CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4

Callie was devasted… She saw the pictures… Harrison was fucking around on her… He swore on his mother’s grave that he never did anything of the sort, he was making it out like he had no idea. She sort of believed him until the phone call…

“Who the fuck is this?” He asked this Pat girl. His phone was on speaker, he was acting like he had nothing to hide.

“Babe… Should I play like I don’t know you? Just give me a sign that Callie is listening in…” Oh my god… “Harry… Baby…”

“What the actual fuck?” Harrison gave her a swear I don’t know what’s going on look. Callie grabbed his phone and searched through it… Pictures… Oh wow… He had fucked around on her! Messages! Wow…

Callie slammed the phone down and headed to the door. Harrison ran after her and shut the door before she could go. “Just… I swear to god I don’t know this woman…”

“So why have you got pictures fucking her?”

“Callie…”

“Oh my god… You messaged her! I saw the fucking messages! You take me for a fool?” She shook her head. What a joke. She had wasted so much of her time waiting for him. Waiting for Harrison to come home… Waiting… Forever fucking waiting for him. Fighting the world for Harrison… She was so cut. She wanted to hurt him like he hurt her. She loved him so much and gave her all to this relationship and this was how he repaid her!

“I don’t know how… I can’t explain it…”

“How long Harrison? Just tell me that? How long? Is it only her? Is there others? I’m a big girl… I can handle it…”

“I… I’ve never cheated on you. I promise…”

“Stop fucking lying! Get out. I want you out of my apartment. I want you to fuck off. I want you to leave!”

“Callie… Baby…”

Harrison came to touch her and she nudged away from him angrily. How dare he! How dare he fuck her up! She was so distraught by it all. “I will never ever forgive you. Get out. Do you hear me! I will call the police if you don’t fuck off. I want you gone…”

Callie didn’t wait, she left the apartment needing to get some air.

Her life was fucked up… She thought for sure that Harrison was the one for her. She actually believed it in her soul. What an absolute joke… Wow… Everything in her life came tumbling down right around her.

Took Callie a good three months to be able to be somewhat normal again. She knew that Harrison had returned to base and she was once again alone, only this time she wasn’t waiting for Harrison to come home. She was alone… Fucked up and alone for real.

Her little bakery was the only thing giving her some kind of peace. It made her happy working in her shop. Baking was a stress relief for her. Lucky she was busy, busier than she had ever been. Word got around fast about her cookies and she was selling out fast every day. It was great…

She had to hire a girl to give her a hand now. It was hard to keep up without additional help. At least Callie was now in a position to be able to hire somebody.

Stephanie was great. She had the same passion for baking that Callie had and they worked well together.

Life was okay for now, she was learning to move on… Harrison had really left a dent in her heart.

She was about to close shop Saturday afternoon when Tristan himself showed up. Stephanie had gone home and Callie was finishing off, she was about to put the close sign up when he walked into the shop so casually.

“Sorry, we’re closed…” Her heart dropped when she realised it was Tristan. Boy he was attractive. She bit her lip and looked around. “What are you doing here?” This guy was something alright. She had no idea what why he was even here.

“Thought I’d try again…” Made it out like it was no big deal. Callie squinted her eyes at him. “Where’s the fucker?” He asked looking around for Harrison. No idea how to reply to that. The fucker was no longer around.

“Who?”

“Your man… Is he going to jump me again?”

“He’s not here.”

“He’s a fagot…” Tristan the all class said. Callie didn’t get this man. He was like so over the top cocky. So full of himself, so arrogant…

“And you are a…”

“Be careful baby… I’ve let you get away with saying stuff… I don’t usually tolerate insults… Not many who have insulted me have lived to talk about it…”

“Wow… Such a hero you are…” She mocked. He squinted his sexy eyes at her and she faked a smile. “What do you want? Go away…”

“I want to take you out…”

“No. It’s getting old Tristan…”

“I want to take you out… What are you so afraid of? Always so afraid… I’m sure Harrison wouldn’t mind…”

“Harrison…” She scoffed at the mention of her ex. “Whatever. No. My answer is no.”

“Why not?” Asshole was playing.

“Don’t like you.”

“I like you…” He was so charming that it was fucked up.

“Seriously go away. I’m not going to date you. Not even one dinner date. Go away…”

Callie wasn’t sure what was happening when Tristan walked toward her. On instinct she took a few steps back until she was backed up against the counter. Tristan walked on until he stood right in front of her… Too close.

She shook her head and came to push him away only to have him place both her hands on the counter on either side of her body as he pressed his hands over hers to keep them there.

He was in her space… Like in her space… His mouth inches from hers. “You smell like cake… He said taking in her scent. He moved his head so he was rubbing his nose on her neck. Oh my god…

Tristan didn’t seem to care that this was not on… Callie was not sure how to react… He was just too close for comfort.

“Stop…” She managed to voice.

He lifted his head when she said that and smiled. Still way too close. He rubbed his nose onto hers, he was confusing her… “I don’t want to stop… I want to fuck you… Let me fuck you…”

Tristan came to kiss her but Callie moved her head before his lips touched hers. Instead he got her cheek.

“You need to leave…” Again trying really hard to be assertive.

“I will not go away Callie… Let’s date… If by the end of the date you don’t want to see it through, I’ll not bother you again.” He let go of her and took a step back. She drew in a deep breath trying to work this one out. “One date… What do you have to lose?”

Truth of the matter was Callie didn’t understand why he was so persistent. She didn’t get it. What on earth did he have to gain by pushing for this to happen?

“You are sleeping with my sister… I don’t want to date you. It’s not that hard to understand. It’s sick… I won’t be with my sister’s lover.” Like it wasn’t rocket science.

“I’ll stop fucking her then.” What the hell? Sally would die!

“No… Don’t do that. She hates me enough…”

“She doesn’t mean anything to me.” Wow. That was so harsh to hear. Sally adored Tristan and AJ… “I wouldn’t have her fuck my brother if she meant shit to me…”

“Nice…” What did he expect her to say to that?

“What? It’s the truth? I am not going to be serious about any girl who wants to fuck other men…”

“But it’s what you want?”

“Right… For now. It means nothing but entertainment. I don’t have to look to get laid. The girls there are available…”

“Okay… Seriously, I am not going to pretend that I understand any of it. Thing is… It’s never going to happen Tristan…”

“I won’t touch her. Dinner and then I’ll leave you alone…” She didn’t know what to say.

“Promise… Promise me that you’ll stop hassling me.”

“I promise…” He put his hand out so she could shake on it. Callie was sceptical about this entire thing but decided to go on this date. Maybe he would back off and it would be over. She would go…

She shook his outstretched hand only to have him grab it and pull her into his body. He lifted her chin up and looked into her eyes. He was so… “Now you promise me… Promise me that you will treat it as a real date…” She frowned not liking this entire situation. “I want you to promise me… You give this date a go for real?”

Fuck!

“Okay… I promise…” She gave it up. One fucking date! One date… It would pass and she would never have to see this fucker again.

“Good girl…” She didn’t like how he said that… Felt like she was somewhat owned… Before she could say anything he kissed her mouth softly. Callie didn’t even have time to react because it was over before it began. He let her go and walked to the door opening it up to leave. “I will pick you up at seven.” With that he left. Pick her up? He knew where she lived? Of course he did… Sally the big mouth would have told him!

Callie was really nervous about how this evening was going to turn out. She decided on wearing a simple play suit. Her legs were bare and the v line on the neck showed a bit of cleavage, it was still decent enough. Nothing tasteless about it.

She tied her hair up and applied a little makeup not wanting to overdo it. She wanted to show him she was going to some effort, she did promise the fucker.

Heels and a spritz of perfume before he arrived.

Callie opened the door to find a smashing looking Tristan there. Boy oh boy… This guy was so attractive. He had this really dark side to him but you couldn’t deny his looks. He rubbed a hand over his neatly shaven beard as he looked her up and down. Callie felt a little self-conscious suddenly. This guy had models falling at his feet and he was looking at her like he wanted to devour her.

Was it getting hot in here?

“Fuck me…” He swore to himself. “You look gorgeous…”

“Thank you…” So embarrassing. She wasn’t used to that. Harrison was always so considerate and respectful.

“Turn around…” Oh my god. She was definitely not prepared for that.

“Oh my god… Stop… Don’t do that…”

“I want to see the look, turn around for me.” Nope, not going to happen. Tristan held her hand and literally turned her around spinning her with his finger. “Was that hard?” He said before he kissed her on the nose.

She frowned unsure of this entire situation. Callie grabbed her clutch and they were off. She needed to leave the apartment… It was too intimate… Not that he really came into the apartment… It was the thought of having him in there.

Once again in his over the top stylish car. Did not impress her at all. She didn’t care enough about material bullshit. A car is a car… Full stop. That’s how she looked at it. That’s why she could never be with somebody like Tristan, he looked for the materialistic side of things, he always wanted the best of the best.

Sally was more suited for him, she was the exact same.

“I’ve made bookings at one of my hotels… Best restaurant in town.” So sure of himself. She chanced a look at him and hated how sexy this guy was.

“Okay… Sounds nice.” Play nice Callie… Play like you care… He turned his head to look at her as though knowing she was trying really hard.

“You can cut the act.” He said after returning his attention to the road.

“What act?”

“You pretending that this isn’t bothering you… Like you aren’t freaking out being alone with me…”

“I’m not freaking out… I’m doing what I promised. It’s a date… Do you want me to be rude on our date?” She didn’t get it.

“I want you to be real.” Callie was out of her league. She actually didn’t know how to handle this guy. He had so many different sides to him.

“Then you will think I’m not sticking to our deal.”

“It’s fine. As long as you treat it like a date. How would you act with Harrison…” Fuck… “He won’t like it that you’re on a date…”

“Yeah, how about we don’t be talking about him…” She shook her head hating how it worked out between her and Harrison.

“Why the change of heart?”

“He… He was cheating on me… So yeah… Go figure right?”

“No fucking way!” Tristan looked at her again and smiled. “That fucker… Didn’t see that coming…”

“Whatever.” She mumbled miserably.

“How’d you find out? Did he tell you it was a mistake?”

“I… He didn’t tell me. Denies it with his everything. I mean, I would have believed him too… Until I saw the phone… Pictures and messages… Even if I wanted to pretend it wasn’t real was hard to do after I saw the pictures…”

“Ouch…”

“Yep…”

“Hey… I think it’s a great thing…” He smiled and winked at her. Callie didn’t know what to say to him. He was being all fucking sexy and cute and putting her off her game.

The hotel was gorgeous stunning. Callie was awed when she saw the inside of it. She had been to a few hotels in her life but nothing remotely as nice as this.

The restaurant was even nicer.

Tristan being Tristan had the best seat in the house. Table overlooking the entire ocean. Wow.

“You own this?” She asked once they had taken a seat.

“Yeah, me and AJ…”

“Wow… Did you build it?”

“No, it was built, we revamped and changed it all. Gutted the inside…”

“Good job. Looks amazing…” She had to admit that it was a job well done.

“Yeah, proud of it. This one is my baby.”

“You and your brother do everything together… Must be nice.”

“Yeah… Again, lived on the street and we had only each other to rely on.”

“Your father…” Her stopped her from continuing her sentence and interrupted her before she could comment about his father’s way of raising them.

“Made us strong… My father made us the men we are today.”

“You don’t look at it like abuse?” She had to ask. She really didn’t understand his way of thinking.

“He made us into men. Not fagots… He made us into men. I know if I ever got married I can provide and support my family. I will never not be able to give them everything. I know that… My father made it so. He did not raise a loser. Did not raise a pretty boy who waxes his eyebrows and shaves his legs… He raised a man.”

“You are very chauvinistic… Sexist… Not a good thing to be today’s world.”

“They are killing the male species. Weakening them. I won’t be caught up in that. I am built to be a provider… I will protect my family… I was built that way. My other half will bear my children and be there for me. She will serve me and be happy to do so…”

“Like Sally and the others?”

“Yeah but it will be different, she will be my wife. Purely mine. Put on this earth only for me.”

Good to know…

***

Tristan could look into Callie’s eyes forever. Something about this girl. She had spunk… It wasn’t about pleasing him or going with anything he said because he said it. He was learning a lot about Callie. She was honest to a fault. Didn’t know how to lie or keep things to herself.

Sally said she was forever getting into trouble for her over opinionated views. She was something alright. Didn’t hurt that she was gorgeous. She had this look about her. She was stunning and never really overplayed her looks. It was like she knew how good she looked and kept it simple… Kept it minimal… Didn’t overkill the look.

He was intrigued… That was saying something, Tristan was hardly ever intrigued with the ladies. Rarely did he find something in a woman that was worth looking over. With Callie… He needed more.

He wasn’t delusional, he understood perfectly well that once he had fucked her this fixation would die down… For now however, she was literally a breath of fresh air.

Yes she was full on with her views and her comebacks but it was interesting. He found he could really keep up a conversation with her without being bored.

“You don’t agree?” He asked her. He wanted to hear her take on it.

“Do I think a woman’s job is to serve a man?” He nodded. “I think a marriage is a two way thing. They would have to have an agreement…”

“Yeah, it’s called marriage… The man works to provide and the woman serves… It’s how we were built… How the human species was manufactured… Both parts play a role…”

“What’s wrong with a woman who works?” She asked looking at him curiously.

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, the kids go astray. There is nobody there to nurture the children. There is nobody there to guide the kids. Her job is to be there for her man and her children. Why have kids if you are not going to be there for them and raise them?”

“She can still work and do that…”

“But why should she? She doesn’t need to be tired or stressed about work.” Callie frowned as though trying to take it all in.

“Look, in retrospect I get where you are coming from but it doesn’t work that way in today’s world…”

“It works that way in my world…” He said meaning it. No way under the sun was her going to let his woman work and slave for a fucking government… She would be there at home for him… Ready for him…

“We don’t live in your world Tristan…”

“I live in my world… I will only live by my rules. Nobody will dictate how it’s meant to be. I will do for me and my family as I see fit. No social bullshit will sway me to believe otherwise. No chance… My world is my world alone… This world has gone to shit. Men hide away in fear of being called sexist or chauvinistic… Men hide their true identities to be pussies… I will stand for what I believe to be true…”

She rubbed her full lips together as she listened to him. She was really acting as though this was a date… He was impressed. She kept to her word… He admired that… Respected it.

“Well… I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one.”

“Why are you so different to Sally?” He had to know. “I mean, you were both raised the same way…” He watched her thinking how to reply to that.

“Sally always knew she wanted to be owned I suppose. She was always in some kind of relationship where she was the focus… She was the trophy girlfriend… She was so pretty and used that to her advantage…” Yes Sally was pretty but Callie was gorgeous.

“You’re pretty…” She actually scoffed when he said that. It was like she thought he was taking the piss out of her. “You have to know how fucking hot you are…”

“Oh my god…” She gave him a stop look. “Pretty is the girls you are with. The girls you and AJ share…”

“Yeah… I know. But I’m talking about you. You…”

“Or let’s not…” She was clearly uncomfortable with the attention.

“I am taken by you…” He found himself saying. “I am… I can’t stop thinking about you…”

“Wow…” He wanted to smile with how she just blurted out whatever was on her mind.

“I can’t help it… Trust me, I don’t want to be into you… Trust me when I tell you that you are not my type…”

“Nice…”

“You know what I mean… I mean…”

“Your type as in the girls at your place type?”

“I mean as in willing to see to my every desire…”

“Most definitely not your type…” She was such a shit. “Look Tristan…” And the seriousness… “Trust me when I tell you that you don’t want me… Not in any way. I am not about what you are and you are not about what I am… Let’s just say we aren’t happening.”

“I want to have you… At least once.” He admitted.

“We can’t always get what we want…”

Tristan was really unsure how to sway her. He knew for a fact that gifts were not going to work on her. He knew throwing money at her wasn’t going to go in his favour… Think Tristan…

“Your shop… Why baking?” Talk about things that interested her…

“Um… Passion. Love baking… It is my quiet time. It’s kind of a stress relief…”

“It’s going well…” She smiled. Her eyes lit up, it was a real smile.

“Wasn’t always that busy. Started off really slow… Thankfully word got around and it picked up…”

“Social media?”

“Actually yes. An influencer was there one afternoon and posted about my cookie being the best thing she’s ever tasted. It blew up after that. Thing was I didn’t even know who this lady was… So yeah…”

“You’re not on socials?”

“Not really… I mean I have accounts but don’t really post. Not that invested in all of that. It gets too much for me. The fact that an influencer can make more money than a doctor… It’s a little disturbing…”

Tristan never looked at it that way… Interesting. She had brains as well as looks… This was not looking good for him. He was really falling for this blue eyed beauty…

Dinner was actually very nice. Tristan couldn’t remember the last time he went out on a real date and enjoyed himself. They even danced… A slow dance… She was the perfect date… She was a little stiff when he pulled her into his arms on the dance floor but didn’t pull away.

“You can relax…” He whispered in her ear. “I mean, can’t really fuck you here…”

Her face… She moved her head back so she was looking up at him. He winked at and she squinted her stunning eyes at him.

“You are vulgar.” She said shaking her head. He looked into her eyes as they swayed to the music.

“Babe… You’ll know when I’m vulgar… I’ve been on my best behaviour…” True story that.

Once they had dessert it was time to leave. What he really wanted to do was take her to the penthouse in the hotel and fuck her senseless. He didn’t know how to do this…

“Would you like a tour of one of the rooms?” He asked before he could stop himself. It was like she was expecting him to ask that. Very sure of herself.

“Really?” She rolled her eyes at him.

“What? You are once again assuming that I will press you up against the wall and fuck you… I’m only asking if you would like to see one of the rooms of the hotel…”

“I’m sure they are great…” She shook her head knowing he was fucking with her.

“Well… At least come up with me for a drink…”

“Tristan…”

“Have I tried anything? Have I done anything to make you believe that I will force you into anything?”

“No.”

“Okay… So why are you holding back…”

“I know what will happen Tristan… You will try…”

“One drink…” He was going to insist. She squinted her eyes at him and drew in a breath.

“Fine… One drink… That’s it.”

“That’s it… What more is there?” He stood up and held her hand to lead her to the private lifts. He was stopped by a group of people who wanted to have a selfie with him… As you do.

Tristan had Callie in his arms as they took the picture…

In the lifts and Callie had this look about her. “What?” He wanted to know what she was thinking.

“You love it don’t you? The attention… The media frenzy…”

“Don’t really think about it.” True story…

“It doesn’t hurt that you have all this money…”

“It comes with the territory I suppose… If it’s not out of my way I don’t mind having a picture with whoever wants it.” She nodded her head, he had a feeling she didn’t think that was the case. It was the truth, he never really did try to be famous. Although he was more infamous than he was famous.

The lifts opened to his penthouse before anymore could be said. He loved this place… It was his go to place when he needed to have some peace away from the world.

“Home sweet home…” He said opening his arms wide. She did not seem overly impressed. Kind of grated on his nerves.

“It’s nice…” She smiled nodding her head. She looked around trying to be polite. He noticed she had her back up again. No longer was she relaxed and easy going.

Tristan poured them both a drink before he took a seat. “You going to stay standing?” He asked her. She rubbed her lips together before she sat down… Away from him… “Okay what is it? You think I’m going to hurt you? Is that it?”

“No…”

“So why do you suddenly have that wall up again?” It was getting to him. Callie was unlike any woman he had ever known. She was literally making him second guess himself.

“I don’t…”

“Yeah you do…”

“This is wrong…”

“What is? We are only having a drink… Relax.”

“Stop doing that Tristan. We shouldn’t be having a drink… We shouldn’t be alone in your penthouse… We shouldn’t be on this date. We shouldn’t be together doing anything…”

“Why the fuck not?” He sort of snapped.

“Because nothing is going to come of it. I’m sure you spending the entire evening with me was not how you wanted it to be… You thought we would sleep together… It’s not going to happen and you’ve wasted an entire evening for nothing.”

Nice. This bitch was really denting his ego…

“You didn’t enjoy yourself?” This was harsh…

“I did… Not the point…”

“So what is the point? We went out, it was a great night… So what if we sleep together? What is the big deal? You are not with anybody… I’m not committed… What are you so afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid.” She said a little too quickly. He could see how her eyes darkened. “I’m not afraid. It’s just… You know why… I don’t want to be with you…”

“Are you attracted to me?” He wanted to put her on the spot now. “Just answer me that. Are you attracted to me?”

Callie’s face coloured at his question.

“What?”

“Not that hard. Are you attracted to me?”

“I’m not going to answer that… You know your appeal…” She rolled her eyes and put her drink down on the glass coffee table that sat in the middle of the sitting area before she stood up. “Look Tristan, thank you for tonight… I had a good time. I will make my own way home…”

“Sit down Callie…” She was not walking out on him… No fucking way.

“I stuck to my part of the deal and you will stick to yours. You will stay away and make no attempt to see me again. It’s the deal…”

Fuck me… This bitch actually got him… She got him good.

Tristan felt like he had been played. He had believed that the date was going well… He actually thought she was coming around… What a fucking joke!

He stood up and followed her to the lifts, Tristan grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. He might have been a little too rough.

“Don’t walk out on me…” He snapped.

“Let me go Tristan…” She wasn’t carrying on or anything just being as assertive as she could.

Tristan was about to erupt. “Fuck!” He yelled shoving her away from him. She staggered backwards and held onto the wall for support. Her face giving away her shock… Maybe a little fear thrown into the mix. “What can I give you? Ha? What can I do to make this happen?”

“Stop. You need to stop…” Fuck that word.

“Callie…” He was praying she didn’t push him… He didn’t like the lack of control he was experiencing when it came to her. Callie Vayga was really fucking his head up.

“I’m going home…”

“I know you want more to happen.” He snapped. He was fucking frustrated as hell. “Why do you fight it? I know you feel the connection… I know you want this.”

“You know shit.” She bit back. “You are so consumed by getting what you want. You only want me because you can’t have me. Give it up! I am not into your bullshit world!”

“And if I prove you wrong?” He was going to do something stupid… This was one of those times where Tristan needed to maybe take a step back. This was a dangerous situation right now, it could go either way.

“You can’t…”

“If I can… Let me prove you wrong…”

“Or… You will move out of my way and let me go. I… Please…” Yeah, even Callie understood how dangerous this situation was right now. “You gave me your word…”

Tristan understood it was for the best he let his one go… For tonight anyway. It was going to end up messy…

“Okay… I’ll drive you home…” He would give it up… For now…

“It’s fine Tristan I will find my own way…”

“I said I’ll drive you home.” He bit. She rubbed her lips together before she nodded her head. Even she seemed to know that he was holding on by a thread…

Tristan pressed the button for the lifts to open. He could see how nervous Callie was but she held herself well… If only she knew how close he was to unleashing his beast… His beast that seemed to understand that she was his mate… He needed to fucking brand her… To own her…