“Calvin, you spoil me.”
I wrapped my arm possessively around her waist since I knew they were watching.
“Baby, I’m the spoiled one.”
Chapter 17
ELLISON
Calvin and I had been together for all of sophomore year and the following summer months. We started junior year strong, never once wavered as a couple. In that short time period, I’d actually been blissfully happy, truly happy, the first of its kind since my older brother had passed.
Most of the time, it was me and Calvin against the world. Our parents didn’t approve, neither did our separate groups of friends at school. Cal had a bad reputation, which didn’t help me in setting up mine. If I walked into a room with a Montgomery, kids already assumed things that had absolutely nothing to do with me. Girls were jealous too, that was easy to pick up on. The ones who talked to me seemed scared of Calvin, his swagger, leather jacket, his family of bikers. It was second nature to me to walk around school connected at the hip with Cal, but it made for a rough time getting girls to talk to me.
But the bigger picture felt like destiny. Sometimes, I felt like the sole reason we moved there was so that Calvin and I would meet. As insane as it sounded to anyone besides us, I believed Calvin was placed on this earth for me and vice versa—we were meant for each other. He made me feel alive again, I hadn’t cut once, nor had I seized much since we started dating. I saw hope in our future, and I was dedicated to the idea of us staying together. So what if we were young, true love came but once in a lifetime and Calvin Montgomery was mine.
His raspy voice, sandy blond hair, long on the top and curled on the ends whenever he got too hot, sexy smile, soul-searching green eyes that spoke legions of love to me. Secret tattoos that only his brother Fox and the two of us knew about. So what if he drove too fast or didn’t ever study? Who cared if he was overly possessive or quick to jump into a fight? He didn’t pressure me into sex or drinking or drugs. He was a rebel, sure, but he was a poet at heart, who wrote songs for me and sang them to me earnestly. He helped me study, cooked me meals, bought me clothes and taught me how to change a tire. Calvin made me happy and he wasn’t a bad boy like my father insisted. Calvin Montgomery was maybe a troublemaker, but he was mine. All mine. And I was in love for the first time in my life.
Homecoming Junior year coincided with the police department’s charity ball that took place in the capital. I’d made the cheer team so there was no way I was missing it. Calvin was playing and I wanted to be there to support him. So my mom and Calvin’s mom Meghan hashed a plan to have me spend the weekend at the Montgomery’s.
My mom and Calvin’s mom were tight. They’d become best friends in the year and a half since we had come to South Vale, almost as inseparable as Calvin and I were. My dad obviously wasn’t on board. I’d overheard them fighting over the idea more than once.
“Two nights bored in a hotel room won’t kill her. I don’t care how friendly you and Meghan are, it isn’t safe over there, all those people coming and going,” my dad said.
“Meghan is a great mother, she’s raised two good boys. She can watch Ellison for two nights. Ellie will be crushed if she doesn’t get to stay and we all know how that turns out.”
Great. They didn’t believe I was over the cutting. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mom.
“She promised to keep the house off-limits to club members the entire weekend. Is it the motorcycles or do you not trust Calvin?”
I held my breath as I waited for my father to answer.
“I didn’t like him at first, but the kid’s done good. He’s proven himself loyal and trustworthy with Ellie.”
“I know you don’t like to hear this, Will, but I’ve talked with Ellie and they’re waiting for marriage.”
“Christ, Emily, don’t even give me that image, it’s the fastest way to get me to change my mind.”
“Does that mean it’s a yes?”
My mother and I both squeaked at the same time. I snuck down the hall on tiptoe in the opposite direction.
“I’ll have a talk with both Tyler Montgomery and Calvin, before I agree to it. She’s all we’ve got left, Emily.”
Go, Dad. Way to make Mom cry. She was smiling just minutes ago.
I was grinning ear to ear when Calvin picked me up from school.
“What do we owe this gorgeous smile to, Ellison?” he asked me. Calvin always jumped out and opened the car door for me.