Chapter 8
chapter eight
Caeli.
“I took the flowers out of my locker, waited outside her third period class, and when the bell rang, all my classmates poured into the hallway, took one look at me and knew what was going down. They crowded around us and I was nervous as shit while she approached me and even more nervous when she moved right past me. I thought, damn, I called this one wrong. I should have asked in private.”
“Oh wow, she turned you down because she was embarrassed?”
“I wish. She turned me down because Jay Warren had the same idea. Ask her to prom right after her third period class.”
“Wait, I’m confused.”
“She walked past me, right to him. He kissed her, said prom , one fucking word, didn’t even ask the question and she jumped into his arms screaming yes.”
“Oh damn, that had to be a major blow to your self esteem.” He glared and my smile expanded. “But, it all makes sense now. You and your incessant need for validation. She picked another man over you. That was tragic.”
“Hell yeah it was tragic. We were dating . I bought her flowers, he just showed up and said prom .”
“Wait, plot twist. She was your girlfriend at the time.” I was overly amused at that added tidbit but annoyed by the vibration of his phone. In the past ten minutes it vibrated with a call three times back to back. Each time he glared at the device and silenced the call.
“You’re enjoying this too much.”
“Shouldn’t I?”
‘No, you shouldn’t. Do you know how pivotal moments like that are in a young man's life?”
For a fourth time his phone vibrated with a call and my eyes lowered to the bar where he left it face up. I hadn’t considered he was attempting to hide anything but that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t. Especially not once I realized the person calling was a woman.
“You might want to get that. May seems very adamant about getting your time tonight.”
His expression iced over for a fleeting moment before he schooled himself. “She’s not important and she’s not getting my time.”
“Who is she?” I wasn’t sure why I asked other than the nagging feeling that she mattered at some point and possibly still mattered. Both realities twisted sourly in my stomach.
“My past.” His eyes fastened with mine in what felt like a warning to let it go, so I did. He wasn’t my man, we weren’t even friends technically, so I forced a smile and moved on.
“How pivotal can prom be?”
“Very.” His posture relaxed.
“Doubtful. I’m sure you just produced another date and all was well in Brayden land.”
“Actually, no. You don’t recover from that type of public rejection and embarrassment.”
“So, no date?”
“I went with Mel.”
Mel…
“Your best friend?”
“Yes. She was in between boyfriends and I no longer had a girlfriend. We went to senior prom together.”
“As friends?”
“Yes, as friends. That’s all we’ve ever been, Caeli. Never kissed, never hugged intimately or inappropriately. Never had sex and never wanted to.”
“ You never wanted to?”
“ We never wanted to. As hard as it is to believe men and women can be platonic, there are some true cases that exist. We’re one of them.”
“Is she ugly? I didn’t get a good look when she visited you at your food truck.”
He laughed a little too hard. “No, she’s not ugly, missing limbs, a terrible person, or possessing any other defects that might turn a man off. We just never had that type of chemistry.”
“Never?”
“Never. She’s in a relationship. Has been for years. Not a healthy one. I’m hopeful she’ll leave him and find someone worth her time…” I narrowed my eyes and he added, “And that person will not be me.”
“Can I meet her?”
He grinned smugly. “What happened to just sharing a meal? Are we at the meeting friends and family stage?”
I cringed at my slip. The only reason I would care about whether or not he and Mel were more than friends was if I wanted to be more than friends with Brayden.
“I’m only curious about the two of you. I want to see your dynamic in real time. Men lie.”
“They do but I don’t when it comes to important things.”
“So you’d lie about unimportant things?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, like if you’re wearing some ugly shit but I know you really like it and you ask my opinion, I’m going to hype you every time.”
“At the expense of someone else telling me my fit is atrocious?”
“I’d beat their ass for doing so but I’d lie if it made you feel good.”
“I guess I can respect that perspective.”
“You can meet her whenever you want.”
“Good to know.”
We stared at each other, silently enjoying our private thoughts until I cleared my throat. “I should get going.” I lifted my phone which I realized I hadn’t touched all night other than to check in with Ami and mindlessly check the time on the screen a few times when it illuminated with notifications. It was just after eleven now, which meant I had been here with Brayden for three hours. The time had gone by smoothly to the degree it hadn’t felt that long. I wasn’t exactly motivated to leave now but he hadn’t asked me to stay.
“You sure you’re cool to drive.”
“I am. One beer is light work.” Neither of us drank much. We ordered an unhealthy amount of bar food which we shared and I nursed a beer. He had two but that was it. I wasn’t buzzed so I couldn’t blame enjoying his time on anything other than my attraction to Brayden.
“Then I guess we can head out.” He stood and extended a hand, offering me help I didn’t need but accepted. When I was on my feet, my body brushed his until he stepped back to remove cash from his pocket. Brayden placed a few twenties on the bar and motioned to the bartender who tossed him a nod of thanks then I was granted the warmth of Brayden’s hand on my back while he guided us through the building.
He walked me to my car, waited until I removed my fob from my wristlet and hit the locks. For the millionth time tonight we settled into a silent stare down where neither of us was saying what was on our minds but this time, his actions answered the longing in my head when one of his hands landed at my hip, yanking me to his frame, and the other gripped my chin, lifting it enough to gain access to my mouth. But he didn’t kiss me right away, his eyes locked with mine, his brows pinched and a slow smile eased onto his face.
Damn it. He could see what I wanted…
Him…
“I want to kiss you…” A shiver crept down my spine. “But I’m not going to unless you admit that you want to kiss me too.”
Everything in me wanted to pull away and deny him of that incessant need to feel his lips on mine but the urge to know what his mouth felt like won.
“I want you to…”
The last word was cut off when our mouths collided and his tongue pushed between my lips and began exploring. I’d been thinking about kissing this man all night and the thought of doing so paled in comparison to the act.
“Do you have plans tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Good, I want to see you, so now you do.”
“I…” He delivered a stern look and instead of offering the defiant argument on the tip of my tongue I agreed. “Okay.”
Brayden smiled sexily and same as he’d done early today, he hooked an arm around my waist, guided me out the way to create enough space to open my door for me, but this time, he kissed me once more before he released me.
“Text me when you get home.”
“I will.” I fought my smile until I was situated in my car and driving away. Brayden watched until I was pulling out of the parking lot. I checked in my rearview to make sure. I ensured that I was out of his sight before I unleashed my very obvious and dreamy smile which remained in place the entire drive home.
Sheesh, I had it bad already and all he did was kiss me.