Chapter Nine
Caleb
I didn’t see Indi again after she walked out.
Every instinct in me screamed to chase after her, but first I had to call Colt and tell him I had Annie and was bringing her home.
That phone call was about as pleasant as getting punched in the throat.
Colt demanded to know why I’d taken Annie away from her party, but I thought Annie needed to own what she’d done.
She needed to understand that actions have consequences, so I made her tell Colt herself, even if she ended up hating me for it.
The drive back to Oxfordshire took an hour and a half, and Annie slept through most of it.
I did feel bad for her, though. Before she passed out again, she admitted Aston tried to kiss her, and that was why she spiraled.
That shocked the hell out of me because I genuinely thought she wanted Aston to kiss her. Clearly, I was wrong.
I made a mental note to text Aston later and check in on him once I got home. Tonight was a complete train wreck for everyone involved.
Well… mostly.
I couldn’t exactly say seeing Indi had been shit.
Seeing her again was the complete opposite of shit.
Leaving her behind was the part that nearly destroyed me.
It took every ounce of strength I had to walk out of that hospital, but I didn’t want Annie asking questions about Indi and me.
If I’d caused a scene trying to get Indi to stay, Annie would have wanted answers I wasn’t prepared to give.
So I let Indi walk away.
And somehow that hurt almost as much as the first time she left without saying goodbye.
The entire drive home, I replayed that kiss over and over in my head. It had been brief, but she was there with me in that moment. I know she felt it. I know she wanted it, even if she pulled away afterward.
Honestly, it might have been the best kiss of my life.
We finally got back to the manor where Colt and Dee were waiting for us.
Neither of Annie’s parents was happy once she explained what happened, though thankfully, she left out the part about Aston.
Smart move. If I know Colt even half as well as I think I do, he’d gut Aston like a fish if he found out.
Colt sent Annie straight to bed, but once she disappeared upstairs, he completely broke down. I’d seen him cry before when he found out he wasn’t my biological father, but this was different. This wasn’t shock or grief. This was a man genuinely terrified that he was failing his daughter.
Even though Dee and I both tried reassuring him that none of this was his fault, he carried the blame hard. I could see it crushing him right in front of me, and there wasn’t much I could do to help. But Dee… she could. Colt always needed Dee when things got bad.
Eventually, Colt asked me to stay in the guest room because it was too late to drive back to London. He’d been pissed at me initially, but once he understood why I hadn’t called him from the hospital, he calmed down pretty quickly.
And to be honest? We all knew exactly what would have happened if Colt stormed into that emergency room while furious.
Someone would have recorded it, uploaded it online, and our band would be dealing with headlines about the guitarist’s underage cousin getting blackout drunk before we’d even had the chance to launch ourselves properly.
Maybe I should have called him anyway, but I couldn’t risk that kind of publicity. Not yet.
Which leaves me exactly where I am now… lying awake in the guest room staring at photographs of Indi on my phone like some obsessed idiot.
She looks different now. Older. Softer in some ways, stronger in others.
Her hair is shorter, and her body has filled out in all the right places.
Just looking at her gorgeous face makes my chest ache and my cock twitch at the same damn time.
I want to call her.
I want to hear her voice again.
But what’s the point?
She already said no to seeing me again, which means there’s obviously a reason she’s keeping me at arm’s length. I just wish I knew what the fuck it was.
I stare at the clock on my phone as the minutes drag by. I haven’t slept at all. Thoughts of her have consumed every second of the night. Wondering what she smells like now. Wondering if her skin still feels as soft as I remember. Wondering if she thought about me all these years too.
I keep replaying the feel of her lips against mine and imagining what it would be like to hold her against me again.
Six years.
Six fucking years trying to move on, trying to forget her, trying to convince myself she wasn’t coming back. And all it took was one look at her for every bit of progress I made to go straight down the drain.
I’m addicted to her.
Always have been.
And deep down, I know there’s no way in hell I’m staying away from her now that I’ve found her again.
I glance at the time. Six-thirty in the morning.
At this point, I want to go home, crawl into my own bed, and wallow in misery for a while.
So I drag myself up, make the bed, and head downstairs, assuming everyone will still be asleep.
But when I walk into the kitchen, I find Colt sitting alone at the dining table with his head buried in his hands.
I exhale quietly and walk over to him. “Did you get any sleep?” I ask.
He looks up at me and slowly shakes his head. “Not a goddamn wink.”
I nod and take the seat beside him. “It’s not your fault, you know?”
He drags a hand through his hair and exhales heavily. “I just want the right life for my girls. You know? I’ve been where Annie is now, and if she starts going down some self-destructive path, I’ll never forgive myself.”
My shoulders slump slightly. I knew he’d be upset over this, but I didn’t realize how deeply he’d take it as a personal failure.
“Colt, look… I’ve known you for sixteen years. We’ve been through some incredible shit together and some devastating shit too, right?”
He furrows his brows at me before nodding slowly. “Right.”
“Well, not once in all that time have I ever seen you fail.” I lean back in the chair and look over at him seriously.
“I’ve seen you support me through everything.
Then you were there for Dee when she needed you most, and now you’re there for your girls every single day.
Annie’s always had a temper and a mind of her own, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
It just means she’s got more lessons to learn than most.”
He stays quiet while I continue, “She’s smart when she wants to be, and she’s a good person, Colt.
That’s because of you and Dee. God knows what her biological family is like.
They could be complete assholes for all we know, and maybe some of what Annie struggles with is genetics, not bad parenting.
But trust me, you’re doing a fucking great job with both of them.
Even if we’re not technically related, Annie and Ella are still my family.
They’re my blood as far as I’m concerned, and I know they mean everything to you too.
So stop beating yourself up over one stupid mistake. ”
“But if I were doing my job properly, they wouldn’t fall at all—”
“Stop it,” I cut in firmly. “Of course they would. Everyone screws up, no matter how good their upbringing is. You’re doing everything right, Colt.
Annie will grow up eventually, and until then, we keep watching her back.
” I shake my head and exhale. “And trust me, seeing her like that scared the absolute shit out of me, too. I think it scared her as well. I’m pretty sure she won’t be touching alcohol again anytime soon. ”
Colt studies me for a moment before narrowing his eyes slightly. “You look exhausted. Didn’t you sleep?”
A dry chuckle escapes me because I don’t even know where to begin with that answer. “Let’s just say it was an eye-opening night. Like… eyes-open-all-night kind of eye-opening.”
One side of his mouth twitches upward slightly. “You okay?” he asks, reaching over to rest a hand on my shoulder.
I nod, swallowing hard as Indi’s face flashes through my mind again. That kiss, her eyes, the way she pulled away from me like she wanted to stay but knew she shouldn’t.
“I’m okay,” I mutter. “Just got hit with a blast from the past, I guess. I’ll be fine. I just wanna go home, crawl into my own bed, and sleep for a week.”
“Well,” Colt says quietly, squeezing my shoulder. “Even if you’re not biologically my son, you’re still my blood. You know if something’s bothering you, you can come to me. Even if I’m falling apart myself, I’ll still be here for you. You know that, right?”
My throat tightens unexpectedly. “Yeah. Thanks. Means a lot.”
He gives my shoulder another squeeze before dragging his hand back through his hair.
I stand and glance down at him. “It’ll work out. I promise. And don’t go too hard on Annie. I know she acted out, and I’m not excusing it, but she genuinely feels bad about what happened. Just remember you love her.”
A tired smile crosses his face. “Always looking out for her. Thanks, Caleb. If you hadn’t found her…”
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m her cousin. Looking out for her is part of the job.” I walk over to the kitchen bench and grab my car keys, ready to head home.
“Caleb.” I stop and glance back at him. “Love you, kid.”
My entire body locks up.
He hasn’t said that in a long fucking time, and suddenly my throat feels too tight to breathe properly. Colt was the father I always wished I had growing up, so hearing those words from him hits me harder than I expect. Hard enough that, for a split second, I stop thinking about Indi entirely.
“Love you too,” I reply quietly.
He smiles faintly before dropping his head back into his hands, and just like that, the moment passes.
I leave the kitchen quickly, blinking hard to stop the burn behind my eyes from spilling over. It takes a lot to make me emotional, but hearing Colt tell me he loves me? That’ll never stop affecting me, especially because he doesn’t say it often.
I’ve always looked up to him… respected him. He was good to me from the moment we met, the first real male role model I ever had in my life. He showed me the kind of man I wanted to become someday.
The kind worth respecting.
The kind worth loving.
I’ll never forget the way he treated me, and I owe him a debt I could never repay.
Nothing I ever do will equal what he gave me growing up.
So if that means watching over his daughters whenever they need me, then I’ll do it without question or hesitation.
Not just because I owe him, but because I love those girls too…
even when they drive me completely insane.
Like last night.
I could have had an incredible night with Angel if Annie hadn’t interrupted everything with her stupidity.
Then again… if she hadn’t, I never would have found Indi.
And now that I know where she works, there’s no way in hell I’m staying away from her.
But then again, what would that accomplish if she doesn’t want to see me?
Still… I can’t just let this go.
I’ll bide my time until I figure out a way to see her again.
And I will.
There’s no way in hell I can let the way things ended last night be the last time I ever see Indi Malone.
I can’t.
And I won’t.
Climbing into my car, I drive away from the manor.
The massive gates slowly open, and the early morning drizzle coats the windshield like the weather itself is trying to piss me off.
It’s like the sky somehow knows exactly how I’m feeling and decided to put on a dramatic performance to match my mood.
Honestly, I couldn’t hate the rain more right now if I tried.
“Stupid fucking weather,” I mutter as I flick the wipers on.
I pull onto the main road and start the drive back toward London. My body’s on autopilot, but Indi completely consumes my brain.
By us.
By everything we were before it all went to shit.
I think about the stupid things we did as kids…
Sneaking around together.
Laughing until we couldn’t breathe.
Finding her parents dead in that house and the way it changed her forever.
The first time we kissed.
The first time we made love.
The way she shattered my heart when she disappeared without a goodbye.
By the time I pull into the underground parking garage at my condo, I barely remember the drive home at all.
I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and force myself to breathe.
Closing my eyes only makes things worse, because I instantly feel her lips on mine again.
Soft, warm, and oh so familiar. Then I think about the way she shut me down without even giving me a chance to explain myself.
Anger twists through me so quickly my pulse spikes hard in my throat.
My hands clamp tighter around the wheel until my knuckles turn white.
I’m pissed she dismissed me so easily after all these years.
But more than that, I’m furious with myself.
Furious that I didn’t search harder for her. Furious that I let her disappear without tearing the world apart trying to find her. Furious that now I finally know where she is, I still walked away from that hospital instead of fighting for her.
I squeeze the steering wheel harder. “Fuuuck!” I roar into the empty car, the sound loud enough to startle even me.
Breathing heavily, I finally loosen my grip and drag my fingers through my hair. “Indi,” I whisper brokenly.
After climbing out of the car, I slowly make my way toward my front door with a hollow ache sitting in the middle of my chest that refuses to ease. I need something to dull the edge. Something to distract me from the fact that seeing Indi again has completely wrecked me.
I lock the car with my keys and shove them into my pocket before pulling out my phone.
If I can’t have the woman I want…
Then maybe I can at least forget her for a few hours with the angel I missed out on last night.