Page 113 of Moonstruck at Midnight
“So, he’s an idiot, then?”
I’m the idiot.
But I said nothing.
“So, okay.” He shook his head, looking anxious. “Look, Red, I’ve wanted to talk to you for days now,” he confessed as my last shred of hope crumbled inside me.Now what?
Thomas turned out to be the opposite of who I thought he was. William wanted nothing to do with me. I’d only been a game—a distraction. And by the look of Caleb’s intensified frown, I knew whatever he wanted to say wasn’t going to be good.
The revelations on the night of the fire made me feel like I didn’t need to know anything new for a while. There was too much I still needed to process.
“If you’re pulling off the band-aid, don’t do it slowly.” I persuaded myself to draw a smile on my face.
“I got a job offer in Tel Aviv,” he blurted out.Ouch.
“No!” I yelled as an automated response. “No! Caleb, you promised.”
How can this be happening?
“Ah, it’s—it’s been challenging—being here in New York,” he admitted, rubbing the length of his face.
“But are you actively looking for jobs, or did they seek you out?” I asked with indignation. And this was the part where all my selfishness blazed like a forest fire. I couldn’t lose him too, could I? I needed to doeverythingin my power to make him reconsider.
“A bit of both, I guess,” he replied. I could see he was having a hard time talking to me about this.
“Stay.” I nodded once, locking my gaze with him. “Stay.”
“I thought I could, but it’s not been what I expected. It’s just too much,” he explained, running a hand through his short, brown hair.
“What were you expecting?” I demanded.
“I don’t know … Paris in New York? But I had a feeling things would change here. I thought I’d be able to stomach it.” He sighed, looking away again. He hated Thomas and probably hated each minute he had to see me with him even more.
He’d also seen me kissing William right in front of him, but it wasn’t my intention to make him feel uncomfortable—it just happened. I got caught up in William’s enveloping presence.
“Well, believe me when I say things will start lookinga lotlike Paris,” I declared. Single and deeply relying emotionally on Caleb. “We’ll … resume our morning runs in the park.”
I knew I could convince him to stay. I had to.
“Don’t do this, Red.”
He kept looking away because he knew, too, that if he looked me in the eyes while Ibegged, I could get my way like I always did.
“Please, don’t do this.”
“Then stay.”
My hand searched for his and tightened around it. He finally turned to look at me while I kept pressing, “I want you to stay. Ineedyou.”
Caleb placed his hand behind my neck and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him and allowed myself to fade away into his arms. His unexpected kiss was filled with longing and nostalgic passion—it was way overdue. On both ends.
All I wanted, and all I dreamed of for years, was for him to kiss me like that. If he would’ve done so in Paris, would things have been any different?
“Stay,” I kept saying in between kisses. Over and over again—until I got what I wanted.
“Okay,” he breathed softly into my selfish lips. I sighed with heartfelt relief and leaned in—inviting him once again to kiss me. His hands cupped my face while I stood on my tiptoes and placed my arms tightly around his neck.
“Let me take care of you,” he said as he took short, gasping breaks from my lips. “I know how to do it.” I slowly broke away from him, our lips trembling. “We’ve played this game for a while now. I know I’ve had to endure it, but I willneverhurt you, Red.”
