Chapter Thirty-Four #2
It takes more effort than I care to admit to look away from the sleepy Adonis beside me, but I somehow manage, and instantly wish I hadn’t. Frowning at my screen, I find a number I don’t recognize flashing there, along with several notifications I didn’t have minutes before.
My sigh is long and exasperated, my thumb hovering over the icon that will reveal whatever the hell I’ve been sent, already knowing exactly who it’s from.
There isn’t anyone else in the world, other than Zelda and possibly Ashton, who would be texting me at two in the morning.
Since I have their numbers saved in my contacts, I know it’s not them, leaving the only culprit I know who would invade my phone at this hour of the morning.
“What’s up?” Caid asks quietly, voice thick with tiredness.
I peer up at him through my eyelashes, debating whether or not I should tell him my ex is blowing up my cell right now, sizing up the pros and cons of that particular endeavor. When the pros outweigh the cons, I decide to share my annoyance.
Tilting my phone toward him, I show Caid the unknown number and the notifications that have accumulated in the short time since I picked up my cell. “That right there is what’s wrong.”
Caid peers down at my cell, eyebrow pinching as confusion sets in. “Who is that? And why are they spamming you so late at night?”
My smile is only amused because I know it’s his sleepy brain that isn’t allowing him to put two and two together, so I paint the picture for him. “The same person who was standing outside sending me emails all night.”
Sure enough, that does the trick, and Caid perks up so suddenly that there’s no way anyone would believe me if I told them he was on the brink of falling asleep.
He leans farther over my knees, now glaring at my cell like it just spit at him, and I can’t help the amusement that trickles through the annoyance Toby has brought with his infuriating presence.
“What the fuck does that bitch want?” Caiden asks, looking up at me with the glare in place.
I shrug. “No idea. Haven’t opened the messages yet.”
“Ignore him,” he instructs, shaking his head before pausing.
“Wait, no, open them. Wait, ignoring him will piss him off more. It’ll show you’ve read them if you open the messages.
But maybe that’ll piss him off more, actually.
Open the messages but don’t read them. Oh, wait, no.
Just delete the messages completely. But don’t you want to see what’s in them? I’m not good at this.”
Biting my lip as I squint at Caid, trying to keep up with his rapid-fire instructions, I find myself grateful for him being here.
If I were on my own, I’d be stewing in my anger toward Toby and his constant barrage of shit I don’t want to keep dealing with.
But with Caid here, his mouth running a mile a minute, I feel so much better.
I’m not dealing with it alone, and I’m getting the best dose of comedic relief in the process.
“Wanna see what lame-ass garbage he’s sent me?” I ask, making the decision for us both. What can I say? I’m very much the cat that curiosity will kill one of these days.
Caid looks up at me, face full of contemplation, right before he nods. “Okay, yeah. Let’s see what he’s sent.”
Without further prompting, I unlock my cell and click on the message icon, clicking the unknown number and instantly groaning at the sight before me.
Screenshot after screenshot fills the chat, countless photos and several messages scattered in between. Grimacing, I scroll all the way to the start of the message thread and click on the first cluster of screenshots Toby has sent me.
Screenshots that turn out to be nothing more than text chains between us from when we were together.
There’s nothing really to the messages, some mundane conversations where I was giving more effort than he was, some where he actually felt up to remembering he was even in a relationship with me, and others where he felt sweet on the days that he caused arguments.
Of course, the argument portions aren’t included in the screenshots, because that wouldn’t reach whatever warped goal he’s hoping to achieve.
I let Caid read over them, already aware of what they say and already bored of the words that pissed me off way back then. When he’s done, he frowns and mutters, “Those sound nothing like you.”
Smiling a little sadly, I mutter, “This was a year and a half into our relationship. I didn’t realize how much life he sucked out of me until I left and read over our messages before deleting them all.”
I swipe out of the screenshots and read the message he sent along with them.
UNKNOWN: Remember how good things used to be with us? Don’t you miss it?
“No, the fuck I do not,” I grumble, scrolling a little to see what else he’s sent me.
Groaning, I find several selfies of us from our relationship.
It’s not as many as one would think, because Toby really had an issue posing for a photo every now and then, but the ones he’s sent me are ones I once claimed were my favorite.
Selfies at the park during a snowstorm, a photo of us at the beach right before he got annoyed with having to smile while the sun was beaming into his eyes.
It wasn’t. The sun was behind us, but whatever.
There’s another photo of us at a romantic dinner that a sweet waiter offered to take.
A very zesty waiter who wore more lip gloss and eyeliner than me, but still apparently threatened Toby.
The argument after that was a delight to suffer through.
There are a handful more, and Caid comments quietly, “You look sad in most of those.”
I frown, because I’m smiling in each one, and tilt my head as I look through them again.
I ignore Toby’s face and focus on mine. Sure enough, each happy expression and smile hides sprinkles of sadness behind them.
Now that I’m looking closely, each smile looks fake, like I’m putting on a show I didn’t even realize I was a part of.
“Hm. I see it,” I agree, swiping out of the photos before reading the message that came with it.
UNKNOWN: Look how happy we were, Madison. We can be that happy again.
“Dude is deluded,” I mutter, scrolling again, only to pause when I find more photos of… things? Random things, too, some that I don’t actually recognize.
“What are those?” Caiden asks, reaching over to zoom in on the photo of random crap.
I shake my head, not having a single clue, spying a receipt from a grocery store nearby, a glass with a lipstick mark on it, and something that looks like a wrapper.
Maybe a chocolate wrapper? I don’t even know.
There are other things in the photo, but I can’t place what any of them mean or why I’ve received a photo of them.
That is, until I read the next message.
UNKNOWN: I kept so many keepsakes of our relationship. I know you did, too.
Frowning, I turn to look at Caid, finding him already looking at me with amused confusion.
There are questions in those pretty green eyes, and I answer them as best as I can.
“I kept movie theater tickets, a concert ticket, and key rings from places we went together. I also kept a teddy he bought me for Valentine’s Day, but I threw everything in the bonfire with his clothes the day he cheated on me.
Those were keepsakes. I have no idea why he’s kept all that trash. ”
Caiden snorts, confusion turning into disbelief, and I nod in tandem to his headshake, both of us focusing back on the delusional mess that is infecting my cell phone.
It’s nothing more than poor reminders of a relationship I wish to forget, Toby making them into something they weren’t. What reminders and memories he’s sent me are all attached to something low about our relationship, and I realize then just how deep his delusion runs.
By the time we’re done looking everything over, curious enough to go through everything, all that’s left is a single message.
UNKNOWN: I’ll get you back, Madison. We were too good together to leave it all behind. I’ll be ready to talk when you are. Love you.
“Ew,” I grouch, sneering at the message, right before I take a screenshot of everything and place it into a neat folder the police can go through without trouble. Because there’s absolutely no way I’m not handing all of this in to add to my report.
“Was that guy in the same relationship you were in?” Caid wonders, no judgment in his voice, but a genuine wonder that makes my lips twitch, because I’ve begun to question it myself.
Shrugging a shoulder and locking my cell, I reply, “I don’t even know anymore. I have a feeling he’s grasping at straws, because these are the very bare minimum of what happened when we were together.”
Caid nods, hugging my knees to his chest as he says, “Seems to me like he’s trying anything and everything to get you back.”
“Seems that way,” I agree, followed by a sigh.
“He needs to accept that I’ve passed the point of being done.
I want nothing to do with him. Plus, I’ve found four very handsome guys who are more than willing to cope with my chaos.
I don’t need him, I don’t want him, and I’ll be glad when he finally sees that and moves the hell on. ”
Caid smiles then, that gorgeous smile that melts my insides and warms my chest and cheeks simultaneously.
He drops his chin to my knees, and he looks so freaking adorable that my heart skips several beats and I wonder, not for the first time, how the hell I got this lucky.
Apparently, this is the universe finally apologizing for the shit I went through with Toby, and I can’t say I’m not absolutely thrilled at the results.
“Can I tell you something? You have to promise not to get weird about it, though,” Caid asks, voice low as though he’s about to tell me a juicy secret.
Narrowing my eyes on him, I nod cautiously, holding my pinky out in a promise.
He wraps his around mine, and the promise is sealed, offering him the comfort to confess, “I’ve had a crush on you for the past two years.
I didn’t have a clue you were even in a relationship at that time, I just knew that you were the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen.
I’ve been nagging my assistant to book a photo shoot with you since I saw your magazine spread for Angelo D’Arci and the new line of gyms he launched, and then I saw your face when I googled the photographer, and honestly? I’ve been sunk ever since.”
My smile is so ridiculous that I hide it behind my hand, the giddiest joy spreading through my body from head to toe, and I can’t even put into words how deliriously happy it makes me to hear that.
“The reason I’m telling you that is because I want you to know that I’m really fucking happy that you’re taking a chance on us, Blue,” he adds, those pretty pale-green eyes nothing but genuine, the thundering of his heartbeat against my legs a clear sign that there isn’t an ounce of deception in him.
Not that I believed there was, but there’s something real and raw about hearing the words and witnessing their truth.
So, offering him the same vulnerability, I tell him, “I’m pretty sure I’ve been crushing on you guys since you stepped into my apartment and witnessed me at my lowest and didn’t walk away terrified.
I’m still not convinced I’m not dreaming, so believe me when I say I’m just as happy as you, only times four. ”
Caiden laughs at my joke, and he points at my phone. “We’ll take those to the police in the morning, okay?”
“Deal,” I agree easily, a trip to the station already planned. “For now, how about we go to sleep? You look like you’re ready to drop now that the excitement is over.”
Caid pouts, and he shakes his head slowly, dropping his head to the back of the couch while he continues to hug my knees to his chest. “I don’t want to go home yet. Can I sleep here?”
Smiling, I reach out and finally run my hand through his sandy-blond hair, the strands just as soft as they appear.
It almost distracts me from the conversation at hand, but I shake myself out of it and reply, “I didn’t say you had to leave.
Let’s go to bed. I’m sure Bax won’t mind an extra snuggle buddy. ”
Caid looks both excited and horrified. “You’re taking the middle spot. If anyone is the snuggle buddy, it’s you. If that man so much as slings an arm around me, I’m kicking him off the bed. I don’t even care if he’s naked.”
My laugh is sudden and loud, and I have to slap a hand over my mouth before I wake Bax. When I can speak properly, I mutter, “That’s fine by me. Let’s go to sleep.”
Caiden needs no more prompting, and he’s off the couch, carrying our empty plates to the dishwasher, before he snags my hand in his and hurries me straight to bed, where Baxter still sleeps soundly.
Forcing me to climb into the bed first, Caid removes his shirt and climbs into the bed after me, wasting no time in bundling me to his chest and sighing like he’s been waiting to do just that for too long.
It’s exactly how I fall asleep, my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as it steadies when sleep finally drags him under. I follow pretty soon after, vaguely feeling Bax roll over and warm my back, and it’s quite possibly another winner in the “best sleep of my life” category.