Chapter 8
MALIA
The dinner wraps up in the next half hour thanks to Ava insisting that Carlie needs to get home to get to bed since she has to be up at five a.m. for hair and makeup.
It went by fast, considering, and I don’t want my night with Caleb to be over yet.
“There’s going to be more people around tomorrow,” Caleb says as we pull away from the restaurant. “And more people willing to be nosy. I can’t wait for you to meet my grandma, but I’m also pretty sure she’s going to sniff us out. Nobody fools her.”
I snicker. “Where was she tonight?”
“Mom said she was more tired than normal and wanted to save her energy for tomorrow.” Caleb stares out the windshield as he says it.
“It sucks watching them get older, right?” I say quietly.
He turns to me and nods. “Yeah. I know G always has my back. When everyone thought my relationship with Ivy was going way too fast—and it was—G was the one who defended me. Who told me if my heart said Ivy was the one, it didn’t matter.”
“G?” I question instead of asking what his heart said about Ivy.
He laughs. “When we were in high school, Jenna and Carlie thought our grandma needed a fun nickname like their friend who called their grandma ‘Nana.’”
“And when does her next rap album release?” I ask.
He laughs, and I find comfort in the sound.
It’s a sound I’ve heard a million times.
Caleb has always been so chill when he games.
Some of the guys on our team get tense or short when things are going wrong or when someone makes a mistake, but Caleb always laughs at himself when he messes up and steps in to make things more comfortable if someone else is getting tight.
When we reach his apartment so I can drop him off, he doesn’t get out right away. “So … want to come up?” he asks. Then his cheeks get really red. “I thought we could do some surveillance. In Shadow Heroes,” he adds quickly. “I have some Vincenzo’s pepperoni pizza.”
It’s well known among my team that this is my go-to gaming snack, but it still makes me smile, and then bite my lip, to know that he has it at his house. “That sounds fun.”
Caleb smiles, his cheeks still a little pink, and puts my Range Rover in drive again, pulling it around the back of the apartment building and parking in front of the garage assigned to his apartment.
As we walk from the parking space to a side door, Caleb reaches for my hand and then quickly pulls back.
“Sorry,” he says and runs a hand down his face.
“We’ve been doing it all night, and it was just …
” He doesn’t finish the sentence, but I do in my head.
Natural. My hand was already moving to take his.
I take in all the details of Caleb’s apartment as soon as we enter. It’s smaller than my house, but the main area is big and open. To my surprise, the living room area is just a couch, a couple chairs, and a rustic-looking coffee table. No TV or computer in sight.
“One of the bedrooms is my gaming room.” Caleb’s voice snaps my attention to him, and I realize he’s been watching me. “Mom always had a comment when she came over, so it was easier.” He shakes his head.
I nod. My condo has a landing on the second floor where my setup is. Out of the way.
“We should have gone by your place so you could change,” Caleb says, eyeing my dress.
“It’s fine.” I wave him off.
“I could get you something of mine? It’ll be too big but probably more comfortable,” he offers.
I hope my face doesn’t light up at that suggestion. “Sure.” I try to sound nonchalant.
He nods and loosens his tie. Don’t ask a woman to explain what is so sexy about that, but it is. I’m mesmerized by it, swallowing as he undoes the top button of his dress shirt and then slides his jacket off before striding down the hall to his room.
Does he have the heat on high in here?
I kick my shoes off next to the door and move into the kitchen while I wait. I send a quick text to my sister.
Malia
At Caleb’s house after the dinner to hang out!!!!
He’s getting me a hoodie of his to wear. *melting emoji*
Skye’s answer is a GIF of someone running around in excitement.
I set my phone down on the counter and turn on his oven for the pizza, then go to the freezer to grab one out. (There are three or four Vincenzo’s. This makes me giddy.) When Caleb returns a few minutes later, I’m already putting a pizza on the pan.
I turn to him and catch him staring. There have been moments tonight when I think it’s not just pretending.
When he told his mom about why he finally asked me out, there was a sense of genuineness to what he was saying, and I even thought he might kiss me after he said it.
The moment was tender and sweet, and it was hard to believe it was all pretend.
He shakes his head and holds out a pile of clothes. “My room is at the end of the hall.” He points. “I’ll get the pizza in when the oven is ready.”
I take the clothes from him—a pair of sweats with a drawstring, a T-shirt, and a hoodie. “So … why do you have Vincenzo’s pizza?” I can’t help but ask playfully. So many things point to the possibility that Caleb might like me, and this could be one.
He forces a laugh, and it’s cute. He’s embarrassed. “I don’t know. You mentioned it enough times that I bought one and tried it, I guess. Then I kept buying them because I liked them.”
“They are good,” I agree, beaming at him. “Thanks for the clothes.” I hurry to his bedroom, because I want to miss as little time as possible with Caleb.
I’m going to ask him out next week, I say to myself.
I cinch up the sweats and roll the waistline a couple times, but the legs still pool around my feet. I notice that Caleb has also included a pair of socks as well, so I pull them on. The T-shirt is a Legend of Zelda shirt, and I grin at that as I pull it over my head.
But the hoodie is pure heaven. It smells like a lavender-scented detergent, but there’s also a faint Caleb smell to it.
Either his body wash or cologne or deodorant or something.
It’s a new scent for me, but one I’ve already memorized in the few hours we’ve spent together recently. I’m so glad we didn’t stop at my house.