“Not the only reason. I have feeling for him. I’m attracted to him. But I have them for Ethan too. You know that. But I can’t have both.”
Our conversation is interrupted by a group of guys who come over to join our table. They are a fun distraction from my friends’ inquisition.
* * *
Back in townI don’t contact Caleb right away, wanting to settle in. Not knowing what to do, I’d rather avoid him. Only problem is he knows I’m back today, and eventually I’ll have to let him know.
After slowly unpacking and cleaning, I send him a quick text.
He texts back right away.I’m at work. Can I come by after
Knowing I have no good reason to decline, I textyes.
It is after 1:00 a.m. when a knock on the door wakes me. I pull myself off the couch and open it.
Caleb takes one look at me and says, “You were asleep. Go back to bed. I’ll call you in the morning.” He steps up to me, pulling me into his embrace and placing a short kiss on my lips.
“You’re leaving?”
He was furious I was leaving for a couple of days, and now I am here and he leaves.
“You were asleep, and I am still wired from work. I am not ready to go to bed. I’ll pick you up for breakfast tomorrow morning. I’ll call you.”
I begin to shiver from the cold coming in from the open door. He gives me another quick kiss and walks away. I shut the front door and lean against it, baffled but relieved.
* * *
The next morning,just as he promised, Caleb calls and picks me up for breakfast.
“What did you do last night when you left?”
Caleb shrugs his shoulders, “Not much. I went home, and the guys had people over, so I stayed up with them for a couple of hours.”
“Oh.” I’m hurt he chose to leave me to continue drinking. “Who was there?”
“The guys, and Emily had a couple of friends over too,” he answers casually.
Bitterness begins to rise at the mention of her name. I don’t like feeling this way. Should I step away? End things now?
“Do you have a problem with that?” My displeasure must be evident.
I shake my head. “No, I just thought you wanted to see me.”
My mind is reeling—should I stay, or should I walk away?
“I did, but I wouldn’t really see you if we were sleeping, and I wasn’t ready to go to sleep.” His tone is patronizing. I wring my hands in my lap nervously because it feels we are on the verge of another fight. “So now you aren’t going to talk?”
I shake my head out of the stupor. My heart begins to race thinking about actually ending us. “I’m talking… I just didn’t want to make you mad again. That’s all I seem to do lately. All we do is fight,” I say just above a whisper.
Caleb shakes his head at me. “That’s not all we do.” He reaches across the table and takes my hand in his. “We just haven’t seen each other in forever. Long-distance relationships are hard, and that’s what we had.” He brings my hand up to kiss my palm, then grips it with both his hands as he looks in my eyes. “It’ll be better now. You’re back, and we can pick up where we left off.” He gives me a sexy smirk with wink, one that should have dropped my panties but instead made me uneasy. Again, my face must reveal too much.
“What’s wrong? You don’t want to continue where we left off?” He narrows his eyes.
“No, it’s not that. I’m sorry.” I drop my gaze to the table. “I guess I still have that girl’s voice in my head telling me about you.”
Caleb’s glare scares me. “Really? You want to continue dwelling on that shit when you were in a cabin full of guys. How do I know what you did? I have to trust you’re telling me the truth and that you slept by yourself.” My eyes widen at his outburst, and my shoulders tense. The shame sweeping through me is excruciating. “And let’s talk about people not answering their phones. I seem to recall Paige answering your phone after I called a few times. I was also sent to voicemail. Hmm…let’s think about how bad that could look. Where were you when you didn’t answer your phone?”
Panic sets in. This conversation is not where I need it to be. It was an omission, but now, backed into a corner, I have to lie.