Page 8 of Heartstruck at Dawn
David parked on the curbside of what he swore were the best pizzas in Manhattan. I didn’t even know which ones were the best anymore. The three of them argued about it all the time. And don’t get me started on kebabs. I was afraid even to utter that word in front of Aaron and Caleb.
Caleb opened the door for me. “Are you hungry?” I asked casually. He nodded once with a smile and tugged his earpiece off, letting it hang over his shoulder.
“I know I’m wearing my suit, but at least I can take this thing off,” he replied, following me inside. David seemed like he was pretending not to listen to our conversation and stayed behind, standing beside the SUV. He must’ve known something was happening between us. But I trusted him.
We sat at a small high table with our ridiculously huge slices of pizza sitting on our plates in front of us. I grabbed my slice and took it to Caleb’s lips. “First bite’s the best one.” He looked at me and took a bite. “You deserve mine.”
He grabbed his slice and offered it to me as he chewed. His Adam’s apple rose and fell as he swallowed; his eyes trained on my face. “You do too.”
I looked away, unable to hold his gaze any longer, and parted my lips to take a bite. But he pulled the pizza away from my reach and said, “Don’t youdarelook away.”
“You’re making me nervous,” I said, glancing at him.
“Well, that’s the idea.” He brought the pizza to my lips again. “Now, bite.” I smiled and did as I was told, looking straight into his eyes. He immediately took a bite after I did.
Who knew eating pizza could be this … entertaining?
We continued eating as regular people do and talked non-stop. Our conversation was easygoing. We mostly laughed as I told him about how my blind date had gone. He’d heard some of my conversation with Charles, of course.
“I don’t think Mr. Connelly’s going to get clearance.”
“It’sDonnelly!” I laughed and moved on to tease him as we remembered anecdotes from our time in Paris and how the girls at school went crazy for him all the time.
“There was only one girl I wanted, though,” Caleb said, dropping his pizza crust on his plate.
“Noelle?” I joked. “For a second there, I almost forgot you’re into blondes.”
“Oh, come on,” he whispered, placing his forearms on the table, his face drawing closer to mine. “You know my favorite color is red.” I swallowed my pizza and felt my cheeks getting warm. “And this right here is my favorite shade.” He grazed my cheek with his thumb.
Okay. He finally convinced me. I approached his face, my sight fixed on his lips, when my phone buzzed on the table, making Caleb recoil. I silenced the buzz but let the call go organically to voicemail.
“Does he call you often?” Caleb asked, looking at my phone’s screen.
It was Thomas.
“Just every day.” I sighed.
“Why don’t you just block him?” Caleb suggested, tapping his lips with a napkin.
I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that before.
“Done.” I smiled back at him, wondering if we could pick up where we’d left off. But the moment was gone, and people were crowding up inside the restaurant. The right thing to do was to give up our table to other diners. Besides, pizza was the last thing on my mind right now.
He kissed my cheek before standing up and placed his earpiece back on.
Nothing happened here.
A FEW HOURSafter we came back from eating our pizza, Caleb, David, and I went out for a run. I didn’t have time to run in the morning since I was busy organizing my school schedule with Nolan. Classes started in three days.
When we returned from the park, I invited Caleb to join me on the rooftop. It was almost seven, and the sun was setting.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss he almost gave me earlier. He’d been so patient with me, and I wanted to show him how much I cared about him even if I was taking my time—that I was willing to explore things with him.
The fact that he wasn’t wearing his suit was even better. It made things feel more authentic. But the muscles in his arms showing off from his t-shirt seemedunreal, as per usual.
Caleb was always covered up to the neck in those suits they wore all day. That’s why my favorite part of our runs was seeing him in his sportswear. It made the idea of us feel more likely and less forbidden.
We lingered at the far end of the rooftop railing, the same place where we stood a couple of weeks before. We were both so sweaty, but I didn’t mind because we were enjoying ourselves talking and laughing without a care in the world—just the two of us. Caleb was Caleb, and I wasn’t his job.
