Free The Calum by Xio Axelrod

chest.
    “ Oh, of course. I hadn’t
put the two together. Loch Ness, right?” She nodded toward the dark
water.
    “ Yep. Spent a lot of time
out there as a boy. We’d fish in the summer.”
    “ You and Hamish?” He
nodded. “It’s hard to picture you guys hanging out together. You
two are so different.”
    “ Are we?” He shrugged. “I
s’pose we are, yeah. It was always him and me growin’ up,
though.”
    “ You met at
school?”
    “ Aye, at primary school. I
was small for me age, always gettin’ picked at by the older kids.
One day, a few of the boys had me out in the field. They
were wailin’ on me somethin’ fierce.” Duff gestured with his free arm,
animating the tale as most Scots did when telling a story. “Up
comes Hamish, this big, braw lad with all that red hair, roarin’ like a
lion. ‘If ye don’t leave him be, I’ll beat every one o’ yer
arses!’”
    Lovie laughed, picturing
it. “Oh my God, how old were you?”
    Duff chuckled. “Eight and
nine, I think, though Hamish was already taller than everyone else.
Scared the shite outta those boys and me as well. We were fast
friends after that. Me ma practically adopted him.”
    Lovie smiled. “Tell me
more about her.”
    He glanced down at her.
“Me ma?”
    She nodded.
    Duff took a slow breath
and a slow pull of whiskey. “Why d’ya want to know.”
    “ I just do.”
    He was quiet for a moment.
Lovie thought he would ignore the query.
    Duff tucked her head under
his chin. It felt...right, somehow. “You remind me o’ her, a little
bit.”
    “ Me?”
    “ Aye.” He nodded against
her crown. “Caring. Honest.”
    She flushed with heat from
the compliment. “You have a high opinion of someone you’ve only
known for two days.”
    “ I’m a good judge o’
character.”
    “ I bet.” Lovie tipped the
bottle in his hand to her lips. “So, your mom?”
    “ Well, she was an artist,
afore she met my father.” He was silent for a moment. Lovie could
almost hear the thoughts running through his head. “Not so much
after. She had to work to help put food on the table. She was
proud, ye ken. Wouldna take any help from me gran and
granda.”
    “ You’re right.”
    “ About what?”
    “ We are alike, at least in
that way.”
    “ Oh yah?” He smiled down
at her. “Are ye stubborn as well?”
    Lovie arched an eyebrow at
him. “What do you think?”
    Duff laughed, his
shoulders shaking as he buried his face in her hair. “Aye, well, I
wouldna call you fragile. Sensitive, maybe, but no fragile.” He
sobered. “Me ma...she wasna built for this world. Not for him,
anyway.”
    “ Your dad?”
    He ran a rough hand
through his hair and nodded. “I dinna want to talk about it
anymore.”
    “ Okay.”
    “ Sorry.” He took a sip
from the bottle.
    “ It’s okay.” The quiet of
the night wrapped around them like a blanket. “It’s sort of wild
and magical here.”
    “ Aye.” His arm tightened
around her shoulder and Lovie couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped
from her lips. The way Duff stiffened meant that he hadn’t missed
it.
    She turned her face into
his chest, and his hand slid under her hair to cradle her head, his
fingers kneading the nape.
    Duff took a deep,
stuttering breath.
    Lovie wasn’t sure if it
was her heart she heard pounding in her ears, or his.
    Screwing her courage to
the sticking place, she lifted her face to find him looking down at
her, his lips slightly parted. Even in the low light, she could see
the unmistakable desire in his eyes. He scanned her hair. Her face.
Looked down at the non-existent space between them.
    “ This is a verra bad idea,
love.” He barely breathed the words.
    “ Yeah.” She echoed his
tone, shivering as his hand tightened, pulling her close. “The
absolute worst.”
    Duff tilted his head and
brushed his mouth over hers and then he claimed it.
    Lovie was no blushing
virgin, but nothing had prepared her for this kiss. It was, at
once, delicate and luscious. Tentative and