Chapter Eight
Indi
He leans in, his lips touch mine, and I’m powerless against him. I haven’t seen him for six years, yet it feels like I’m right back to being a teenager again, hopelessly lusting after him. I can’t stop myself from getting lost in the moment as I kiss him back.
Sliding my hand to the back of his head, I thread my fingers through his shoulder-length hair, the hair I always loved touching.
He hasn’t changed. He smells the same, somehow looks even better, and my body is reacting to him exactly the way it always did.
My heart pounds violently in my chest until I feel sick, my stomach twisting into knots… good and bad all at once.
I’ve missed him.
I thought about him every day after I left, but right now my mind drags me straight back to the moment Caleb and I ended.
Walking out of the classroom, I realized I hadn’t seen Caleb all day and wondered if he’d even come to school after our fight that morning. As I crossed the yard, I spotted him walking out of the building with a girl hanging off each arm.
I froze and ducked behind a tree, watching him carefully.
Last night, he told me he wanted a relationship, and there he was flirting with not one, but two of the sluttiest girls in school.
They were talking and laughing, though I couldn’t hear what they were saying from this far away.
One of the girls eventually wandered off while the other stared at Caleb like she wanted to devour him whole.
My stomach churned painfully.
He loved me… at least that’s what he said.
And even though I’d turned him down, it didn’t mean I didn’t love him back, because I did.
God, I loved him so much it terrified me.
That was the whole reason I said we couldn’t be together.
He’d seen what love had done to my mum and dad, how it destroyed them both, and I couldn’t let that happen to us.
But I had planned to tell him I loved him too.
I just needed time to convince myself I was making the right decision by staying away from a relationship with him.
Then I watched as Maddie shoved Caleb back against the wall.
A gasp caught in my throat when he smiled at her, and she leaned in to kiss him. My heart dropped straight through my chest, the whole world tilting beneath my feet.
The guy I loved was kissing another girl.
His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer, and tears instantly filled my eyes from the overwhelming betrayal tearing through me. How could he do this to me? He said he loved me, and now he was making out with Maddie Saint Claire? What a lying asshole.
I stood there like a deer caught in headlights as Maddie reached for the zipper on Caleb’s jeans.
My hand flew to my mouth as a sob escaped me. I tried to stop myself from screaming, because I couldn’t watch another second. Turning on my heel, I ran all the way back to Caleb’s house.
No one was home when I arrived, which was perfect because I needed to leave before he came back and made this even harder.
I raced to my room and shoved everything I owned into two bags, squeezing in as much as I could while sobbing the entire time.
My world was collapsing around me, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t erase the image of Maddie kneeling in front of Caleb from my mind.
I slammed the front door behind me and turned to stare back at the house that had been my home for the last nine months. I was eighteen, so I was legally an adult, but out of courtesy, I figured I’d let Hux know where I was once I worked out where the hell I was even going.
For now, I needed to get away.
I had enough money saved to rent a small flat eventually, but until then, I’d have to sleep in my car.
Hux and Macy had been so good to me, and leaving without saying goodbye broke my heart even more. But Caleb had already shattered it, so I guessed hurting over them only made everything worse.
I hurried to my car, threw my luggage in the back, then climbed inside and drove without any destination in mind. I needed to find a quiet place to look for somewhere to stay.
I had no friends.
Caleb had been my only friend, and he ruined us by giving himself to Maddie. Who knew how long that had been going on behind my back?
I shook my head as I drove, wiping my cheeks with my sleeve. Graduation was coming up, and after all my hard work, I was going to miss it because of him.
I texted him to move on, that I was heading up north, and that he needed to forget about me. He called over and over, but I let it ring out every time. Seeing his face light up my phone hurt in a way I’d never experienced before. Every call felt like another tear ripping through my chest.
I could never forgive him.
I ended up living out of my car for two weeks before I found another job and a flat to rent. I forced myself to move on without Caleb, even though part of me never really did.
I couldn’t believe he’d done that to me. To us.
And for as long as I lived, Caleb McCormack-Slade would stay firmly in my bad books.
Pain devours me as the memory crashes over me all over again. Caleb hurt me more than anyone ever has, yet here I am kissing him like none of it ever happened.
That’s the problem with Caleb…
No matter how badly he burns me, he still pulls me in like a moth to a flame.
I yank away from him abruptly and glare at him while he smiles so brightly it nearly makes my knees weak all over again.
Caleb
“Don’t,” she warns, taking a step back while staring into my eyes with those beautiful sky-blue irises that used to own every damn part of me.
I swallow hard and reluctantly let go of her arm, trying not to focus on the tingling sensation shooting from my lips straight down to my cock after kissing her. I have to rein myself in before this gets awkward… or dangerous.
“Why are you here, Caleb? How did you find me?”
Her question catches me off guard. “Find you? Indi, I didn’t even know you became a nurse. I’m not wandering around hospitals looking for you.”
“Sorry, I just thought…” Indi’s voice trails off as she glances away.
The tension between us is thick enough to choke on, and I know she feels it too.
“Annie drank too much and passed out. It’s her birthday, and we were at her party. She needed my help,” I explain.
“Needed your help getting wasted, Caleb? Really?” she snaps, bitterness coating every word.
“I knew this rock star lifestyle would turn you into them.” She moves to walk away again, but I shake my head and catch her arm, this time a little firmer.
She spins back around instantly, glaring at me like she wants to set me on fire.
“Listen,” I say, lowering my voice. “I know your parents had issues, and I know all of that made you scared to love someone. I get that they screwed you up emotionally and made you terrified of ending up like them. I also know you worry about me getting swallowed by the whole sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle. But Indi, I am not that guy.”
“Then why is your cousin passed out in the hospital?” she fires back.
“Because she decided to get drunk. I just happened to be the one who found her.”
“So you didn’t give her the alcohol?”
I huff out a breath and shake my head. “Seriously? You think I’d feed my cousin alcohol? Especially considering who her father is? C’mon, Indi, cut me some slack.”
“Okay, sorry.” She sighs softly. “I haven’t seen Annie for years. I’ll go check on her.”
“Thanks, Indi. I appreciate it.”
I follow her toward Annie’s bay, trying very hard not to stare at her ass while she walks ahead of me. Unfortunately, my self-control apparently abandoned ship the second I saw her again.
Seeing Indi tonight has shaken me to my core. I had no idea I’d be seeing her here, and now that she’s standing in front of me again, all I can think about is how fucking beautiful she is. More beautiful than I remembered, somehow. Everything inside me feels alive again just from being near her.
I’ve missed her for six long years. Six years of constantly swinging between missing her so badly I could barely breathe and hating her for leaving without saying goodbye.
Her shoulder-length blonde hair sways softly with every step, and all I want to do is bury my hands in it while I kiss her senseless. But stronger than that urge is the need to drag her somewhere private and finally get answers.
Why did she leave?
Why didn’t she say goodbye?
Why did she disappear like I meant nothing to her?
Unfortunately, right now Annie has to come first, and the whole situation is pissing me off.
We step into Annie’s bay to find her sitting upright in bed, finally awake.
“Oh, good, you’re awake,” I mutter, shaking my head as I walk over to her. “What the hell were you thinking, Annie? Your dad’s going to kill me for this.”
“I think Dad’s more likely to kill me than you,” she mumbles, wincing as she lifts a hand to her pounding head.
“Indi, is she going to be okay?” I ask.
“She’ll be fine,” Indi replies while adjusting Annie’s drip. “But she’s going to have one hell of a hangover by the looks of it. I’m giving you fluids to help rehydrate you, so hopefully that’ll help, but it’s not going to fix everything, sweetie. I’m sorry.”
I can’t help smiling slightly at the softness in Indi’s voice. She always liked Annie, though Annie probably doesn’t even remember her now.
She pauses, her expression turning more serious.
“I really should call your parents, but Caleb has assured me he’ll be speaking to Colt and Dee as soon as you get home.
I’ve already spoken with hospital administration, and they’re willing to release you into Caleb’s care this time.
If this ever happens again, Annie, I’m sure they won’t be nearly so lenient. ”
“Thank you,” Annie mumbles. “I know one thing for certain…. I am never doing this again. Alcohol is evil.”
I exhale heavily and look back at my cousin. “Annie, where the hell did you even get the alcohol?”
She bites her bottom lip, clearly trying to think up a decent answer. “I think I was stealing drinks from people when they weren’t looking.”