Good men don't need rules

[rarecentral]

[penn-choi]

"Why is so much of adulthood just... emails," Penn was looking at his laptop but his eyes were unfocused, his attention having lapsed somewhere along the line. "Fuck dreaming of a private jet, the second I make enough money I'm hiring a secretary."

[calvin-james]

"I feel your pain, man." Cal clapped his hand down on Penn's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. The only reason he wasn't still in Penn's position was that Cohen actually liked the family business, which relieved a lot of Calvin's guilt about hating it for the most part. "How much longer do have to keep at it today? Maybe you have time to take a break, your eyes are starting to glaze over. You hungry? I can make you a burger or something."

[penn-choi]

Penn: For you brother, anything. Penn: Like seriously, pickle ball, crimes, ANYTHING.

[calvin-james]

Cal: I like the enthusiasm but let's just go with pickle ball and we'll see where the day takes us from there. I'm already at the courts.

Cal: Cohen isn't any competition at all

[calvin-james]

Text || Penn

Calvin: You busy? Frose pickle ball?

[coyote-rhi]

"Okay big head, watch the roof." She rolled her eyes as if it were disappointing not to get to cause trouble– though realistically speaking the last place she actually wanted to do that was at Pride. "Like I said, it's because you're hot. Specifically in a very masculine and straight passing way that makes people want to put you on your knees. Mm, but it would be kind of hot to hear you telling Penn's dad you're rescuing your fiancee from his bullshit time out." Still, as much as she was being her rough-edged self she hadn't stopped smiling either, having found a happy medium to settle into over time. "You make it so hard to be humble," she grumbled, but made no effort to actually remove herself from his grasp, "Go back to Penn, teach him your new vocabulary word of the day."

[calvin-james]

"Ok well it's really hard not to get at least a little bit of an ego when you've managed to get the most beautiful person in the world to fall in love with you so I don't know what to tell you, babe. This is just me now. What about you though, do you want to put me on my knees? In one swoop, Cal got to his knees while he kept grip on Rhiannon's hip and looked up at her with a wicked smile, kissed her torso then got up. He wasn't even drunk, just having a good time, even less on edge despite being in such a large crowd. "Then don't be humble. Why start now, you know?" Cal leaned in and kissed Rhiannon's neck, breathing a little harder when his lips got close to her ear just to give the bartender chills, "You sure you want me to go?"

[calvin-james]

I need you to level with me alright, and whatever your answer is I swear to God, I can take it. I have 2 questions - 1) Do you think I look like fire island trade and 2) Is that bad or good?

[aiden-newbury]

"Christmas shopping while buying a Halloween costume does sound pretty efficient, honestly. I'll have to see if it works next year. Probably won't but man I have never felt more like a dude then being here with all the other dudes looking for presents," he admitted with a laugh. He had wanted to put some finishing touches on his gifts for the Balcoins and Lana had tasked him with picking up something she had put on hold for Colette. Aiden's eyes widened. "Wait discharged discharged? Like you're back in Rosewood for good discharged? Well shit, James. Happy Holidays indeed. Welcome home."

[calvin-james]

Cal looked around, already aware of the make up of the building they were in, but the action was more for conversational dramatic effect if anything. "Yeah, you're right about that. I don't care for last minute shopping myself, but I didn't have much of a choice this year." He grinned, his service being well and truly over was still surreal but he had no regrets, "Discharged like discharged discharged. With honors. Thank you, feels good. The same, but so different at the same time. But anyway, what'd you pick up?"

[aiden-newbury]

"Is there any good time to go Christmas shopping? Jesus, it's like old school Black Friday in there. I think an old lady tried to kick in my knees. Also having to shop with your entire family including four kids is like..probably tougher than serving in the military but you didn't hear me say that."

[calvin-james]

"I think sometime around October maybe? But then you're getting roasted for shopping too early, so I guess the answer might actually be 'no'." Cal grinned, holding the Sonos sound system he was purchasing for Penn in his arm as there were no carts left, "Well as someone who was just recently discharged I'm inclined to agree with you... If I had heard you say that, which I didn't."

[calvin-james]

"I've got to tell you, baby I knew we were going to find out things about one another along the way, but if I knew you were this trash at basketball..." Cam grinned, enjoying their little game and the trash talk that came along with with it. He was dribbling, teasing Marnie by faking right then left but not actually moving. "It's okay though, if you want I can put you out of your misery and end this. Just say the word, Marnie."

@brodie-balcoin

[calvin-james]

coyote-rhi​:

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Only with a certain kind of security and confidence in not only his relationship with Rhiannon, but with a mutual understanding of who they were as individuals would Calvin ever feel comfortable enough to do what he had just done, but it just so happened that they had both those things and then some. She gripped his wrist and Cal couldn't help but push two fingers past the damp, flimsy material of Rhi's underwear and tease her a little, "Good. Just reminding you in case you got yourself confused and though you were dating a vanilla bitch." He accentuated his last two words by retracting his hand from between her legs then casually (and not so discretely) popping the tip of his middle finger in his mouth to taste her. Was he driving himself insane? Absolutley, but he reminded himself of what a good time a worked up Rhiannon was, "We should get going, right babe?" He told her walking towards his car with a satisfied smirk on his lips.

[calvin-james]

coyote-rhi​:

Things Rhiannon had once found repulsive were now setting off butterflies in her stomach, particularly that look Cal got on his face– like his brain had left the building and all he could see was her. Once upon a time she would have thought it pathetic, now though, she was just as soft in return as she ducked her head and smiled proudly to herself. “Depends, you turning into a pumpkin at midnight? Penn’s around… my girls… we could hang out with them if you want,” she shrugged, though he had to recognise the way she pinched her lips together as a silent hope that he’d ignore her rare moment of graciousness. Sure, they had the rest of their lives, but that didn’t negate the fact that she had needs. Like the need to make out with her man until she got lockjaw, which he seemed to share if the way he kissed her out of nowhere said anything. “Oh, thank fuck, yes,” she gave his chest a shove, encouraging him to get moving. “You know you don’t have to do the prince charming shit, you can just flash a fucking bat signal from your bedroom window for a booty call. I mean, don’t get me wrong I love it when you do the most but you’re also allowed to be a little nasty if you want.”

**

"Nah, come on don't be so old fashioned, baby. I turn into a pumpkin in 62 hours." Calvin loved his family and friends and would do just about anything for them, but tonight, Rhiannon was the only reunion he was interested in. Later, when he somehow found the willpower to pry himself away from her, he'd no doubt see Penn and his family and maybe even a few others, but that was future Calvin's agenda, and it had nothing to do with the man downing the drink his girlfriend made him. He loved her for so obviously going against what she so obviously wanted for the sake of not being completely selfish with his short time back, but there was no way they didn't spend the rest of their night all over one another in one way or another. "Oh, I'm allowed to be nasty? I had no idea." He chuckled following her. When they were outside, he stopped Rhiannon by tugging on her hand, then pulling the coyote into him. His free hand inched up her dress teasingly slow while he leaned down to ghost his lips over hers. "I don't know, Rhi, I am Prince Charming, I've got a reputation." When his hand was fully underneath her dress and between her thighs, Cal ran his middle fingers over Rhiannon's underwear teasingly, "I'm just a good, clean guy, you know?"

[calvin-james]

coyote-rhi​:

“Shut up,” Rhi grumbled, nipping at his neck for good measure before he stepped back from her. He smelled good and she was overjoyed and he was unafraid to point out how corny she was being; it was a perfect reunion in her eyes. “Look, we all have skills… yours just happen to lay in tipping your servers,” she smirked as she took his hand and took him back to where she’d been making her drink before he’d interrupted her. “Cel had some baby stuff going on. Nothing bad, everything’s fine,” she cut him off before he could get worried, juggling bottles like it was nothing as she went ahead making their drinks. “I just figured I could see you like, next weekend. First baby coyote stuff only happens once and we’ve got the rest of our lives.” Her expression remained stoic for a moment before she started to grin, “That was good, right? You get a little cramp in the chest just now? God, I’m fucking nailing this. Okay but… rich boy shit is kind of hot when it’s benefitting me,” Rhi countered, even if they both knew she never would have let him hear the end of it. “Taste,” she pushed the finished drink along the counter to him, “then get me the fuck away from these people.”

**

She knew him well, as soon as she mentioned baby stuff Cal had about a million follow up questions, but he knew how Rhiannon felt about his Coyotes so if there was something the matter she would have said so she completely disarmed him, and apparently she was on a roll because when she said they had the rest of their lives, Calvin had the softest heart eyes aimed directly at her. "That was more than good. You fucking nailed it." He felt like he needed to slap himself to be sure he wasn't dreaming, but refrained, instead focusing all of his attention on Rhi while he could. "I'll keep that in mind." He chuckled as he took hold of the drink, "Oh you didn't want to stick around the town dance?" He grinned, then took a sip of the drink, "Amazing as ever." He drank a bit more then couldn't help but kiss her again, "I was hoping you'd want to get out of here. I'm so fucking ready if you are."

[calvin-james]

coyote-rhi​:

While she could sit around and judge everyone else for being so clingy and gross that judgment obviously didn’t adhere to she and Cal. She couldn’t have cared less who was in the room, not now that he was there. Sure, a past version of herself would probably cringe about it, but she was over being the heartless bitch. Now she was the stupidly in love bitch, as proven when someone complained about them being in their way and she confronted them with a show of her middle finger, not skipping a beat in kissing Cal until she absolutely had to stop. Even then she barely pulled away.

“Missed you,” she mumbled, running her fingers through his hair and kissing the side of his head to sate the overwhelming need to touch him however she could, as if stopping would mean he would disappear. “You smell good,” she realised too late that she was thinking aloud, but it didn’t matter. It was one of those things she hadn’t realised she could miss about him until it was gone, the same way she missed the way his breath felt on her skin, or the way he’d always find a way to end up holding her hand. “Still want that drink? We can talk about how close I came to flying out to surprise you this time. You would have heard me scream from here if I got there and you were already gone.”

**

Of course he came back to surprise Rhiannon and give her an actual good Valentine's day, but he wasn't completely unselfish, missing her just as much if not more than she missed him at any given moment in time. He'd been in love plenty, maybe too many times, but none felt like Rhiannon and what they had. She felt solid to him, grounding and so exciting all at the same time and he didn't feel that anxiousness to be anyone or anything in particular so that she stayed invested or interested in him and he reveled in all of those feelings as he held on to her, "Oh yeah? It's called the same body wash I've been using for the past year now. Glad it's a hit, baby." He chuckled, reluctantly putting distance between their bodies, but only barely, "How about you show me how to make it. You know my skills are for shit." Cal shook his head, "Oh yeah? What made you change your mind? That would have been devastating. You know I don't like pulling rich boy shit, but I would have booked a private jet immediately."

[calvin-james]

coyote-rhi​:

I should have known, was the first thing that came to mind when Cal’s voice stopped her in her tracks. She should have known he’d been planning something, that the king of the romantics himself wouldn’t willingly find himself unavailable to her on such a holy day. Things had been easier since he’d at least been in the same country as her, but easier didn’t necessarily mean it had been easy overall. She was used to the distance by that point, though that didn’t change the fierceness in which she missed him.

At least fifty percent of her attitude that night had stemmed from having to watch everyone else so easily flaunting their relationships. The other fifty was her natural baseline, so when she glanced over her shoulder almost convinced she’d been hearing things, it wasn’t unsurprising that the first thing she said was a disbelieving “oh, fuck off…”

Having visual confirmation that it was indeed Cal set off a chain reaction that had to be seen to be believed. There was a tangible difference in Rhiannon’s energy when the love of her life was in front of her, a softness in her expression that she couldn’t have helped if she’d tried. She’d missed him so much and not even her ego was too big to act like his presence hadn’t floored her. “Dick move,” she grinned, very clearly not annoyed by his surprise but just to be sure she let herself snap to him like a magnet, jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist to give her better leverage to kiss him with every ounce of herself.

**

There wasn't any other relationship Cal had, platonic or otherwise in which the first words out of someone's mouth when they saw him (especially after a long period of time) was 'fuck off' that could give him honest to goodness butterflies and make him feel like he was completely grounded again. His smile was brilliant as he took in her taking him in. "I know, who do I think I am. I missed you though, so I'm not sorry."

What he should have known was that the flowers he'd brought along with him were destined to be a very obvious causality of their reunion, not at all regarded by her or him once the natural choice became holding on to them or her. If there were any day in which people could get a PDA pass, it was probably Valentine's and yet even if they didn't have one, neither of them would give a fuck as Cal kissed Rhiannon with literal months worth of longing, want, missing, and need. Eventually though, air was needed, but Cal didn't let go as he breathed in, in fact, he buried his face in her neck for a few moments, "Happy Valentine's day to you too, sweetheart."

[calvin-james]

coyote-rhi​:

“Do I look like a clown? It’s a party, pour your own fucking drink–” Rhi snapped her fingers in the face of the person who’d been nagging her to show off her bartending flair skills for their tiktok. Love certainly wasn’t lingering in the air there. It was just lucky someone else showed up so she could put her diversionary tactics to use before she decided to juggle a bottle in the direction of someone’s head. “Oh, thank god you’re here. You just saved a life.”

*

Relationships weren't easy in general, but a long distance relationship wasn't impossible beecause he and Rhiannon were making it work, and they were in the home stretch, but it requireed a lot of extra work on top of the base line stuff.

Already a romantic at heart, most holidays were tough to be away from Rhiannon for, but especially Valentine's day, and since being relocated stateside, it fortunately pulling off something like a quick turnaround surprise visit possible in a way that it wasn't when he was half way across the world.

Of course he wanted to see Rhiannon, he was her person and the woman he was certain was going to be his wife, but even moreso he wanted to surprise her for her, to show her how loved she was and how worth it she was to make the effort in the name of her being with the one she loved on a holiday she thought was bullshit, but secretly indulged in just a little.

At the party, once he arrived, dressed in a suit for the first time in almost a year and a giant bouquet, it wasn't hard for him to spot her amongst the crowd, and he took a moment to just observe her, until his own excitement got the best of him, and he approached while her back was facing him and she talked to someone, looking relieved about it, he noticed. When he reached the bar, he cleared his throat, "Excuse me. You look like you could make a pretty good mixed drink, would you mind making one for me?"

[calvin-james]

brodiebalcoin​:

“Don’t try too hard to picture it or you’ll hurt yourself,” she teased but started to feel her nerves ease a bit. “I mean it’s not such a secret, I know everyone loves me.” She let out a laugh again, feeling like she was finally remembering who she was. It wasn’t really like her to doubt herself so much but she supposed she had never really cared enough. That and she had only been at the “holiday with your parents” stage of the relationship a few times before and most of them had been the opposite of fun. “Oh god worst case? Aside from spilling something on your mom’s outfit? Probably getting into an argument with any family member. Or at least one you really care about. That or seriously pissing you off with something. I know, I know, silly. But family pressure is unlike any other. Even when they are nice and loving.”

**

"It's alright, besides I have so many more things I picture about you that are much more appealing." He chuckled, full of himself by nature that wrestle with irrational anxiety had been Cam's life since childhood so that he understood and if she was remembering who the fuck she was, that was only a good thing. "Okay well my mom doesn't care that much about clothes, she'd just change and roast you about being a klutz for the rest of your life. Arguments are whatever and regardless I've got your back, you're never gonna be on a limb on you're own, we're a team. Though if you do get into an argument it'll probably be with Caleb or his girlfriend and I love both of them, but you can take them in a debate easy, because we're team winners over here, baby. I can't imagine you pissing me off either. But I get it, anxiety is irrational. When I first met your family I was literally worried about the most insane shit."

[livelovecaliforniadreams]