Page 129 of Broken

“Yes. Why are you asking? I don’t hear from you for days and you call asking if I’m alone.”

“I’m coming over.”

“What if I don’t want you to come over,” she says shortly.

Who can blame her? I have ghosted her for four days. I’m sure as shit living up to my name. She’s still pissing me off. I love that about her.

Fuck.

Before I can say anything else, she tells me to hang on.

“Calli?” I’ve been holding off starting up the bike, but everyone has left except for Phoenix and me. “Calli!”

“Stop yelling in my ear, there’s someone at the door.”

“No,” My spine straightens, and I almost tip the bike over. “Don’t open the door.”

“Why? Hold on. Oh, hi, everything alright?”

A muffled response comes. It’s a man’s voice.

“Caleb! What—” A yelp sounds, then a thud.

“Calli?Calli!”

The sound of a door slamming is all I hear, then the phone cuts off. I shove my phone into my jacket pocket. The back tire spinsacross the asphalt, spitting up stones and dust everywhere as I tear out of the parking lot. I don’t care if Phoenix is behind me, although I know he will be.

If she is hurt, I swear I will tear Caleb Dexter’s head from his shoulders.

Fear and anger war inside of me as I push the bike hard. This can’t happen again. I wasn’t there for my sister, I will not do the same thing to Calli.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Calli

“What are you doing?”

I glare at Caleb. My phone is smashed on the floor. He is standing by the door. God knows what Garrett is thinking. I swipe it up off the ground and tap the screen, but nothing happens. He’s lucky it was only the phone that fell. He almost knocked me over when I opened the door and he barreled into me.

“Get out of my apartment,” I tell him. I am too angry to be scared.

Until he turns around. My mouth falls open. There is blood running down his chin and neck from a cut lip.

“Oh my God, what happened?”

“Lock the fucking door,” he yells, pushing me toward it.

I knock against the wall. One of my pictures falls and glass shatters. There is yelling from outside.

“Who is that, who is out there?” I panic. What the hell is going on?

Caleb grabs my arm and pulls me away from the door, half dragging me into the apartment. I fight him off, slapping at him.

“Let me go.”

He has a tight grip on the sleeve of my shirt and my push sends him sprawling. We stumble, but I right myself as he crashes onto the couch. My heart pounds as I step away from him. Someone has hit him, a few times if the way his mouth is swelling is anything to go by.

Garrett’s warning fills my head. He told me not to open the door. How did he know? There is more yelling from the hallway. My head is only turned for a few seconds, but it’s enough for Caleb to get his wits about him and jump up.

---