Mason, Callum knew he had to take the stupid picture or the rest of this year would be hell on earth. He sighed, “Yeah, there’s a place near—” He cut himself off before he could say “my house” because he really didn’t want to be giving Mason any clues as to the location of his dingy apartment. “Nearby,” Callum amended. “It’s called Nyte. N-Y-T-E. It’s on 49th.”

Mason nodded, “So can I pick you up then?” He was hopeful.

Callum shook his head, “I’ll meet you inside at the bar at around eight.”

Mason sulked, “Alright. Are you busy right now?”

“Yes. Bye, Mason. I’ll see you later.”

Before Mason could do anything, Callum picked his bag up off the floor and broke off into a sprint to get away.

When Callum reached his apartment, he breathed out a weary sigh and leaned against the door after throwing his bag onto his bed. After the previous night, he’d thought he’d get some kind of buffer. He wasn’t naïve enough to think that one dinner date would get Mason off his back but two nights in a row was too much.

“Just how long do I have to deal with him?” Callum asked aloud, staring up at his peeling ceiling.

With another sigh, Callum trudged to his kitchenette and threw open the fridge and then the cupboards, taking stock of what he was running out of as it had been quite some time since he made a grocery run. Making a mental list, he locked up and headed back out, walking to the nearest grocery store.

Callum grabbed a basket and methodically went through the store, picking up what he needed.

“Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar,” Callum muttered under his breath as he looked down an aisle. The store had changed things around since he had come by two or so weeks ago and the sugar was not where it usually was.

Callum was so focused on locating the elusive sugar that he didn’t notice someone walking down the aisle until they crashed into him from the side.

“Watch where you’re going!” the person yelled.

Callum turned to scowl at the stranger and snapped, “I was standing still, dumbfuck. If anyone should watch where they’re going, it’s you.”

The man was bent down, picking up his phone that he had no doubt been focusing on when he crashed into Callum, and when he stood back up, recognition flashed across his face.

“It’s you!” the man exclaimed.

Callum frowned. He had no idea who the guy was. He was moderately attractive, sure, with his shining black hair, caramel skin, and dark eyes. But Callum couldn’t remember ever meeting him.

“I think you’ve got the wrong person,” Callum brushed him off and made to walk down the aisle, away from the man. He’d come back for his sugar later.

The man grabbed Callum’s wrist, saying, “No, you’re the vampire. We met at Nyte a month ago.”

Callum grimaced. It was a clingy one night stand. He still couldn’t remember the guy, although that wasn’t too surprising considering he was never honestly interested in the people he slept with as he only slept with them to feed. It was a common vampire practice as feeding during sex could be pleasurable and Callum was just too awkward to get fresh blood in any other way. The incident with the hooky playing teenager being one of many examples. However, feeding during sex, if done properly and the vampire cared enough, could be extremely pleasurable and a lot of humans wanted more than one night even if the vampire wasn’t particularly attractive or their type, or even the preferred gender. Which is why Callum hated meeting tricks again and never did the same person twice. He felt guilty if he didn’t try and make the experience as good as possible for his trick. Something Georgia told him he shouldn’t bother with but Callum couldn’t help it.

“Sorry, dude, I don’t remember you. Now please let go of me, I’ve got things to do.”

“I haven’t seen you at the bar,” the man continued, unfazed.

Callum’s eye twitched in annoyance, “I’ve been busy. Now, seriously, let go of me before I break your wrist.”

The man let go of Callum in a flash but he still seemed determined. “Why don’t we go drinking sometime? Have a repeat of when we met.”

“Look,” Callum said. “I only slept with you so I could get some fresh blood. You’re not the first and you’re not the last. I don’t sleep with the same person twice and that’s common knowledge at Nyte. I’m not interested so fuck off and let me do my grocery shopping in peace.”

Callum turned on his heel and stormed away, ignoring the spectators who couldn’t seem to mind their own business. One lady gave him a particularly nasty look and he couldn’t tell if it was because he slept with men or that he may have just sounded like a whore or if it was both. Either way, he simply ignored her.

Callum quickly checked off his mental list until he just had one more thing to collect. He walked to the back of the store where a very bored vampire was watching the tiny TV set up on the counter.

Without looking up, the girl asked, “Human, animal, paranormal?”

“Animal, cans, two twelve packs, please,” Callum said. Animal blood was at least half the amount of human and paranormal was completely out of his price range.

The girl nodded and turned in her chair, getting up to go behind a door. She returned holding the two cases stacked on top of each other and placed them on the counter.

“Thanks,” Callum said as he grabbed them. They weren’t too heavy despite their looks. He wasn’t too fond of packaged blood, much less packaged animal blood (and he’d rather not know what kind of animal it came from) but at least it kept him sustained for a couple weeks or so before he required fresh blood and had to hook up with some random.

Finally done, Callum went to the register and groaned internally when he saw that the man from before was waiting outside.

Callum paid and grabbed his bags, hoping that he could slip past his stalker without being noticed. No such luck.

“Hey!”

Callum kept walking. He couldn’t sprint holding onto his groceries or he would lose something along the way.

“Hey!”

Callum grit his teeth and turned around. “What part of ‘fuck off’ do you not understand?” he growled.

“I just want to know your name at least. Give me a chance.”

“Dude, I didn’t tell you my name for a reason. Go find someone else, I’m. Not. Interested. And I never will be. If you come after me, I will not hesitate to rip your throat out and make you bathe in your own blood.” For effect, Callum snarled and showed off his fangs.