Текст книги "The Redemption of Callie and Kayden"

Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

about you just try it?”

I blink up at him, stunned. “I thought we moved passed the

subject.”

He shakes his head with his gaze fastened on me. His blond

highlights glimmer in the sun and he’s paler than most of the

people around here. “I don’t want you to stop moving forward.”

I wave my hand in front of me. “But we are moving forward.”

He smiles. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” I sigh heavily, with the heat of the sun kissing my

cheeks. “It doesn’t really matter either way. I don’t own a dress.”

A grin expands across his face and he starts bouncing with

excitement and swinging my arms. “Oh my God, I should totally

buy you one.”

I glance around at the store windows. A few of them are

clothing stores with half-dressed manikins on display. Others have

knickknacks and beachwear, and there’s an Umbrella Hut near the

corner of the street, and a man is walking around in front of it with floral board shots, a tank top, and a Santa hat. “Seth, I really don’t think I can.”

He nudges me with his shoulder. “We can at least try.” He

jerks me to the side by the arm and then we cross the street to a

fluorescent-pink store with daisies painted on the window and

dresses hanging up on a rack underneath the outside deck. “We’ll

buy you one and then if you feel like wearing it you can.”

“And if not?”

“Then we’ll have had the pleasure of buying a dress.”

I sigh but don’t argue and he takes that as a yes. He speeds

up and weaves us through the people, and I keep my shoulders in

to stop anyone from touching me.

“Hey, where are you two going?” Luke calls out from the

sidewalk with his hands cupped around his mouth.

Kayden’s looking at us like he thinks we’re running away

from him. He’s got on a pair of dark denim jeans and a fitted black

shirt. His bangs are hanging in his eyes and the ends flip up

around his ears and neck. He’s still scruffy on his chin and strong

jawline and I wonder how long it will be before he can shave

again—be around a razor again.

He mouths, Are you okay?

“Yeah, go get your clothes,” I call out as I wave and then Seth

tows me backward and we step up onto the curb of the opposite

sidewalk. “We’ll catch up with you.”

Luke looks puzzled, but then shrugs and heads up the

sidewalk with Kayden behind him. I tear my gaze off them and turn

around, tripping on my shoelace that’s come untied. I kick up sand

as we head to the daisy store. In the distance, there are the

whispering sounds of the waves washing up on the sand.

“And some sandals too,” Seth adds, and he braces me by the

arm as I trip over a hole in the sidewalk.

I nod as I regain my footing. “Sandals do sound nice.”

We rummage through the racks outside for a while, but

don’t find anything that is “Callie first-time-dress-worthy,” Seth

tells me. We wander inside, out of the sun and into the cool

temperature of the air conditioning. The cashier is reading a

magazine behind the counter and she glances up before returning

her attention to her reading.

Seth fans his hand in front of his face. “It’s hot here and it

smells like cherries.”

“I think the temperature is actually normal here,” I point out.

“It’s just that we’ve come from one of the coldest places in the

world.”

He shoots me a doubtful look as he starts flipping through a

T-shirt rack. “In the world?”

I walk up to one of the circular racks in the center of the

small shop and run my finger along the tops of the hangers. “Okay,

maybe in the country.”

He laughs and I join in as we flip through the hangers. Each

time he holds up a dress, I shake my head and decline. It’s not like

they’re all ugly; it’s just that I really don’t want to wear one. I want to stay in my clothes and keep covered up, except maybe my feet.

It feels like if I put a dress on then I’m going to go back to that

day.

I wander over to the flip-flop section and pick up a pair with

pretty purple jewels on the top. I check the size and they’re the

perfect fit. I’m about to head up to the register to pay when Seth

strolls up with his hands behind his back.

“Okay, I think I found one,” he says, stopping in front of me.

He has a sucker in his mouth and I wonder where he got it from

but I don’t ask because with Seth sometimes being confused is

better than understanding. “But before I show it to you, I want you

to clear your head.”

“Clear my head.” I riffle through one of the racks holding

more sandals.

He nods, taking the sucker out of his mouth. His lips are

stained red and so are his teeth. “Shut your eyes and clear you

head of that place you keep going to every time I hold one up,

because if you do it, I think you’re going to love this one.”

The store is vacant except for the clerk, who’s very distracted

by the magazine. I’m glad there’s no one, otherwise I’d feel silly. I close my eyes, inhale through my nose, and then exhale through

my mouth. “All right, trying to clear head in T minus five seconds.”

He laughs at me and then pinches my arm. “Don’t just try to

clear your head. Clear your head.” I feel him shift as he moves

closer. “Here, do this. Picture Kayden.”

I peek one eye open. “I don’t think that will clear my head. In

fact, I think it will cloud it even more.”

He shakes his head and pops his sucker back into his mouth.

“No, it won’t. I promise.” His voice sounds funny as he rolls the

sucker into the pouch of his cheek.

I sigh and shut my eyes, picturing Kayden and his gorgeous

green eyes. His amazingly perfect smile and his soft, deliciously

tasty lips. Yeah, his lips, those might be my favorite part. My head

is clearing. “All right, I’m thinking of him.”

“Now think about how much you trust him.”

“Okay…” My mind promptly floats back to that night when I

lay under him, helpless but unhindered as he held me, kissed me

passionately, felt me from head to toe, our sweaty bodies united.

He took me to a place I didn’t think existed and made me feel

things I never knew I could.

“He’s not going to let anything happen to you, Callie,” Seth

says in a soothing voice that steadies my nerves. “And neither will

Luke and I. You have three strong guys. You’re not alone and you

don’t need to hide anymore.”

I get what he’s saying and it overwhelms me. For six years I

felt so alone in the world, hiding in my room. But now I’m here and

I have Kayden, Seth, and even Luke. I’m not alone. I have friends.

Tears start to sting at my eyes and one drop slips down my cheek.

“You’re the best friend in the whole world,” I say, holding

back the tears as I open my eyes. “And I mean that.”

“I know you do.” A smile lifts at his lips and he brings his

arms out in front of himself, showing me the dress he picked out.

“Ta-da.”

It has thin straps and is a few different shades of purple, kind

of like tie-dye, and there’s a lacey trim along the top and bottom

of it. It looks like it’s made of silk, but it’s not low-cut and it looks like it will go to my knees.

I run my fingers along the soft fabric and check that the size

on the tag is correct. “You think this is the one? The one to cure

me of my fear?”

“No, I think you’re the one to cure you of your fear,” he says,

waving the dress at me. “This will just look really good on you and

it matches the shoes.”

I glance down at the purple flip-flops in my hand and then

back up at the dress. “Yeah, they do kind of match,” I say and he

waits for me to take the dress. Finally, I snatch it up and head to

the counter.

“Aren’t you going to try it on?” Seth meanders around the

racks after me.

I pile the dress and the shoes onto the counter next to the

register and tub of pens with furry ends. “No way. Not until I get

back to the house.”

He rolls his eyes and then backs away toward a section of

shorts. The cashier takes her time getting up from the chair and

she heads to the register, yawning. Then the phone rings and she’s

backing up toward it.

“Just a second.” She holds up her finger and wanders over to

the phone on the corner desk.

I wait patiently with my arm on the counter and my hand on

the dress. I remember when I was younger and I used to wear

dresses all the time. I would run around and play catch in them

and would always skin my knees.

“Maybe you shouldn’t play catch,” my mom would say to me

all the time. But I refused to listen because I loved feeling like a

princess who could play sports. I would run up and down the

football field, letting my tiny legs carry me as my dress and hair

blew in the wind. I was so happy and I realize it’s probably one of

the last times I’ve ever felt so carefree.

The cashier laughs as she says something into the phone.

“No way. Are you freaking kidding me? He did not.”

“Yes way, he so did,” Seth mutters mockingly and he drops a

pile of clothes down on the countertop. The cashier glares at him

as she coils the cord of the phone around her finger. Seth makes a

face at her and she turns her back on us.

“Now we’re going to be here forever.” I flip through a

selection of necklaces on a small rack near the register. Most have

seashells on them and one even has a miniature bottle of sand.

“Well, I’m going to file a complaint to her manager,” Seth

says loud enough for the cashier to hear.

I pick up the top item that Seth set down: a pair of denim

shorts. “Are you planning on wearing these?” I say sarcastically.

“Ha-ha. You must be feeling better if the sarcasm is coming

out.” He sets a tank top down on the counter. “And no, these are

for you.”

I pick up the tank top. “I’m okay with this.” I pick up a pair of

black lacy panties and then drop them like they’re toxic. “But this is too much.”

I move my hands toward the pile to scoop it up and take it

away, but he slams his hand down on top of it. “Just in case,” he

says and then a sly smile curves at his mouth. “Like maybe if you

feel like being scandalous.”

My cheeks are as flaming hot as the black asphalt

shimmering in the sunlight just outside the store. But I’m smiling

and I momentarily surrender. I figure I’ll get the clothes and then

argue with him when we get back to the house and out of sight of

anyone.

“Fine,” I say and then smile as I point to a man walking down

the street in a pair of mini pink shorts and a T-shirt. I’m trying to act cool and control my blush but it’s hard when there’s so much

skin showing everywhere. “But if I have to dress in this stuff, you

have to dress in one of those.”

He follows where I’m pointing and then grins. “Deal, but I’m

totally getting one in blue. Pink doesn’t look good on me.”

“God, he has to be cold. It’s not that warm.” I start to laugh

at the idea of Seth in them and then my laughter picks up when he

joins in. We’re laughing hysterically by the time the cashier hangs

up the phone. Tears are steaming down our cheeks and there are

temporary laugh lines around our mouths. We keep laughing even

when she gives us a dirty looks, because we’re on the beach, trying

to have fun. And laughing is the first step to fun.

By the time we walk out of the store, it’s gotten even hotter,

but maybe that’s because of Seth’s last few items he threw on top

of the stack. I have a bag in my hand and Seth is carrying several

more at his side. The sun is at its peak and shining down on

everyone. But I feel terrible. Guilty. Sad. I’m walking around in the sunlight and laughing when Kayden is bearing so much darkness

inside himself.

Chapter 10

#14 Let the niceness be

Kayden

The sun’s bright. Like really fucking bright. Maybe it’s

because I’ve been trapped indoors for the last few weeks. Or

maybe it’s because I feel so dark inside. Who the fuck knows. I’m

trying not to think about it too deeply because then I’ll have to

think of the pain—feel it—and I don’t want to yet. Maybe not ever.

Luke and I are strolling up the sidewalk beneath the sun. We

stopped and grabbed some clothes at a local shop and I also

ended picking up something for Callie. I’m not sure when—or

if—I’ll ever give it to her, but it was just too perfect not to get. One day, maybe, I hope.

Since Callie and Seth still haven’t showed up, we decide to

walk down to the beach. Luke keeps checking out every girl who

walks by. He’s acting weird, even for him. But he’s always been this

way whenever something bad is going on at home.

“Are you okay?” I ask as we cross the street at the corner

where the two roads converge.

He glances at me with his eyebrows creased. “Yeah, why

wouldn’t I be?” When we reach the other side of the street he asks,

“Are you doing okay?”

“I’m fine,” I lie, weaving around a woman shoving through

the crowd while talking really loudly on her cellphone. Luke checks

out her too, angling his head to the side so he can watch her until

she disappears around the corner. “I’m just a little tired.” It’s the stupidest excuse I’ve ever given, but he doesn’t press.

We walk the rest of the way down the street without talking

and pause at a crosswalk at the end. There aren’t any cars coming

but we both just stand there staring at the land as it opens up to

the ocean. The waves are fairly quiet and the sun hits the water

and creates a blinding reflection.

I shield my eyes and start to cross the street. There aren’t too

many people, but I don’t want to be around even the small

amount who are headed toward the water. I just don’t want to be

around people right now. I want to be inside somewhere in the

dark, because I feel like they all know what’s inside me by the

bandage on my wrist and the rubber bands. It’s like everything I

worked so hard to hide is out in the open. Luke knows it. The

people half-dressed on the beach know it. Callie knows it.

“So what do people do around here?” Luke asks as we hike

through the sand to where the frothy waves collide with the shore

and wipe away the footprints in the sand.

I shrug, lowering my hand from my eyes. “I’m not sure. Your

father’s the one who lives here.”

His jaw tightens. “Yeah, doesn’t mean I know anything about

this place… or him.”

“How did you even get a key to his place?”

“I don’t have a key.”

I give him a questioning look. “You don’t have a key?”

“Nope,” he says simply.

Great. Just what I need. I’m already facing charges if Caleb

doesn’t accept my dad’s bribe. And after what happened last night,

I’m wondering if he’ll decide to turn it down. I got a text from my

mom this morning saying that he blew her off on the phone when

she called to check up on their deal. Part of me doesn’t want him

to accept. Part of me wants to be cut off from my dad. As I think

this, a hint of rage and agony surfaces inside me and I quickly

choke it down because I’m not capable of dealing with it without a

sharp object to transfer the tearing inside of me to the outside of

me.

“Are we going to get into trouble?” I ask, fidgeting with the

bandage on my wrist, peeling the tape away and then pressing it

back down.

“Nah,” he says and inches up to the brink of the water. “He

hardly ever comes here. And if he does, he won’t be pissed. He’d

probably be happy.”

I end the conversation there because I know it’s bothering

him. Setting the few bags of clothes on the ground, I lower myself

down to sit in the sand and I bend my knees up and rest my arms

on top of them. Luke plops down too and we just sit there, letting

the silence wash away the pain like the water does to the sand.

I’d probably have stayed that way if my phone didn’t start

beeping. I move my arms off my knees and take my phone out of

my pocket.

Callie: Where r u?

Me: We r at the beach. Where r u guys?

Callie: At the shopping center looking for you guys.

Me: Go to the end of the street and head toward the

beach. We r right there on the first opening.

Callie: OK

I put my phone away and rest back on my hands. “They’re

headed over here.”

Luke bobs his head up and down as he stares off at the

horizon. “What are we going to do tonight? I don’t want to just sit

around and do nothing. I came here to do… something.”

“I think I’ll just stay in.” I stretch out my legs. “I don’t feel like going out.”

He mulls over what I said with his brown eyes squinty against

the light. “Look,” he says. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but…

but I think the last thing you need is to sit around and think about

it.”

“We don’t have to go out.” Callie’s voice floats over my

shoulder and my body immediately goes as rigid as a board as

emotions rush through me.

I turn my head and look at her. The sun is shining in her big

blue eyes that are shielded by her long lashes. Her hair is pulled up and her skin glistens from the heat. She has a bag in her hand and

a skeptical look on her face. Seth’s next to her, carrying an

extensive amount of brown paper bags with a purple flower logo

on them. He’s staring at the ocean with a puzzled look on his face.

I stand to my feet. “What did you get?” I nod toward the bag

and force a smile to my lips. “Anything good?”

Her brow puckers as she glances down at the bag in her

hand and then back at me. “I don’t know.”

The way she says it, with such perplexity, makes me wonder

what’s in the bag. I start to reach for it to tease her. “Can I see?”

She shakes her head quickly and moves her hand around to

her back, her cheeks turning a little pink. “No way.”

Okay, now I’m even more curious. I look at Seth for an

explanation but he just shrugs nonchalantly. “Callie’s just being

Callie.”

I’m not sure what that means because Callie being Callie

means her being sweet and adorable, but she’s acting offish and

twitchy. “Okay… do you guys want to go get something to eat?”

Callie nods and I can’t help but think about how she told me

she makes herself throw up. I’m not sure what to do with this or if

there’s anything I can do. I understand bad habits and how they

own you.

Luke grumbles something as he pushes up to his feet and

brushes the sand off his jeans. “No sushi or crab or anything

seafood related.”

A smile forms at my lips. “I think we established the first time

the four of us went out that none of us like seafood.”

Seth raises his hand above his head and then points a finger

down at himself. “Um, hello. I’m pretty sure I said that I love sushi.”

“You did,” Callie tells him and then peeks through her

eyelashes at me. “It was Kayden and me who said we didn’t.”

“It seems like forever ago,” I mumble as my mind travels

back through time, back to when I was first met her, back when

everything was nothing. God, she’s incredibly gorgeous in more

ways than most people will ever know. As stupid and as cheesy as

it may sound, she’ll perpetually own my fucking soul—or the

pieces of it that are left, anyway.

I don’t know how she does it. How I can be feeling so shitty

one minute, and then she smiles and for a second the pain is gone.

I can’t take this anymore. I need her like I had her before. I

need her right fucking now before I lose it.

I grab her hand, surprising her, and lead her with me as I

stride across the beach toward the street, because at the moment I

don’t give a shit about anything but touching her. Her shoes

shuffle against the sand as she hurries along with me. I search for a place out of the way, because what I want to do can’t be done in

public. I spot a gap in between two small shops, one an alarming

yellow and the other a clear blue, like the sun and the sky. They are shaded by slanted roofs that nearly connect over a narrow alley.

“Kayden, what are you doing?” Callie stammers as she trips

over her feet, struggling to keep up with me.

I shake my head as I push through a group of people and

head down the trail toward the shoreline. “Just hang on.”

I cross the street and then when I reach the front of the

yellow store, I round to the side and tuck us between it and the

building next to it. There’s a large Dumpster near the back end and

a pile of crates at the other. It’s not the perfect place, but

perfection is overrated.

“Are you okay?” she asks, breathless as I slow us down.

I take a breath and face her. I don’t give her, or myself, time

to react as I wind my hand around her waist and press her small

body into mine. She gasps as I attach my lips to hers, knowing I’ll

probably regret it later when I’m by myself. But I need her now.

When our mouths unite, I can finally breathe again. It’s like

I’ve been drowning for the last month, only coming up for air

when my lungs are about to burst. But her kiss has brought me to

the surface.

“Kayden,” she murmurs as she grips handfuls of my shirt. “Oh

my God.”

I slip my tongue inside her mouth and she opens her lips to

let me in deeply. I devour her, realizing how starved I’ve felt over

the past month. I press her closer as I back us into the wall, our

legs tangling as we fight to keep our balance. Her bag falls from

her hand and my hand comes down on the side of the building.

The wood scratches at my palms and I savor the small abrasions.

But the most pain comes from my heart rupturing open from

kissing her.

She lets out a quiet moan as my hand slides up her back and

to her neck. The sound nearly drives me mad. The small kiss heats

like a flame and my heart comes to life again. She opens her

mouth wider and I slide my tongue in as far as it will go, running it along the inside of her mouth, tasting her, breathing her in. Her

hands move around my midsection to my back and she holds onto

me.

I want to stop it, but I’ve lost all control. I move my hand

away from the wall and the other away from her back and quickly

glide my palms down her side to her thighs. Spreading my fingers

around her legs, I pick her up and she latches onto me, crossing

her ankles behind my back.

Her bottom lip trembles as I gently nip at it and I’m

reminded of how innocent she is and how I’m the only one she’s

ever trusted to touch her like this. And that’s got to count for

something. Because Callie is the most stunning, incredible, kind,

loving person I’ve ever met.

It has to mean something that she cares for me.

Callie

I forgot what it was like, how scary it is, but equally as

wonderful, to be touched, felt, held by him when he’s letting go of

his pain. At first I have no idea what’s going on. One minute we’re

talking about sushi and the next he’s dragging me away from the

beach. I start to ask him why, but he silences my thoughts with a

brush of his lips and all thoughts about life—about

everything—vanish. He’s kissing me and not pulling away and that

has to mean something, like we might have just stumbled forward

from our standstill.

He tastes like mint and need, as he overpowers me with his

tongue. His scruffy face is like sandpaper against my skin as I

clutch onto him, wanting him to touch me all over and terrified by

the thought of him ever letting go. I’d latch onto him endlessly if I could, so I know he’ll be okay—we’ll be okay.

He has to be thinking the same thing too because he picks

me up and presses me close to him. My legs are like magnets and

attach to his back. He lets out a deep, throaty groan and I’m

shocked by the images that flash through my mind, back in the

garage, nervous, but eager to be with him in every way possible. I

want to breathe, be alive again.

I open my mouth wider and his tongue seeks every square

inch of my mouth. I’m shaking from head to toe and it only gets

worse when he nips at my lip, dragging his teeth along the inside

of it.

“Kayden,” I moan and fasten my arms around his neck. I pull

him against me and he crushes us against the side of the building.

His hands start to stray down my body and my hips curve into him.

Smothering heat sizzles off our bodies as our tongues melt and

twine together. A shot of ecstasy shoots up between my legs as I

feel his hardness pressed against me and the sensation amplifies

when his hand cups my breast. I forget where we are and how hard

it is to exist sometimes. I just want him. So badly. I want him to

hold me forever.

But then his lips are leaving me and he sets me back down

just as quickly as he picked me up. We slam to a standstill again

and I try not to fall apart. My lips feel swollen, my lungs are

heaving ravenously, and everywhere his hands touched, brushed,

and grazed tingles, and all I can think about is doing more with

him.

His emerald eyes are glossy and he pants erratically, looking

away from me to the beach and out to the side of the building. “I

shouldn’t have done that.”

I shake my head and place a hand on his cheek. “Kayden,

look at me.”

He blinks his eyes against the sunlight and then forces his

eyes to meet mine. “Callie, I can’t be doing this. We need to be…

we need to be just friends.”

“Just friends?” I frown because I don’t want to be friends. But

at this moment it’s not about what I want. It’s what he needs.

“That’s what you really need?”

He nods his head, with his jaw clamped tightly. “For now…”

He swallows hard as he stuffs his hands into his pockets, the

muscles in his lean arms wound tight. “And this isn’t about you. I

promise.” He’s not looking at me, but just over my shoulder. “It’s

me.”

I bite at my lip, considering my next words carefully.

“Whatever you need, Kayden. I’m here. You can talk to me.”

He conclusively meets my gaze and there’s a spark within his

pupils that I haven’t seen since we reunited. “I know that.”

A smile touches my lips, and daringly, I reach forward and

lace my fingers through his. “Let’s go get something to eat, before

Seth ends up throwing a tantrum. He’s been complaining the last

hour about how hungry he is.”

Kayden nods, his fingers twitching as I stroke my thumb

across the palm of his hand for reasons that are unclear to me.

“Okay.” He fakes a smile and I hate that he’s faking it in front of

me. It means he’s closed off, and I don’t want that. I want him to

trust me like I trust him. I owe him that much.

I owe him a lot more.

I owe him everything.

* * *

An hour later we’re seated out on the deck of a restaurant

that’s right by the ocean. The air smells like salt and there’s a light breeze that kisses my cheeks and blows strands of my hair into my

eyes. The sun is lowering and the heat is a little bit more bearable.

There are a few people sitting at the round wooden tables

scattered around the deck, but for the most part it’s quiet.

The four of us are sitting silently as we read our menus.

Kayden’s seated next to me and he has his knee resting against

mine. I’m not sure if he notices or not, but I don’t dare move,

afraid that he’ll move it—pull away again.

“So how about some sushi?” Seth jokes, shattering the

silence. “Or some crab.”

Luke rolls his brown eyes as he pops his knuckles. “I think I’m

going to go with a burger.”

Kayden is biting his lip and I watch him as he reads over his

menu, fantasizing about his mouth back on mine. He has his hand

tucked under the table and he keeps flicking the rubber bands on

his wrists over and over. By the sound of the snap, it has to hurt,

but I don’t dare try to stop him. If that’s what he needs, then it’s

what he needs.

“I think I’m going to have the same.” Kayden closes his menu

and places it into the middle of the table beside the ketchup and

mustard rack.

It goes silent again and Seth starts texting on his phone

while Luke stares out at the beach to the side of us. The waiter

finally comes and takes our orders and brings us our drinks. We sip

on our straws quietly, with the rush of the waves filling up the

empty miles of space between our thoughts.

“That’s it,” Seth abruptly says and pounds his hand down

onto the table. All three of us jump, startled, and Kayden almost

knocks his drink to the ground.

Luke’s head whips in his direction and he shoots Seth a

death glare. “Next time a fucking warning would be nice.”

Seth brings his straw to his lips and slurps on his drink. “I’m

sorry, but the dead silence is maddening.” He sets the drink back

down and wipes his lips with the back of his hand. “We need to

have some fun.”

Kayden immediately stiffens and the rubber band on his

wrist snaps and snaps. “Yeah, I think I’m just going to head back to

the house.”

Seth shakes his head as he rips the wrapper of the straw into

tiny pieces. “No way. We did not drive out here to hang out at the

house. We came here to have some fun.”

“Seth, I don’t think—” I start.

He talks over me, flicking the pieces of wrapper into the

center of the table. “No. This isn’t going to happen. We all have

our problems we’ve been dealing with and we all need a break

from life. So we’re going to get dressed up and go have some fun.”

“Where?” Luke questions and moves the straw to his lips,

taking a drink. “At, like, a club or something?”

“No clubs,” I beg with my hands overlapped in front of me.

“Please.”

Seth aims a weighted look at me. “Miss Callie, we’ve gone

over this. Clubs are fun. And you have big, strong Kayden here to

protect you.”

My shoulders tighten and hunch as I think about just how far

he went to protect me and his hand grabs mine from beneath the

table. It’s like he can read my mind and he leans over and puts his

lips to my ear.

“It’ll be okay,” he says softly, meeting my eyes and giving me

a crooked smile. “If you want to go, we can go.”

I lean in until there’s a sliver of space between our lips. “I

want to do whatever you want.”

His pupils are huge and his breath caresses my cheeks. “If

you want to go out then so do I.”

We’ll never be able to reach a conclusion this way and I

guess Seth sees that too.

“Then it’s settled,” Seth says and it makes me kind of irritated

because I can tell Kayden doesn’t want to go out. “We’re all going

out and have a fucking fun night.”

Luke sets his drink down on the table and I catch him

glancing at Kayden. Maybe I’m not the only one concerned.

“Is everyone okay with this?” Luke asks, but he’s looking at

Kayden.

Kayden leans away from me and shrugs as he reaches for his

soda on the table in front of him. “I’m good, man.”

“I don’t think—” I start to protest.

Setting his drink down on the table, Kayden squeezes my

hand with his free hand, then slants over and places a soft, moist

kiss on my cheek. “Callie, I’ll be okay.” He breathes against my neck as his finger grazes my wrist. “I promise… you need to… you need

to stop worrying about me.”

“That’ll never happen,” I whisper, letting out a slow breath

and I nod, my cheeks burning from his kiss. I don’t want to go out,

and not for the reasons Seth thinks. I’m worried about Kayden. We