Chapter 14 #2
I weave my way around a drum set and dodge a harp on my way to Caleb.
I don’t want to admit it, but he really does sound good.
He hums lightly to the music, and I catch myself wondering what his voice would sound like if he sang.
Orange lighting shines on Caleb like a spotlight, and he sways his head to the beat of the music.
My eyes trace along the arch of his back, following the muscles showing through his shirt as he bends over the guitar.
I blush, steering my attention away. I shouldn’t be checking him out.
My feet slam against a guitar case, and I stumble forward. My failing arms manage to slam down on the piano next to me. A horrible mix of notes groan into the air, and I’m quick to retract my hand.
Caleb’s eyes are closed, and he doesn’t even flinch at the sound. His relaxed posture is tuned into the music like it’s entranced him.
“Caleb,” I say, pushing the case away and bringing myself to my feet again. Behind me, Jordy is watching me like he’s judging my every movement.
When Caleb doesn’t respond, I wave my hand in front of his face. “Caleb.”
The corner of his mouth turns up.
“So you can hear me,” I say, unamused by his playful ignorance.
He strums one final chord, then lets his hand fall and hang over the guitar. His eyes open, and he looks directly at me.
I put a hand on my hip and raise an eyebrow. “Plan on leaving anytime soon? I have a ton of homework.”
“Sorry, I got distracted.” He bends down on his knees and flips open the guitar case. The guitar fits perfectly into place. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” he says, running his fingers along the maple wood. He closes the case with a wistful sigh.
“I guess so.” To me, guitars all look the same. Maybe they’re different colors, but I don’t pay enough attention to notice their differences.
“You guess?” He grimaces. “We’re going to have to work on that.”
I half laugh. “Okay. Now can we go?”
He stands and plucks a small, thin box of guitar strings off one of the shelves on the back wall. “Say, please.”
“What, am I five?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“Nope,” he says, tapping the box against my nose. “A five-year-old would’ve said it already.”
I rub my nose and crinkle it in distaste. “I don’t like it when people touch me.”
“Noted.” He leans against the wall, folding his arms over his chest. His gaze is strong and focused entirely on me.
I raise an eyebrow. “Really? You’re just going to stand there and wait?”
He twists his arm to look at his watch. “I have all the time in the world.” His eyes flash up at me again. “Do you?”
No, I don’t. And those ridiculous brown eyes, and their puppy dog expression—it’s all annoying, but I can’t stop looking into them. Everyone else looks at me like I’m broken, but he doesn’t. He sees something else, and I’m having a hard time not finding it addicting.
I shake my head, trying to break free. “Fine.” I stomp away in the opposite direction. “Will you please take me home?”
He jumps ahead of me and walks backward, somehow managing to not run into anything. “See, was that so hard?”
“Yes.”
He laughs. “Oh, really?”
I hum and roll my eyes.
He smiles and turns to face the man behind the register, tossing a few wrinkled bills on the counter. “Keep the change.”
The man pokes his head out from the newspaper long enough to say, “Have a good evening,” before returning to his article.
Caleb holds the door open for me.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I ask, not moving any closer.
“What do you mean?”
I hold my hand in the air about the height of Jordy. “Just someone about four feet tall.”
“Oh,” he says. “Yeah.”
I spin around, searching the aisles for him. If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t realize he had wandered off so far. After weaving through the store, I spot him staring at the wall.
“What are you doing?” I ask as I walk up to him.
“I was counting all of the records on the walls. I figured I should do something to practice math. There’s two hundred and eight.”
“That’s impressive,” I say.
Caleb strolls up beside me. “Yeah, Jordy’s cool like that.”
Jordy tries to suppress the tiny smile attempting to break free.
Caleb tousles his brother’s hair and wraps an arm around him. “We better get going because somebody, and I don’t want to name names,” he nods toward me, “is impatient.”
Jordy chuckles as he lets Caleb lead him out of the store. I follow close behind. We all shuffle into the car and head home.
Caleb turns on the radio. He hums along to each song, and when a nineties throwback comes on, he graduates to actual singing. His voice is a combination of smooth notes and a subtle raspy tone that sends goosebumps to my arms. He is good. Like really, really good.
My mouth falls open. “You can sing?”
His cheeks turn bright pink, and he gives me an overly wide cheesy grin while sunshine dances across his face.
“You actually sound good.” I run my hands over my arms to try and rub off the goosebumps that won’t seem to go away.
He laughs. “Everyone can sing,” he says, turning the car onto our road.
I slump back into my seat, his secret talent still processing in my brain. “Yeah, but not everyone should.” I cringe when I think about my voice. It’s only meant for the shower and, even then, only when everyone else is gone. “Why can’t you sing in your garage instead of playing those awful drums?”
The car slows to a stop, and when he shifts to park, he smiles at me. “I wouldn’t want to bring you that much joy.”
“Ha-ha.” I force out the sarcasm to drown out the tiny voice in the back of my head that wants to ask him to sing another song.
He pushes the door open but then pauses. “Hey, wait a sec.”
I sit still as Caleb rounds the front of the car and pops open my door for me.
“I have two hands that are very capable of opening my own door,” I say.
“Then next time beat me to it,” he says.
I bat an eye with a deadpan expression. “Maybe I will.”
“Challenge accepted.”
I step out of the car and intentionally brush past him.
I brushed past him?
How come he’s consistently making me break character?
“Sorry,” I say, whipping back around. “I have to go, but I’ll see you later.”
I scurry away, worried he might notice the brief contact.