A few mornings later when Teyler arrives back in their apartment after his run, he watches Callan Black slump down onto the sofa where he was moping. Teyler growls as Callan pushes him over and he curls his huge body into the corner of the couch while Callan shamelessly takes up most of the space with his legs spread wide.
“Whatcha got there?” Teyler asks, his chin nodding at the contract in Callan’s lap.
“I’m buying a house. It won’t be inhabitable for an eternity so don’t get excited about getting rid of me yet.”
“Yeah, I had kind of hoped to be out of here sooner than it’s looking like that is going to be possible.”
“You could always move into the Anchor Ridge housing place.”
Teyler laughs. “I’m a multi-millionaire. I’m not moving to a rundown housing project.”
He neglects to tell Callan about the estate he’s just purchased to not take the wind out of the younger guy’s sails.
“That sounds racist, man.”
Teyler laughs from the pit of his belly. “I can’t imagine what group of people I could be accused of being racist against.”
Callan shrugs, just to be an asshole. He knows Teyler isn’t racist against anyone. If anything, Teyler Walker is one of the best men Callan Black has ever known.
Callan sighs.
“What’s that about right there?” Teyler asks with his finger pointing at Callan’s scowl.
“I don’t know. I found that notebook I told you Jordan’s been keeping.”
“Oh.” Teyler laughs with the back of his hand covering his mouth. “Fuck, man. She says you have a little dick in there, doesn’t she?”
“No. And I don’t have a little dick.”
“Yeah, that’s what everyone with a little dick says.”
Callan stands and drops trou, his dick flaps free and he palms it with a smile. “See, not small.”
“Wow, well, good for you there, white boy.”
Callan laughs. “Not racist, huh?”
“No, so what was in the notebook?”
“It wasn’t about sex,” Callan says as he tucks his dick away and sits back down. Callan turns to face Tey and admits his troubles. “She’s a psych major and the notebook has notes for her case study. About me. I’m her experiment.”
“What? No. That can’t be right. I mean, I get why she’d do her study on you, but I don’t believe she’s using you for the study, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking, and Elliot and Ace probably knew too, her sisters, for sure.”
“They’re your friends, right?”
Callan nods.
“Then call and ask them. Call them out on that shit, man.”
Maybe that advice hadn’t been the best, because ever since, Callan’s been worse than ever and Teyler feels responsible for his friend’s troubles.
But Callan and Jordan seemed to have worked things out a bit and when Callan arrives back to their apartment after seeing Jordan one day, Teyler asks with a smirk, “How’d things go with Jordan? You look much happier, so I’m guessing you at least hit that.”
“Don’t make me hit you, old man,” Callan jokes. “I’m dealing with Maxwell James and his bullshit now; I can’t take much more.”
Teyler chuckles. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“As well you should be. Our mayor is manipulating me into doing what he wants.”
“This I gotta hear, bro. Go ahead, you have my full attention.” Teyler looks at the time on the screen of his phone. “For ten minutes.”
Callan rolls his eyes. “Hot date?”
“Something like that. You first.”
Callan sighs but smiles at Jordan’s ridiculous fantasy, the one he’ll do anything to help fulfill. “Jordan is into fairy tales. Her and the other girls have this obsession with Beauty and the Beast. Those fucking castles don’t help the situation and…”
Teyler laughs, already seeing the writing on the wall because if Colleen wanted a fairy-tale life, he’d have bought her a castle and he’d put every last of his dimes on the fact that Callan Black had done just that for the woman he loves. “I still can’t believe that you bought a castle, Black. You bought your girl a fucking castle.”
“Fuck you, Walker. I can afford it, so shut the fuck up before I raise my rates and it’s you who’s buying me that motherfucking money pit.”
Teyler smiles and leans back on the sofa, planting his arms behind his head to settle in for the story. “Let’s go, I don’t have all day and I really want to hear how this one ends.”
“The Charleston castle has been owned by Falls Village,” Callan begins. “Since the family deeded the town the home a long time ago.”
“And you bought a castle from the town…for your girl?” Teyler asks with a smirk and a shake of his head. “Wow! You really do have it bad for her and a shit ton of money to spare. Not sure I should be paying you shit anymore.”
Callan flips him off. “I’m not hurting for money, man. And anyway, there was no mortgage left, and the place is a fucking shithole. I cut a deal with our new mayor. Have you met this guy yet? Colleen seems to be close with the family.”
“Maxwell James? Sure, I’ve met him. He seems like a stand-up guy. The whole family is nice. Mallory and Taylor are friends. She’s turned this place around. Falls Village has never looked better from what Colleen says.”
Callan growls. “Maxwell is a manipulator and gets what he wants.”
Teyler laughs. “What’d he talk you into, exactly?”
“He gave me the fucking castle.”
Teyler’s eyebrows raise. “Gave you?”
“Yup.”
“I sense a but in there.”
“A big annoying motherfucking but!” Callan complains. “I promised to clear out all the foliage that’s blocking it from the common folk down here,” he says with annoyance. The last thing Callan Black wants to do is alert people of his home. He’d much prefer living in a dwelling that only he and Jordan even know exist. If his closest friends were lucky, they’d send them an announcement to let them know they’d moved. Okay, maybe, they’d break down eventually and have them over for dinner.
“That doesn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary.”
“Yeah, the rest I’m not allowed to talk about, but let’s just say, in the next few months my life is going to turn into a worse shitshow than ever. I hate fucking people. Remember that, Tey. I hate people.”
Callan might hate some people, but he loves Jordan and he wants her and his friends back in his life, so he finally breaks down and reaches out to them. After sending them a few text messages, he turns his phone off again before heading down to Spill the Tea for his sugar fix and some advice from Colleen. The man might claim to hate people, but he and Colleen formed an instant bond, and he needs her as much as he needs the sugar she provides.
Callan and Colleen have another of their heart-to-hearts over tea and sweets. She’s one of the only people who can break down his walls and today is no different. After only a few minutes, she has the strong, aloof Callan Black shedding tears as he remembers the pains from his lonely childhood.