Chapter 13
NYAH
Iwoke to a shaft of sunlight peeping through the narrow gap between my curtains.
Ouch… my head. I groaned and sat up slowly, cradling my skull while the room swayed, like it was deciding whether to punish me further.
How did people enjoy getting smashed, knowing they’d feel like this the next day?
I blinked toward the nightstand, squinting through the dull ache behind my eyes.
My phone. A glass of orange juice. A bottle of Advil. They were lined up neatly, almost ceremonially. Oh, Karl. How thoughtful.
Stripping off the previous night’s clothes, I dragged myself into the shower, letting the hot water beat against my shoulders until I could breathe again.
Wrapped in a towel afterward, I padded into the living room, gingerly on my blistered feet, music playing softly from my phone.
I closed my eyes and let my body sway with it.
I reached for the curtains and pulled them open.
“Good morning!”
“AHHHHH!” I screamed. I spun around, heart detonating in my chest, nearly losing the towel in the process. “What the hell are you doing here?” I shouted. “How did you get in?”
Caleb stood there like he’d always belonged in the space—relaxed, unapologetic, painfully awake. Grass-green T-shirt. Jeans. Clean. Effortless. He looked unfairly good for someone who should’ve been just as hungover as I was.
“First,” he said calmly, lifting a hand to shield his eyes, “hold onto the towel. Second, please lower the volume—I’m only in marginally better shape than you. And third,”—his eyebrows lifted—“who do you think brought you home last night?”
Wait. What?
The memory slid back into place slowly, like puzzle pieces I hadn’t wanted to look at too closely. Taylor in the mirror. Caleb’s hand on my shoulder, firm and grounding, stopping me from sliding across the seat. The steadiness in him when everything else had been spinning.
Oh. Heat crept up my neck. “Why are you still here?” I demanded, clutching the towel tighter, suddenly hyper-aware of how exposed I was. “Explain yourself. Right now.”
“Okay, okay.” He raised his hands, but his mouth curved like he was fighting a smile. “Put some clothes on before you catch a cold. Then I’ll explain.” He held up two cups. “Coffee or tea? I figured the French Vanilla would be too sweet, so I got a chai latte and a macchiato.”
“Chai latte,” I said, taking it without hesitation. Our fingers brushed, just briefly, but the contact sent an electric jolt through me. I ignored it. “And you’ve been out? When I get back, that explanation had better include how you got past the doorman.”
I walked hurriedly into my bedroom, threw on clothes and marched back out.
“Breakfast?” he asked.
The table was set. Strawberries. Toast. Cream cheese.
My stomach sank in a way that had nothing to do with hunger. No one had made me breakfast in a long time. Except Harper… and even that memory felt distant now.
“Thank you,” I said, sitting down. “Now talk.”
“Well,” he said, biting into toast, “you passed out, and no one was willing to take you home, so I offered.”
Liar. My friends wouldn’t abandon me.
“Well,” he amended, smiling like he knew exactly what I was thinking, “Everyone was tired and got an Uber. Since you weren’t up to making decisions, I made one for you and told them I’d get you home.” He took a sip of his macchiato and continued, “I crashed on your couch.”
“And stole my keys this morning,” I said.
“I went out through the parking lot,” he said, biting into a strawberry. “I had to lock you in. I wanted you safe.” He looked concerned. “But I left you some orange juice and an Advil. Did you have it?”
“You didn’t need to lock me in,” I replied curtly. “If there had been an emergency, I would have been stuck and could have died because of you.”
“I highly doubt you’d be up in an emergency. You didn’t even know I’d left.”
That was true. I had been completely out of it. “Would you be saying that if there was an emergency, and something did happen to me?” Smartass thinks he has an answer for everything.
“No, I wouldn’t. But I made a judgment call and acted as I’d want someone to if I were in your position. You operate under a different set of principles, obviously, so you don’t need to mock me—just tell me what they are, and I’ll try not to step on them.”
I looked at him and swallowed a lump in my throat. “No, I would have done the same,” I said. “Thank you.”
Caleb smiled, nodded, and continued to eat. “Hey, this is a crazy idea, but do you want to go for a drive? Taylor dropped the other car off this morning, and the Sea to Sky Highway is spectacular with the top down. We could grab a late lunch up at the gondola.”
“I’m busy,” I lied. Why the hell would he want to hang out? I was trying to get rid of him, for pity’s sake. “Why don’t you ask Sarah? I’m sure she would love to.”
“Busy? On the weekend?” He raised his eyebrows. “Sarah was just a date. And honestly, unless there’s a good chance of her getting photographed and tagged on Insta, I don’t think she’d want another.”
“Well, I have a lot of errands to run.”
“I wouldn’t mind driving you around.”
Dang. That didn’t work. “Umm. I can drive myself—”
“I’d enjoy the company,” he said, grinning. “Think of it as community service. It could be your way of thanking me for last night.”
How am I going to get out of this one? Come up with something, anything, Nyah. Now of all days, why can’t you have things to do today?
“Fine,” I replied. Community service was exactly what this was—my penance for getting drunk last night. I owed him that much, I suppose.
After breakfast, I grabbed my purse and a cardigan and came back out of the bedroom to catch him loading the dishwasher and cleaning the counter. Why would he do that? It couldn’t be out of habit—I’d seen the state of his desk at work.
“I know you’re a clean freak,” he said, rinsing the washcloth, “and so before you start hyperventilating, I thought I’d clean up.”
Hmmm… He’s definitely up to something. My suspicion flared. There was no reason for him to be so nice without wanting something in return.
Caleb’s other car was a Porsche.
I dismissed my made-up errands as things that could wait until next week, but begged off the Sea to Sky drive, which sounded way too much like a date for my tastes, and I wasn’t about to acknowledge the way my stomach flipped at the thought of it.
Instead, we drove around the harbourfront.
Caleb talked as he drove. “Dad used to bring us here to feed the geese in the summer,” he said, a faint smile touching his mouth. “Then we’d race to the ice cream truck and argue about who won—as if it wasn’t always Simon.”
There was something different about him in that moment. Softer. Less polished.
“Have you ever fed geese?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
When I was younger, food hadn’t been recreational. It hadn’t been something you fed to animals for fun. There were nights when a slice of bread and water were all I got. Nights I dug through garbage, desperate enough to ignore the smell, the shame—until I got caught. Until I paid for it.
“You wanna feed the geese?” he asked.
“Why not,” I said, forcing a lightness I didn’t quite feel. “First time for everything.” I glanced at him. “Simon’s the eldest, right?”
“Mmm.” He nodded. “Then Sophia. Then me. Cat was still a baby when Dad brought us here.”
“What are they like?”
“Successful.”
The word landed like a wall. Conversation closed.
We bought bread, fed the geese, then walked along the boardwalk in companionable silence. The sun warmed my skin, and when we sat on a bench, I let myself lean back and close my eyes.
“I’ve come here so many times,” he said. “Concerts. Exhibitions. Memories I’ll never forget.” His voice shifted, almost reverent. “Did you know over 450 community organizations run more than 4,000 events here every year?”
I nodded, letting the sun soak into my bones. Vitamin D, so healing. I cracked an eye open, catching him watching me. “What?” I asked.
“You’re not as horrible as I thought you were.”
I opened both eyes and turned toward him. “You don’t even know me well enough to make that judgment.” I tilted my head. “And you are exactly what I thought you’d be, by the way.”
He smirked. “Look who’s making judgments now.”
Tit for tat. I closed my eyes again, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing my reaction.
A moment later, he stepped away to take a call. When he returned, he stood directly in front of me, blocking the sun. “Nyah, should we go now?”
The sound of my name on his lips startled me more than it should have. It was the first time he’d said my name.
“No problem,” I said. “Go ahead. I’ll make my own way back.” I just wanted a few more minutes of warmth, of quiet, of not thinking. I wanted to enjoy the simple pleasure of just sitting and basking in the sun.
“I’ll drop you back,” he said. “I don’t want you falling over while you’re still hungover.”
A free ride home couldn’t hurt. I stood up too quickly, the world tilting beneath me, and before I could correct myself, I was falling—straight into him.
His hands caught me instantly.
“Are you okay?” he asked, concern flashing across his face. “I was joking about you not being able to walk.”
His touch sent my pulse skidding.
“Yes,” I said, wriggling free, heat flooding my cheeks. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
We got back into the car, and after a minute, he cleared his throat.
“Funny story,” he said. “I’ve been invited to a friend’s housewarming, and we actually go past there on the way to your place.
This guy and I… well, it’s complicated. We’ve been in and out of touch, and I’m not sure how well it’s going to go.
” He glanced across to gauge my reaction.
“If it’s okay with you, we could do a flying visit, and if things are weird, I could say I needed to drop you home. What do you think?”
“And if it’s not awkward?”
“I can still drop you home,” he said. “Or you could stay for lunch. Up to you.”
“I don’t know these people,” I said, immediately suspicious. His friends were probably just like him—privileged, smug, effortlessly comfortable. I racked my brain for an excuse but couldn’t think of anything plausible given the escape clause he’d already provided.
“The Millers make the best pork chops and beef ribs.”
Pork chops. I sighed. Against my better judgment, I agreed.
“Greg’s been my best friend since we were twelve,” Caleb said. “He’s a lawyer now. Beth’s a gynecologist. They have a daughter, Emily. Two or three, I think.”
“You two sound tight.”
He laughed. “They just bought a five-bedroom place. Don’t be surprised if Beth announces more kids.”
At my insistence, we stopped at the mall, and I put together a housewarming gift from Crate & Barrel. While he drove, I checked my phone.
Five missed calls. Eight WhatsApp messages.
“So how much do I owe you?” he asked, reaching for his wallet.
“I’ve got it,” I said. “You paid for the driver last night.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “I shouldn’t have let you keep going, but I wanted to hear what Taylor would say.”
I looked out the window, smiling despite myself. It stung less today. Mostly, I’d been embarrassed. Not because of him—but because of Sarah. Gushing over his car in front of his date. Even if she wasn’t really his girlfriend. Not that it mattered.
Just as we pulled up to the Millers’ house, my stomach dropped.
My bracelet. The one Harper had given me on our three-month anniversary. It wasn’t on my wrist. It must’ve fallen off at the harbour.
Damn it!