Only Oscar (Wattys 2022 Shortlist!)

Chapter Fifteen

Lunch wasn't as awkward as Callie thought it would be. 

It helped that their moms had plenty of news to share from the old neighborhood. As did Oscar's ability to direct the conversation away from danger areas like the subjects of their love lives and what they'd been up to in their spare time. There were a couple of moments when she thought the women who brought them into the world shared a furtive glance, but Callie chalked that one up to paranoia. 

And after a while, she started to relax.

Halfway through the main course, her foot brushed against Oscar's under the table. Her gaze flew to his face as his eyes conveyed a silent warning. Whoops. She tore her gaze away and focused on rearranging the vegetables on her plate, her lips pressed together to stifle a smile. 

When she glanced at him again, she saw his brow furrow and a muscle clench in his jaw. What? she questioned with a small jerk of her brows. It wasn't like she'd done it on purpose and if one itty bitty little foot nudge was all it took to turn him on, he knew exactly who to blame for the heightened sexual tension between them. 

Though, now she knew the effect she had on him, it was tempting to see how far she could push him before he cracked. 

The thought of making him lose control, of having him bundle her into the nearest closet so they could -

"Callie?"

"Mmm?" She looked at Oscar's mom and blinked. "Sorry, I was miles away. What did I miss?"

"Oscar was telling us you've had several new commissions." 

When she smiled, the blue of her eyes was so startlingly like her son's it made Callie wonder why she'd never noticed it before. 

"That's wonderful. I've always said that early piece you made for me would be worth a fortune, one day."

"You'll probably have to hang onto it for a couple of generations before that happens," Callie smiled back. "Right now, I'm just happy to pay the bills." 

She risked another glance at Oscar but was unable to hold his intense gaze for more than a couple of seconds before her abdomen tightened. 

"And a big part of that is thanks to Oscar." She focused on rearranging the food on her plate again. "The website he created brings in most of sales these days."

She frowned when she couldn't remember if she'd thanked him properly for that. If she had, it probably wasn't anywhere near enough to make up for how much of a pest she'd been during the design process.

"Doesn't matter how good a website is if you haven't got a great product to sell," Oscar said. "Whatever success Callie has is down to her. She's incredibly talented."

His praise created a warm glow Callie immediately responded to with a bright smile. "Says the guy who can't distinguish between a lamp and a coffee maker..."

"That comment was an attempt to pull you out of Callie-land," he countered with an answering smile. "You get so engrossed in your work, I could walk around your workshop naked and you'd never notice."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I'd notice that." 

When she realized what she'd said, Callie glanced from side to side, only partly relieved to discover their parents shared another of the looks which had worried her earlier.

"How's your work going, Oscar?" her mom inquired.

"It's good." He paused. "Busy, but good."

It wasn't an enthusiastic answer and Callie wondered why he stayed in his job if he found it so unfulfilling. She knew he was super smart, believed he could do anything he wanted if he set his mind to it. So, why hadn't he applied for another job and more to the point, why hadn't she asked those questions, before?