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Chapter Twenty
publish date:
2026-08-20 00:00:05
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The Boy I Wasn't Supposed To Want. 78
On Sunday morning Callum made eggs. Ivy sat at his counter with a cup of coffee and watched him move around the kitchen, humming without noticing he was doing it."Look at these," he said, and turned his laptop toward her. Two apartment listings sat side by side. The first had tall windows and a view of the river. The second had a balcony and a second bedroom he had already labeled "office, for Ivy.""You labeled the room?""I didn't sign anything. It's just a folder name." He sounded a little embarrassed. "Is it too much?""It's a lot.""Good a lot or bad a lot?"She looked at the photos. The kitchen in the second listing was bigger than her whole studio. She could see herself standing in it, and that was the problem."Can I have a few weeks?" she said. "Before we pick anything. I just started the job. I want to get through the holidays first."He nodded right away. "Of course. Take as long as you want."He meant it. She could tell. But his shoulders dropped half an inch, and he clos
The Boy I Wasn't Supposed To Want. 77
Ivy called Daniel Bell on Monday, from the stairwell on the fourteenth floor, the one place in the office where nobody ever went.She told herself it was just a call. Calling back was polite. Renata had passed her name along, and ignoring it would be rude.He picked up on the second ring."Daniel Bell.""Hi, Mr. Bell. This is Ivy Bennett. You left me a message on Friday.""Ivy! Call me Daniel, please. I'm glad you called." He had a dry, warm voice, the kind that sounded like it was smiling. "Renata speaks very highly of you. She doesn't say that about many people, so I paid attention.""That's kind of her.""It isn't kindness. Renata doesn't do kindness. She does accuracy." He laughed. "I'll be honest with you. We have two seats opening on the appellate team in March. It's a small group, eight lawyers. We write briefs for cases that go up to the circuit courts, and sometimes higher. The work is slow and careful and almost nobody ever sees it.""That sounds a bit like heaven," Ivy said
The Boy I Wasn't Supposed To Want. 76
Callum's apartment smelled like garlic and butter when Ivy walked in, and for a second she just stood in the doorway and breathed it in."You made the real kind," she said."I told you I would." He was at the stove with a dish towel over his shoulder, hair messy from running his hands through it. "Fresh pasta. I watched a video. I have no idea if it worked."It worked. It was a little thick and a little salty, and she ate two helpings, and he watched her do it with such open pride that her chest hurt.This was the problem. Every time she looked at him, she wanted to tell him. Every time she opened her mouth, the sentence climbed up her throat and stuck there.I got a call today. Someone in Washington wants to talk to me.Seven words. It shouldn't be hard."You're quiet," Callum said, refilling her glass."Long week.""Want to talk about it?""Not really." She smiled, and it felt like holding a heavy tray steady. "Tell me about your day instead."So he did. A client call that went side
The Boy I Wasn't Supposed To Want. 75
Ivy didn't sleep much that night. Callum stayed, but they lay on opposite edges of her bed, careful not to touch, and she listened to him pretend to be asleep for almost two hours.In the morning he left early. At the door he kissed her cheek, and she let him, and neither of them said anything about the text.She told herself it was nothing. Venting to a coworker about a family schedule was normal. People did it all the time. If Callum had told Priya the same thing, she wouldn't have blinked.But Priya hadn't written Told you she'd take it badly.That sentence sat in her head all morning while she worked through a deposition summary, rereading the same paragraph three times.Victoria stopped by her desk just after eleven, two coffees in hand."Peace offering," she said, setting one down. "I think I may have put my foot in it last night."Ivy looked at the cup. She didn't pick it up."You saw the text," Victoria said."Callum showed me.""Of course he did. He doesn't hide things." Vict
The Boy I Wasn't Supposed To Want. 74
They didn't talk about the holidays that night. Ivy told herself that was fine. It was only Thanksgiving. There was time.Then December came, and the time ran out.She was at her desk on a Tuesday, three days into a brief that refused to behave, when Callum called. She had a highlighter in one hand and a half-eaten granola bar in the other, and she answered with her shoulder."Quick thing. My uncle asked if we're coming for Christmas Eve. I told him yes."Ivy put the highlighter down. "You told him yes.""He's been asking since October. I called him back on Friday and said we'd be there.""Friday." She counted backward. Thanksgiving was almost two weeks ago. "Callum, we said we'd decide this together. You said soon.""I know. And then he kept calling, and it seemed like the obvious answer. Christmas Eve at his place, Christmas Day at your mom's. It splits it evenly.""It splits it evenly in your head. You didn't ask me.""I'm asking now.""You're telling me now." Her voice came out lo
The Boy I Wasn't Supposed To Want. Chapter 73
By seven the next morning, Ivy had three pages of notes, two pots of coffee's worth of focus, and a theory she wasn't yet confident enough to say out loud.She brought it to Renata, who'd flown in for the client meeting, before anyone else arrived at the office."Walk me through it," Renata said, barely glancing up from her own prep."Two invoices. Same client, same vendor, nearly identical line items. Different dates, three weeks apart. Both marked paid in the ledger." Ivy slid the printouts across the desk. "The client's statement to us specifically denies any duplicate payments to this vendor. I don't think it's an administrative error. The amounts are too specific, and the second invoice has a revised PO number that doesn't match anything else in the file."Renata studied the pages for a long moment. "What's your read?""I think someone inside the client's accounting department processed the same invoice twice, deliberately, and the paper trail was built to make it look accidental
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