Page 10 of Heartstruck at Dawn
That night at the cottage, he allowed me to seehim. And I opened up myself to him too as I’ve never had before—he saw me.
But I fucked up.
And somehow, William believed that going back to Erin was the reasonable choice to make. He deserved better, and I thought at some point that I could be that for him, but I was wrong.
Caleb’s phone buzzed. It was Aaron calling him. He excused himself to take it, walking a few steps away from where we stood. I ventured to peek in William’s direction for the millionth time, only to watch him place an awkward kiss on Erin’s lips.
It was an absurdly quick and sober kiss but maddening to watch.
I bit the corner of my bottom lip and looked away, pretending my body temperature wasn’t rising to a disturbingly unhealthy level. I was tempted to throw a tennis shoe at him for his own good because my sudden degree in Psychology informed me that he needed to stop sabotaging himself like that.
“Hey.” Caleb walked up to me again with a smile. I extended my hand to him and pulled him near me. He looked in William’s direction and said, “I hated seeing him kiss you that day on our way back from the Hamptons. I was a second away from losing it.”
It must’ve been hard for Caleb to endure it, but it’d been impossible for me to refuse William. He had me hypnotized.
“I know. I’m sorry.” I pulled his earpiece off.
I thought about how easy it would be to kill two birds with one … kiss. But it was useless to stand there pretending not to care. I didn’t want to use Caleb to make William jealous. He didn’t deserve that. And Ididwant to kiss Caleb, but this moment wasn’t ideal.
“I think we should go,” I said instead.
You win,William.You can have the rooftop.
“Wait,” Caleb whispered. “No suit, no tie, no earpiece. Just as you requested, Miss Murphy.” He grabbed my waist, pulling me closer to him, and leaned in to kiss me without warning.
It was a lengthy and unmistakably affectionate kiss. Caleb’s lips felt insanely good. His tongue brushed softly against mine, and for a second there, I forgot about William standing there.
For a second.
But I remembered at some point and found the strength to pull away from Caleb’s delicious lips. I had to.
“Let’s go,” I muttered, his lips a quarter of an inch away from mine. Caleb nipped his lower lip, and a proud smile drew on his face when we turned around and saw William blasting a thousand-degree Fahrenheit glare our way. Erin was still oblivious to her surroundings—laughing and talking to her friends.
Good.
The smile on Caleb’s face told me he was thrilled about getting even. Now William got to seehimkissing me this time.
We both gave excellent use to this kiss. Caleb got the opportunity to flaunt it to William, while I hoped it would make him snap out of his self-induced trance.
I didn’t care if he was pissed! I just wanted him to show me something. I couldn’t handle the silence, the indifference. I knew he would never be happy with Erin. It was all for a good cause.
“Off-duty?” William asked Caleb as we inevitably walked past them to leave. Unfortunately, Erin saw me, recognized me, and tugged at William’s arm, trying to stop his interaction with us.
“You bet,” Caleb replied with a smug expression on his face, intertwining fingers with mine. I peeked over my shoulder one last time and saw William’s eyes scorching with … something. I don’t know what, but something brewed deep down in the wells of them.
Mic drop.
That’s all I wanted to see.
But I said it before. I needed to claw him out of my mind. And I didn’t even know how to do it. It didn’t seem to me like I was doing a great job at it.
Caleb walked me to my apartment, and once I opened the door, his hormones found the courage to step inside, shut the door behind us andreallykiss me.
“I know—it’s risky—doing this here—at your place,” he said in between kisses as we made our way into the living room, running his hands up and down my back.
“Yes,” I replied with a soft laugh. “A terrible idea.”
He quickly removed my tank top, leaving me in my sports bra, and slid his hands to my waist. “Just this once, okay?” He searched for my gaze, awaiting confirmation. I replied with a nod, and his lips found my neck.
