Page 11 of Heartstruck at Dawn
Once.Right.
He sat on the couch and pulled me on top of him. “I’ll send Aaron away next time”—he pulled his t-shirt over his head—“and I’ll take you to my place.”Damn, those abs.“It’s cozy”—he tossed it on the floor with a smile—“and you’ll love it there.”
Caleb glanced at my lips and met them with his. He waskissingme as if we would die in a few minutes. It was so raw and intense that I had to break away from the kiss for a second and take a good look at him. I cupped his face with my hands. This was really Caleb. I couldn’t believe it. So many times, I fantasized about having him kiss me like this.
Caleb laughed under his breath, probably at the shock that must’ve been so obviously drawn on my face and said, “It’s just me.” He kissed my neck with a delicious groan,slowlymovingdownto my collarbone. I closed my eyes and gasped. His lips feltsogood on my skin. He pulled my waist closer to him, and then … my doorbell rang.
“Kiddo!” My father shouted from the other side of the door.
Shit shit shit!
I immediately grabbed my tank top, threw it over my head, and pulled it down. When I turned around two beats later, Caleb was standing up beside me with his t-shirt back on.
I looked at him, begging with my eyes for an answer.What do we do now? I was in shock—unable to think of a solution. He whispered he would leave through the service entrance once he heard my father coming in. I nodded, shooing him away. Yes, that was perfect.
“Coming!”
I walked hastily to the foyer, and Caleb disappeared into the kitchen. I took a quick look at myself in the mirror before opening the door just to make sure everything looked good and that my I-just-made-out face wasn’t showing in front of my father.
My cheeks were pink. But heck, they always were for one reason or another. There was nothing else I could do but open the damn door.
“Hey, Dad!”
At that moment, I understood Caleb’s fear of having my father find out about us and why he thought making out in my living room was the worst idea ever.
It’d been nerve-wracking to imagine what would’ve happened if he walked in on us because hedidhave a key.
The situation was going to be more challenging than I thought. And I hate to say this once again, but Caleb’s always right becausejust this oncecouldn’t have been more accurate.
September 10, 2009
GRANT’S CLASSES HELPEDchannel the hurricane of emotions in my chest, and I couldn’t go any longer without them. He was expecting me at the gym at seven, as usual.
The gym inevitably reminded me of William.
We had manyinterestingencounters there. Some were more awkward and annoying than others, but it was impossible not to think of him there. And after all, Grant was William’s trainer, and it was thanks to him that I met Grant. So how could Inotthink of him?
Even if I knew he must’ve been miserable with Erin, the reality was that they were back together, and I was still trying to figure things out with Caleb behind everyone’s backs.
Well, behind almost everyone’s backs.
William and Tobias had seen me kissing Caleb on the rooftop, which meant Joel, Lily, and Eric probably knew about it too. Those Sjöberg brothers were gossipy and then some. But it wasn’t too hard to figure out that something was going on between Caleb and me after what they saw.
William was running on the treadmill when I arrived at the gym ten minutes before my class started. He wasn’t supposed to be here. Grant stood beside him, chatting, but fell silent immediately after he saw me approaching the entrance.
William glanced at me next and went from running at full speed to making the treadmill stop abruptly. He stepped off and rushed to get his things, walking right beside me without even acknowledging me. Grant was taken aback by William’s explosive reaction.
“William, you need to cool off, man! You can’t just stop like that! You’re gonna give yourself a heart attack!” Grant shouted, but William didn’t seem to care about his cardiovascular health and stormed out of the gym without replying to Grant.
My breathing became shaky and shallow after seeing William’s reaction. I wasn’t even expecting him to be there, yet heknewI usually trained with Grant at seven.
If seeing me was such a nightmare, then he shouldn’t have come down to the gym. I wasnotgoing to hide in my apartment to avoid making him uncomfortable. He could find himself another place to workout.
“I swear something’s off. He’s been in such a bad mood these past few weeks,” Grant told me. I shrugged and lifted my right arm in front of me so he could bandage it. Dating Erin wasn’t an easy task, I supposed.
A few minutes before my class ended, Tobias walked in with his usual cheery smile. He was always in a good mood for a change.
“Hey, Billie!” He took a seat on the bench. I turned to look at him and greeted him with a jerk of my chin. My focus went back to punching the pads Grant held out for me. That right there was my therapy.
