Meant To Be (The Callahans Book 4)

by Monica Murphy

  “I’m bringing a sweatshirt.” She holds it up. Looks like a navy blue Badgers one, blech. “I’ll be covered up once the sun goes down.”

  “Thank God,” I mutter, as we both start walking down the stairs.

  She goes through this elaborate ritual of setting the house alarm and making sure all the locks are locked. Twice. Once we’re settled in my car, I start the engine, the speakers blasting the song I was last listening to from one of my Spotify playlists.

  I immediately reach over and turn it down. Only a little though. “Sorry.”

  Ava appears amused. “Wouldn’t figure you were a Cardi B. fan.”

  I shrug. “I like this song.”

  “You would,” she says. It’s WAP by Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion, and it’s dirty as hell. “Are you listening to a playlist you made?”

  Unease slips down my spine. “Uh, yeah.”

  “Can I look at your playlist? I want to see if we have any songs that we have in common.” She smiles at me.

  “Sure.” I open my phone and hand it over, shifting the car into drive and pulling out of her driveway.

  She sucks in a breath and I know what she’s just read. “Wait a minute. This playlist is called ‘Songs that make me think of Ava’?”

  “Uh huh.” Shit. I hope she’s not offended.

  “The song WAP makes you think of me?” My girl sounds fuckin’ horrified.

  “Babe. You’ve got a wet ass pussy. There’s nothing wrong with that,” I tease her.

  Ava slaps my arm, but she’s smiling. “Gross!”

  “Look at you, sitting here telling me it’s gross when not thirty minutes ago I was buried deep in that wet ass pussy and you were moaning my name,” I say, as I turn onto the main road that leads us to the highway.

  It was a good afternoon. Taking all the time I want with my girl. Touching her everywhere. Driving her out of her mind with my fingers and my mouth. Filling her up and making her come. No one else around so she can be as loud as she wants. And she’s pretty loud.

  Never figured Ava Callahan would be a screamer.

  “Stop.” She shoves me again, her cheeks are on fire, and I can’t help but think she’s the cutest thing ever. “You’ll have to restrain yourself around my parents.”

  “You really think so?” Damn. I know I have to be on my best behavior, but I was also going to be myself. I don’t want to act phony in front of them. They need to see the real deal. The real me.

  “You definitely can’t go around singing the lyrics to WAP,” she mumbles.

  I pull over to the side of the road and put the car in park. I reach over to caress her cheek, my gaze locked with hers as I say, “I won’t do anything to embarrass you.”

  Her smile is tremulous. “I know you won’t. I trust you.”

  “You should. I love you more than anything else in this world.” I stroke her face. Trace her bottom lip. “I’m going to make your parents like me. I promise.”

  The smile on her face grows. Becomes more confident. “You will. I know it.”

  We drive the rest of the way to the Bulldog stadium talking about nothing and everything. Our conversation flows easily, and I’m lazy with satisfaction.

  Two orgasms will do that to you.

  It didn’t even dawn on me that she never said she loved me back until we’re pulling into the parking lot, Ava flashing the VIP parking pass her dad must’ve given her before they left, to the lot attendant.

  And now, I can’t help but feel unsure about her.

  About everything.

  Fifteen

  Ava

  I’m nervous. I can’t lie. We’re walking through the parking lot where they have the tailgate party at Fresno State, and when I spot my parents’ SUV up ahead, my stomach twists into knots. My palms are sweating, and I’m sure Eli can feel it, since he’s currently holding my hand.

  Or maybe his hands are sweating too and making mine feel sweaty. I don’t know. We’re both worked up, I’m sure.

  “Tell me Jake’s not going to try and throw a punch,” Eli says through clenched teeth, his gaze locked up ahead. Where the majority of my family is hanging out.

  Dad’s monitoring his chicken. Mom’s opening up bowls of food she brought, setting them on the table. Autumn is dropping forks in a cup. Hannah is hanging all over Jake. Beck is digging into a giant bag of barbecue chips.

  It all looks so normal, but there will be tension. I know it.

  I don’t want Eli to worry about my brother. That’ll only make him even more uncomfortable.

  “Jake won’t throw a punch,” I say, giving Eli’s hand a squeeze. “He wouldn’t be that stupid.”

  “He punches me, I’m punching him back.” Eli’s posture is rigid, as is his jaw. He looks furious.

  It’s kind of sexy.

  “He will not punch you. No one will,” I reassure my boyfriend, rising up on tiptoe so I can press a quick kiss to his cheek. “You’re going to be fine. I promise.”

  He smiles down at me, but it’s strained. I hate that he’s so tense.

  I’m tense too.

  We slow our pace as we approach them, and Mom notices us first, putting on her polite smile as she comes to greet us. “Ava. So glad you’re finally here.” I let go of Eli’s hand when she pulls me into a hug, murmuring close to my ear, “You’re late. We were about to give up on waiting for you and eat.”

  “Sorry,” I say as we pull away from each other. I grab Eli’s hand once more, dragging him over to my mother. “Mom, this is Eli. My boyfriend.”

  “Hi Eli,” Mom says with a smile.

  “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Callahan,” Eli says, a shocked expression on his face when she yanks him into her arms and gives him a quick hug.

  “I’m a hugger, sorry,” she says, her face relaxing when she releases him. Which tells me Eli’s not giving off bad ju-ju vibes, thank God. Mom has this thing about people’s aura. Claims she can tell when someone’s a terrible person within three seconds of meeting them.

  Whatever.

  “Well, let’s eat. We’re all starving, and your father’s butt chicken is ready,” Mom says with a smile as she heads for the table where the spread is. We all like making fun of the beer butt chicken. It drives Dad crazy, which is why we do it.

  We follow after her, me taking Eli’s hand once more, trying to present us as a united front. Jake is watching us with a blatant sneer on his face. Hannah catches my gaze, her eyes full of sympathy and I smile at her.

  I don’t blame her for Jake’s bad behavior. That’s one hundred percent on him.

  Autumn appears in front of us, seemingly out of nowhere, wearing a giant smile and her attention solely on Eli. “Who’s your friend, Ava?”

  “Eli, this is my sister, Autumn,” I say, shocked when my sister pulls him into a quick hug too.

  Eli has to bend over to hug her, considering how short she is. Pretty much like our mom. “It’s so great to meet you,” Autumn says.

  “You too.” He looks shellshocked. Like he came fully prepared for war and confronted peace instead.

  Well. From the female Callahans at least. He hasn’t talked to my dad yet. I’m sure Jake won’t even look at him.

  “This is my brother, Beck.” I point at Beck who’s sitting in a chair, concentrating on his phone. He lifts his head when he hears his name mentioned, offering a wave to Eli. “Hey.” He pauses, his gaze narrowing. “I remember you.”

  “You do?” Eli asks, ambling over to him. “From when?”

  “Over the summer. At the camp. You’re the one with the big mouth.”

  Everyone laughs. Even Jake. Even Eli. “You’re not wrong,” Eli tells him. “I’ve heard of you too. You’re the one who’s an excellent defensive lineman.”

  Beck’s eyes go wide. “You’ve heard of me?”

  “Hell yeah. Everyone knows who Beck Callahan is.” Eli glances in my direction to find me watching him, and he winks.

  I always thought winking was kind of cheesy. But when Eli does it,
I can’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

  Or maybe that’s from him being so kind to my little brother.

  Mom gets us all lined up, so we can start serving ourselves food. There’s red potato salad with rosemary and dill. A green salad. Chips and salsa are both still set out, though most of it is gone. Probably thanks to me and Eli being a little later than usual.

  Dad still hasn’t talked to Eli, still too busy working on his chicken, but he’s at the end of the table serving everyone their portion. I’m in front of Eli, so I’m the one who talks to Dad first.

  “You made it.” He smiles at me as he sets a slab of chicken on my plate.

  “Sorry we were late.”

  “Yes, sorry, sir,” Eli adds.

  Oh, he sounds so nervous. I almost want to reach out and set my hand on his arm in the hopes I could calm him.

  But I’m guessing no one will calm him. Not even me. Not when he has to face my father for the first time, knowing what we just did in my parents’ house.

  My cheeks go warm just at the thought.

  “I’m just glad you both made it.” Dad glances over at Eli, a stern expression on his face. “Nice to see you again, Eli.”

  “You too, sir.”

  “You can call me Drew.”

  Eli visibly relaxes while I snap my mouth shut. Did my dad say Eli can call him by his first name? I think he made Ash call him coach for years. But of course, Ash was conditioned to call him that considering my dad was actually his coach. “Thank you for inviting me to the game. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to one here.”

  “Have you seen Ash play before?”

  “On TV, yeah,” Eli answers. “And I played against him my sophomore year when he was a senior.”

  “You were a QB on the varsity team when you were a sophomore?” Dad sounds impressed. More impressed than I was when Eli mentioned that little fact.

  Of course, I was trying to grind on his thigh at that particular moment, so I had other things on my mind.

  “Yes, I was. Our senior QB was benched for the rest of the season because of an injury,” Eli explains. “Coach Weston had faith in me that I could do it.”

  “I vaguely remember that,” Dad says, his gaze sharp and only for Eli. Sizing him up. “I know you guys lost.”

  Eli laughs. “We did. But it was an honor to have my ass handed to me by Ash Davis.”

  Dad laughs along with him, plopping two giant pieces of chicken on Eli’s plate. “Well, wait until the game tonight. Ash is a pleasure to watch. I hope you pay attention. You might learn a thing or two. Ash is an excellent quarterback. I told Jake the same thing—that he needs to watch Ash carefully.”

  Eli stands even straighter. “I won’t take my eyes off him.”

  “Good.” Dad nods. I study them, relieved that they had a decent conversation, and my father didn’t give Eli too much grief. Actually, he gave him no grief, which surprises me. “You going to stand here all night or go eat?”

  Eli laughs. “Sorry. Thank you again for dinner.”

  We sit next to each other in fold out chairs my parents brought, as far away as we can get from where Jake and Hannah are sitting. Autumn is sitting with them. I’m sure she’s interrogating Hannah, and I’m grateful she’s not over here doing the same thing to my boyfriend. Beck is with my parents, and my dad is sitting on the side closest to Jake.

  Meaning we’re sort of, but not really alone.

  “Your dad was cool,” Eli says just before he shoves a forkful of chicken in his mouth. His eyes light up as he keeps chewing. “Damn, this butt chicken slaps.”

  “Everyone in my family was nice to you.” I glance over my shoulder to glare briefly at my brother. “Except for Jake.”

  “I’ll need to work on him, though it’s going to take a while.” Eli keeps shoveling food in his mouth. He always acts hungry. I don’t know where it all goes, since he doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him.

  “Are you ever going to apologize to him?” I ask.

  He makes a face like I asked him if he’d jump off a cliff for me. “Hell no. He’s talked shit on me too.”

  “Not as publicly as you have,” I point out.

  “Yeah, but that was part of my schtick.” He flashes me that arrogant smirk, and I didn’t realize until I saw it, just how much I missed seeing that cocky smile on his handsome face.

  “I don’t think he appreciated your schtick,” I say dryly.

  “He’ll eventually get over it. They beat our asses, after all. They do every year. They’ll probably go on and win league.” Eli makes another face and shakes his head. “We’ll make playoffs and maybe we’ll get a chance to play them again.”

  “You better hope not,” I say with a sly smile. “Because we’ll beat you again too.”

  “So disloyal.” Eli shakes his head, though I know he doesn’t mean it. “Your sister seems nice.”

  “I thought you already knew Autumn,” I say.

  “I knew of her. I don’t actually know her. Like, I’d never met her before.” He contemplates me for a moment, his gaze trailing all over my face. “You guys don’t look that much alike, you know.”

  “We both have the same green eyes like our mom,” I point out.

  “True.” A wicked smile curls his lips and he lowers his voice. “You’re prettier than your sister.”

  “Stop it.” I’m smiling too, though. I don’t think anyone has ever told me I’m prettier than Autumn. She was always the most popular one. The prettier one. The more active one. The one who was going to make a difference in the world, while I was just…Ava.

  “Hey, it’s true. You’re gorgeous.” His eyes turn a shade darker as he continues to watch me, and I want to squirm in my chair. I recognize that look. It’s the same one he gets right before he kisses me. “Never knew I could be so gone over a blonde.”

  “Blondes have more fun,” I tell him with as much seriousness as I can muster.

  “I’ll say.” He shakes his head, making me laugh. “Jake looks just like your dad.”

  “He acts like my uncle Owen, though,” I say.

  “Now there’s the one I want to meet. That guy is cool as fuck. I was a Drew Callahan fan when I was young, but I straight up idolized Owen Maguire. He was a badass on the field. Always causing trouble. Talking shit. Getting fined.” He glances around after all those bad words slip out of his mouth. “Hope no one heard me say that.”

  I shake my head but say nothing. Mom’s admitted she had a terrible mouth when she was young. Dad too. I guess it just runs in the family.

  “What’s it like, being surrounded by pro football players all the time?” Eli asks.

  “I don’t know anything else,” I say with a shrug. “It’s been that way my entire life.”

  “Even Asher Davis is a part of the family,” Eli says with a shake of his head.

  “We’ll probably see Ash after the game, and you can meet him,” I say, my voice low. “I’m sure he’ll come see my parents and Autumn.”

  “No shit? That would be amazing.”

  We keep eating, Autumn calling out to Eli every once in a while, asking him a personal question, which he always answers vaguely. At one point, Jake tells her to knock it off, and Autumn glares at him.

  “I’m just trying to get to know your significant others,” she says with a little sniff. She’s been giving Hannah the third degree too.

  “Well you should freakin’ ease up a little,” Jake mutters at Autumn, who looks ready to fight him.

  I feel her pain.

  “Jake,” Dad says in warning.

  It takes everything I’ve got to hide the smile that wants to spread across my face. I love it when my brother gets called out for his shit.

  “We need to pack this up soon so we can head into the stadium,” Mom announces a few minutes later, rising to her feet. “I hope everyone enjoyed dinner.”

  Dad gets all the compliments for his beer butt chicken, but I’m the one who goes to Mom and tells her how much I love
her potato salad.

  “If you told me twenty years ago I’d be making potato salad for a tailgate party with my family, I would’ve laughed in your face,” she says, shaking her head as she grabs a trash bag and shakes it out before dumping dirty plates inside.

  I start to help her, putting lids on the salad bowls and tossing miscellaneous trash in the bag. “Why do you say that?”

  “My life before I met your father…I couldn’t imagine having a family. Let alone wanting one,” Mom explains with a little sigh. She turns to look at me, really look at me, and I stop what I’m doing, wondering what she’s about to say. “Your father changed my life for the better. I was young, and I never believed in love. I didn’t believe in any of it. I thought it was all a crock of shit being fed to me my entire life.” The words are bitter, and it’s like she’s spitting them out.

  “What made you change your mind?” I’m so curious. They don’t talk much about their past. About those first moments when they met. It’s shrouded in mystery, with snippets revealed here and there.

  “Your dad. I saw what his family life was like. He had all the money in the world, and he was still miserable. I had nothing and was completely miserable too. But at least I had my brother, who loved me unconditionally. I realized your father had no one, and I wanted to be that someone.” Mom’s gaze is gentle as it settles on me. “I saw the same thing in Ash, and honey, I see the same thing in Eli. He feels like he has no one but you. I see it in the way he looks at you. I saw it in the way he grabbed onto your father’s attention when he gave it. That boy is starved. And not just for food or attention from a pretty girl.”

  I let Mom’s words sink in, wishing I could deny them.

  Knowing that she’s right.

  “Our community is small, and I’ve heard the rumors about his parents before. It was an asshole move, what your brother said to him that night.” My mouth drops open in shock. “What? It’s true. It was a low blow, and what Jake said devastated that boy. Jake knew where to hit him where it hurts. We’re smug in the fact that we love each other. We take care of each other. You have your entire family who loves you, no matter what. And it looks like you have a handsome boy who loves you too. He watches you with stars in his eyes,” Mom says, making me blush.