Page 100 of Heartstruck at Dawn
Caleb snorted and smiled after I said that. He knew me.
“And ultimately, I know you were just following orders from my father and that you genuinely worry about me,” I said, lifting the corners of my lips into a brief but genuine smile. I was still furious with my father. He was the one who orchestrated everything and pressured Nathan into doing things his way. “I’m sorry about the whole panic button thing. It’s good to know they work, though, right?”
“I never thought you would ever need to use them, let alone to kickmeout.” He laughed.
That reminded me how I did that to Nathan, but worse. I needed to apologize. But fretting about it wasn’t helpful. I needed to distract myself.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wearing jeans before,” I said to him. It was the truth. It was always either a suit and tie or gym clothes. I always enjoyed talking to Caleb when he looked like him.
“Even I feel weird,” he said, looking down at his outfit with a big smile. “But I had some errands to run earlier today, and since I had the rest of the day off, I decided to wear my clothes before they rot in the closet.”
“How’s your ass doing?” I asked, unable to hold back from laughing. “Still sore?”
He smiled and tried not to laugh, but it’d been too funny seeing him fall. “You’re never going to drop that, are you?”
“Nope.”
Caleb grabbed my hands and pulled me closer to him. He used his right foot to make me lose my balance. Half a second later, I fell on my butt on the floor, but Caleb controlled the entire movement to avoid having me bump in a way that would hurt me. I couldn’t stop laughing.
Caleb squatted in front of me and grinned. “Gottcha.”
The elevator doors opened. Nathan and William walked out, each rolling a small suitcase behind them. A wave of nervousness swam through my veins. It was so weird seeing the two of them together.
Nathan said goodbye to Joel and Tobias, who were inside the elevator. He looked drained.
William wore sunglasses, a cap, and a long face to go with his evident hangover. I was still sitting on the floor. Caleb offered his hands and pulled me up, glaring in William’s direction. Caleb disliked him too much.
“I’ll be downstairs if you need anything,” Caleb said and turned around to leave. He shook Nathan’s hand when he passed beside him and nodded at William. Once. Fast. Sharp.
William clicked his tongue and addressed Caleb, “Mixing business with pleasure?”William!He tapped his sunglasses down just slightly with a smirk.
Caleb ignored him, which I guess hadn’t been easy for him, and marched away through the stairs.
Yes. Caleb was off duty, but still, he wasn’t going to get into an argument with William over absolutely nothing. Especially not in front of Nathan, who already seemed puzzled about William’s remark.
Nathan wasn’t aware of something happening between Caleb and me in the past. Since it hadn’t ever been a topic, I never told him. Why would I bring it up out of the blue? Besides, Caleb and I were in a good place with our friendship, and he was more than respectful of my relationship with Nathan.
But Williamhadseen us kissing on the rooftop, and I knew for a fact that he hadn’t been thrilled about it. I remember his face perfectly well. They couldn’t stand each other.
“Are you okay?” Nathan asked with a raspy voice. He kissed my cheek, and I could see William opening the door to his apartment, looking my way, smirk gone from his face.That’s right.
A second later, he shut the door behind him. Nathan looked so serious with that firmly placed frown in between his eyes.
“I’m okay. Let’s go inside,” I said, opening the door. “How are you feeling?”
Nathan dropped his things in the foyer and hugged me. “Like shit.” He kissed my hair. “My head is about to explode.”
“Do you want some medicine or something to drink? Coffee?”
“Coffee would be splendid, thank you.”
I was setting up the machine to make the coffee when Nathan walked into the kitchen and placed his chin on my shoulder and his arms around my waist. “I’m so sorry, love.” He kissed my neck. “About everything.” His nose grazed my jaw, and I could feel my skin reacting to him. I’d missed him so much.
“I’m so sorry too.” I turned around to face him. “I shouldn’t have made you leave the way I did. I—”
“It’s okay. I fucked up.” He kissed me with an underlying sense of urgency. “I promise never to hide anything from you again. I swear. I want you to keep trusting me as you have until now. I won’t let you down again.” His hands traveled up my back inside my sweater. He wanted to pull it over my head, but I stopped him. “What’s wrong?” he whispered in my ear.
Nothing waswrong, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what Lily told me. William was in his apartment, and now I feared he could listen to us having sex.
