Air Kiss: A Running on Air Novella Read online

  He barked a laugh at that, which solicited the attention of the others.

  “What are you two snickering about?” Paul asked.

  “Astronomy,” I answered with a straight face.

  “Ha! That’s a lie. They were talking about anal sex. It’s obvious,” Trev teased.

  “You clearly don’t know Leanne. She’s obsessed with the planets,” Paul said. “I swear she gets aroused when she finds Jupiter on her telescope.”

  “Interesting,” I heard Callum mutter under his breath just before Trev exclaimed, “Really? You have a telescope? Can I see it?”

  I laughed at his enthusiasm, but I was beginning to learn that was just his personality. Trevor Cross was the most excitable person I knew.

  “Sure, come over some night and I’ll show you,” I said.

  Trev waggled his brows. “Some night, eh?”

  “Well, you can’t exactly see the stars during the day.”

  He made a show of looking sad, but I knew he was only playing. “Damn, I thought there was a side of sexy with the invitation.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry to disappoint.”

  “Well, you’re both single, right?” Diana interjected. “There’s no harm exploring the idea.”

  “Trev isn’t single, Didi,” James said. Oh no, now he was at it, too. Jayjay and Didi. Man, I hated cutesy nicknames. “He just started dating a girl he’s been friends with for years.”

  “Oh, juicy!” Diana squealed, turning her attention to Trev. “Tell us everything.”

  He frowned, which wasn’t something he did often, but it was only for a second. Then he plastered on a cheeky grin and replied. “A gentleman never kisses and tells.”

  Diana pouted. “Boo! You’re no fun.”

  “Bet’s on, by the way,” Callum leaned in to whisper. I gaped at him in disbelief. No way was he going to get ‘Leanne is the queen of everything’ tattooed on him. He was bullshitting. He had to be.

  “I don’t believe you,” I whispered back.

  He stared at me intently. “Wait and see.”

  With that he stood and went into the kitchen, probably to get another beer. I stewed for several moments then hopped up and went after him. I found him by the fridge perusing his options. He was bent over slightly, affording me a nice view of his backside. I grew flushed and started rubbing my neck to chase it away.

  “You need something, Leanne?” Callum asked, not turning around. How had he known it was me?

  Suddenly, I couldn’t think of a single thing to say, so I just stood there, silent.

  Callum exhaled and turned around, opening a bottle of Budweiser and shoving it into my hand. “Here, have one of these.”

  “Uh, thanks,” I said and busied myself taking a long gulp. At the back of my mind I knew I shouldn’t mix my drinks, but I was too flustered to refuse.

  He popped another one open for himself and nodded behind me through the doorway, his expression sultry. “Bedroom’s that way.”

  My eyes bugged and I spat out half the beer I just drank. Callum chuckled as I went to grab some paper towels to clean up the mess. “You’ve got a dirty mind. I meant so we could find out the result of our bet.”

  “I know that,” I grumbled, turning back to him as I wiped the wet from the front of my top. Luckily it was black, so it didn’t show a stain.

  “Why’d you look ready to bolt then?” he asked, seeming pleased with himself.

  I glanced at the floor, embarrassed, before shaking myself out of it. Instead of answering his question, I walked by him out of the kitchen and straight into James and Diana’s bedroom. Boisterous chatter sounded from the living room, so I knew the others were occupied enough not to catch me.

  Stepping into the room, I discovered a pretty normal set up. King-size bed, linen sheets, dressing table, and mirror by the window, built-in wardrobe by the opposite wall. Then I looked up and swore profusely. How the hell had he known?

  Laughter sounded from the doorway, where Callum stood leaning against the doorjamb, arms folded, smug expression in place. “Guess I’m the winner.”

  I narrowed my gaze at him. “You knew!”

  He smirked and tipped the beer bottle to his mouth. “Maybe.”

  “That’s cheating.”

  “No, it isn’t. We never made any rules about whether I’d actually been in here before.”

  I huffed an irritable breath and looked up again. “I can’t believe they have a mirror on their ceiling. That’s just so kinky. James is a dark horse.”

  “It’s always the quiet ones,” Callum said.

  I arched an eyebrow. “If that’s the case, then you must be as vanilla as they come.”

  He feigned an offended look. “Are you saying I’ve got a big mouth?”

  “I’m saying you talk a lot.”

  Now he grinned. “It’s not a hard and fast rule, you know. I’ve got a few kinks.”

  “Oh?” I said, hating how curious his statement made me.

  He crooked a finger at me. “Come closer and maybe I’ll show you, little one.”

  Hmm, was he drunk or serious? I couldn’t tell. If he was tipsy, he didn’t look it, though that was the advantage of being a big bloke. You could hold your alcohol well. The inviting look in his eyes had a pull, but I resisted, walking towards him only to slip by and into the hallway.

  “You’re drunk, so I’ll give you a pass for that one. Also, if you remember this in the morning, don’t feel embarrassed. I get beer goggles all the time, too.”

  Callum’s expression hardened. “Beer goggles?”

  “You know, when alcohol makes you think you’re attracted to someone you wouldn’t look twice at sober. Like I said, I’ve been there.”

  At this he reached out and softly grabbed my elbow, stopping me in place. “I’m not drunk, Leanne.”

  I looked at his hand, stunned by the sizzle of attraction that ran through me. This was the first time he’d touched me and the results were…interesting. My belly flipped over on itself and my chest tightened. I had a sudden urge to link our fingers together, maybe stroke my open palm along his jaw just to see what it felt like. I wanted to feel the scrape of his five o’clock shadow.

  “What?” I croaked, throat dry.

  His eyes flickered back and forth between mine when he said, “I’m not wearing beer goggles, so please believe me when I say this, I think you’re sexy as fuck. If we didn’t have to work on this show together, I’d be propositioning the hell out of you right now.”

  I stared at him, taken aback. “But you always act like I’m a nuisance.”

  “That’s because you are. You’re a very, very pretty, distracting nuisance.”

  Um, what?

  Aaaand back came the butterflies. Callum Davidson fancied me. What alternate dimension was this? Sure, he made a lot of suggestive comments, but I thought that was just how he acted around women. Typical flirt. But maybe that wasn’t it. Maybe his flirting was simply that. Maybe he actually…had a crush on me?

  This was certainly turning out to be an eye-opening evening.

  I was still digesting the information when his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and stepped away to answer, a smile in his voice when he said, “Mum, hey, everything all right?”

  In an instant his demeanour changed, his shoulders tensing, body going still.

  “Slow down. Where are you now?”

  A pause.

  “Okay, stay in the flat. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

  He glanced back at me as he shoved his phone in his pocket. “Something’s come up. Can you tell James and the others I had to leave? I’ll fill them all in later.”

  “Sure, but, um, do you need any help? Is your mum okay?” I asked with concern.

  He chewed on his lip, conflicted, then grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the flat with him.

  What was happening?

  When he spoke, his words were frantic, rushed. “Actually, since you mention it, I might need your help. My mum’s
in a bad state and I think she’ll like you. You might be better at talking her down than I am.”

  “What happened to her?” I asked as we arrived outside and Callum strode towards his Ducati. Oh yeah, did I fail to mention he drove a motorbike? It was kind of hard not to notice him rocking up to all our training sessions on it, an unapologetic mix of James Dean and Jax Teller.

  Though I had to wonder where he got the money to afford it.

  Before I could question him further, he shoved a helmet on my head. I was momentarily distracted by how it smelled like him when he studied me and asked, “Fit okay?”

  I swallowed, my stomach tightening as I nodded. He stared at me a moment, like the sight of me wearing his helmet interested him somehow, then climbed astride the bike. He revved the engine and gestured to the space directly behind him. “Get on.”

  Swiftly, I did as requested. It wasn’t like I hadn’t imagined this scenario one or twenty times over the last month. I felt annoyed at my own predictability. Fancying a bloke because he drove a Ducati was just so typical.

  “You’ll need to hold on,” he continued and I awkwardly wrapped my arms around his waist. There was a brief moment when he turned his head, gave me a strange look then focused his attention back on the bike. He revved the engine again and we were off. As soon as he picked up some speed, I held on tighter, not surprised by how much I enjoyed being close to him. My body was a traitor like that.

  His smell infiltrated my senses and since his jacket was open, I could feel his warm, hard abdomen just beneath the fabric of his shirt. I had a brief thought of licking my way across those defined muscles and got a little lost in the visual for a moment. By the time we reached our destination, I’d run through way too many fantasy scenarios in my head to be considered healthy.

  I climbed off the bike and Callum came and helped me remove the helmet. “You okay?” he asked. This new, caring version of him was hard to get my head around.

  “Yep, all good.”

  Now he frowned. “My mum got into a fight with one of our neighbours. She’s pretty upset about it, but I’m shit at comforting people. I always say the wrong thing. Do you think you could sit and talk to her for a while, maybe try to calm her down while I go deal with this fucker?”

  I nodded. “Of course. What was the fight about?”

  He grabbed my hand and led me inside, moving too fast for me to properly contemplate the hand holding and how nice it felt. His palm was soft, but with a roughness around the fingertips. “He keeps leaving his garbage in the corridor instead of carrying it downstairs to the bins, the lazy arse. It pisses everyone off because it attracts rats. Mum’s been at him for months to stop doing it, but he won’t listen. When she confronted him tonight, he called her a nosy slag and threatened to give her a slap if she didn’t leave him alone,” Callum grunted angrily. “Let’s see if he’s so brave when he’s got me to deal with.”

  “He sounds like a bully.”

  “Building’s full of them. As soon as I have enough money I’m getting us out of this dump for good.”

  I studied him, remembering our first meeting, and how he’d been pissed about splitting the money for the show five ways instead of three. Now I got why he was pissed and my gut twisted because I empathised. I didn’t like empathising with people I thought I’d made my mind up about. I’d relegated Callum to the category of self-centred douchebag, but now I saw he did, in fact, have a heart. It softened me towards him and I wasn’t sure if I liked it.

  When we reached his flat, he slotted his key in the door and led me inside. The place was tiny as we stepped into the living room/kitchen area. His mum sat at the table and looked to be in her mid-fifties, with shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes. They were the exact same shade as Callum’s, except right now they were rimmed in red. There were a bunch of crumpled tissues in front of her as she shakily lifted a lit cigarette to her mouth and took a drag.

  “Cal, honey, you didn’t need to come back.”

  “The fuck I didn’t. I’m going to kill that rat bastard for talking to you like that.”

  “Please don’t. You’ll only make things worse. I still have to pass by his flat every day on my way to work. He could make life difficult.”

  “He’s already making life difficult by being a lazy prick. We need to show him some teeth,” Callum shot back and disappeared inside one of the bedrooms. His mum’s attention fell on me and I gave a little wave.

  “Hey, um, I’m Leanne. I’m a friend of your son’s.”

  She mustered a smile. “Right yes, he’s mentioned you. You’re going to be on the TV show together.”

  I was surprised that he talked to his mum about me, though it was probably only in passing. “Come, have a seat,” she went on and I approached the table to pull out a chair.

  “Cal thinks you’re fantastic. Says you run rings around him and the lads,” his mum said, again surprising the hell out of me. I had no idea he thought so highly of me and couldn’t imagine him complimenting me like that. At least not to my face.

  Then I remembered our moment back at James’ flat and felt conflicted all over again.

  You’re a very, very pretty, distracting nuisance.

  “I’m Judy, by the way. Sorry, I’m such a mess. I wish we could’ve met under better circumstances.”

  I waved her away. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve had a few problems with shitty neighbours in my time, too.”

  Before she could reply, Callum emerged from his room with a hockey stick.

  “Where do you think you’re going with that?” Judy questioned anxiously.

  Callum’s gaze was steely. “To teach Mr. Greenhall a lesson,” he answered in a hard voice, then turned and strode from the flat.

  Judy let out a noise of distress and I swore under my breath. I patted her on the arm and tried to be reassuring. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him do anything stupid.” Then I ran out of the flat as fast as my feet would carry me.

  He was halfway down the corridor by the time I caught up to him. “Hey! Wait up, Callum. Maybe we should leave the hockey stick out of it and talk things through the old-fashioned way.”

  He cast me a dark look. “I’m not going to attack him, so you can quit worrying. He just needs to see I mean business.”

  “Oh, right, well eh…” Before I could say anything else, we stopped outside the door to flat 7C and Callum gave it several loud thumps. Seconds later the door swung open, and a greasy looking bloke emerged, talking before he saw who it was.

  “I swear to fuck, Judy, if that’s you again—” He stopped in his tracks when he clapped eyes on Callum, vicious smile in place as he held the stick over one shoulder.

  “You’re gonna give my mum a slap, are you?” he questioned, jaw tight.

  Mr. Greenhall started waving his hands in the air. “She was being hysterical. I only said that to get her to leave me alone.”

  Callum took a step closer so that his six-foot frame practically dwarfed that of his neighbour. “You ever talk to her like that again and I’ll give you more than a slap, you hear me, you slimy fuck?” he threatened.

  “Yes, yes, of course. I’m sorry,” the man apologised, backing away inside his flat.

  “And if I ever see you leaving your rubbish out here again you’ll have more to worry about than a few complaints from the neighbours.”

  “I won’t. I won’t do it a-again,” the man stammered, shutting his door in our faces, obviously scared witless. When he was gone, Callum exhaled a gruff breath. He let the stick fall to his side and started walking back the way we came. I hurried to keep up with him.

  I didn’t know whether speaking was a good idea, because he still seemed on edge, so I stayed quiet. When we reached his door, he paused to glance at me. “Sorry you had to see that. I just get so fucking angry when shitheads in this building try to intimidate my mum. I’m gone a lot, so some of them think she lives alone. It pisses me off how they think they can walk all over her.”

  “That’s
completely understandable. If I were you, I’d be angry, too.”

  His lips turned down at the edges, and for the first time, I saw how tired he was. Tired of struggling. Tired of living in this place. “Can you text Paul and explain why we left? I’m going to talk to Mum for a bit.”

  I nodded. “Sure, no problem.”

  I stood in the hallway and dialled Paul’s number while Callum went into the kitchen. His voice was softer, more careful, as he spoke to his mum and I concentrated back on the ringing phone in my ear.

  Yep, tonight really had been an eye-opener.

  Chapter Four

  Callum

  I watched Leanne sitting next to Mum, talking and sharing a cup of tea like she’d known her all her life, and something about it just felt right. I liked her being here, liked having her close to me in whatever way she allowed. On our way over, with her chest pressed to my back and her arms around my waist, I’d never felt so turned on in my life.

  I wanted her. Badly.

  The last month had been nothing but a lesson in willpower.

  I tried to figure out what it was about her that I found so attractive. I mean, she was hot, had a great little body and a pretty face, but there was something else, too. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was the simple fact that I couldn’t have her that made me want her even more.

  “I should get to bed,” Mum said with a yawn. “But it was lovely to meet you, Leanne. Don’t be a stranger.”

  “I won’t,” Leanne replied and Mum shuffled by me, patting my shoulder as she headed for her room. As soon as we were alone, the atmosphere changed. Leanne wasn’t looking at me the same as usual. There was a softness around her eyes, an affection that was the obvious result of getting a glimpse of my home life with Mum. We were all each other had, since my dad did a bunk when I was still a toddler. I promised myself if I ever had a kid of my own, I’d never be like him.

  “I like your mum,” Leanne said, still sitting by the table while I remained by the door. I worried if I came any nearer I might pick her up and carry into my bedroom. I was this close.

  “She likes you, too,” I replied, my voice unexpectedly hoarse.