Page 12 of Heartstruck at Dawn
The class ended, and my phone buzzed on the bench. I sat down to catch my breath and took the call. Grant always left me undone after training.
“Hey, CJ! …Yeah,I’m a little out of breath,just finished boxing with Grant…Hmm,nothing much.It’s Thursday.I have an early class tomorrow at nine…No, no, no, stop right there…CJ,come on,we’ve talked about this.I don’t like blind dates…What do you mean you’ve confirmed?…You have to cancel it…STOP laughing.This isn’t funny…Well, call him and tell him I can’t make it…No…I’m not going…Yes, but…No!”
CJ rambled on about how great this guy was, intelligent, and not at all like Charles. He swore he couldn’t cancel on him on such short notice.
“Ugh!Okay…But this is the last time I’m doing it.I swear I won’t show up on any other dates,especially if it’s at the last minute…Yeah,we’ll see about that…Okay, bye.”
My phone buzzed again in my hand a few seconds after ending the call.
CJ:Oh, I forgot to tell you.
CJ:David has your date’s ID info.
CJ:You know, for the background check ;)
Me:Where did you get David’s number?
CJ:I have my ways. Now get your redhead ass ready and make me proud.
I shook my head at the screen.
Caleb wasn’t going to be happy about it, but I planned on doing the same thing as the last time. I needed to talk to CJ and Nina about these blind dates. Letting them know about Caleb and me was necessary to stop them from setting me up with other people, even if I didn’t know what we were or where we were headed.
“Blind date?” Tobias casually asked as if we were having tea and biscuits. I thought I’d whispered when talking to CJ on the phone, but Tobias’s hearing abilities were right up there on the busybody expert level.
“My friends are setting me up on these—dates,” I said, standing up to leave. “This is the last one, though.”
“I thought you and your bodyguard—”
“No! Um … well i-it’s not—” I stammered, trying to explain the nature of my relationship with Caleb to William’s freaking brother.
“Hey, it’s cool. I get it. You’re single and having fun, right?”
I wouldn’t sayfunwas the right word to describe my situation. Maybe complicated? But I didn’t want to get into that topic with Tobias.
“I need to go, Tobias. I’m sorry. I’m going to be late. I’ll see you around,” I replied as I gathered my things. “Grant, thanks again!”
I texted the guys to let them know I had dinner plans at 8:30 p.m. I assumed David had informed Caleb about the date, and that was making me breathe a little faster. I didn’t want him to get the wrong impression that somehow I wanted to date other people.
I got ready as fast as I could and hurried to meet Aaron and Caleb in the lobby. I tried dressing in nothing too fancy: jeans, flats, and a nice blouse with a brown leather jacket with my hair down parted in the middle.
“Can you ride in the back with me?” I asked Caleb as he opened the door.
“Sure,” he replied, unwilling to meet my gaze. He pressed his lips together and sat beside me. He looked pissed and then some. “What’s up?”Oh,yeah,he’s pissed.
“It’s another blind date,” I said, twisting my fingers on my lap.
“I know. He’s clean as a whistle. Breezed through the background check.” He seemed annoyed by that too.
“CJ cornered me into it. He confirmed on my behalf. I told him to cancel several times, but he refused.” I took his left hand with both of mine. “I assured him I wouldn’t show up on any more dates after this one. They’re only doing it because they don’t know about our … situation.”
“Sure, don’t worry about it,” he replied calmly. He knew how I hated Thomas’s jealous fits, and he even experienced them firsthand on more than a few occasions. He tried his best to seem casual about the blind date, but I knew Caleb well, and he wasn’t happy about it.
His facial expressions weren’t matching up to his words, nor the carefree tone he was using. Trying to figure him out felt like attempting to put a puzzle together made of all-black pieces.
The restaurant was near my place, so the ride was relatively short. I didn’t have enough time to sort things out with Caleb.
But I had to do something. I didn’t want to go on this date, knowing Caleb was angry and uncomfortable.
