Page 91 of Heartstruck at Dawn
“Shit.” He shook his head with a grin, clicking on the elevator’s up button.
“Oh, Caleb, come on. No one saw you but me.” I tried not to laugh.
“And that’s one too many. I’m sure you’ll make me remember this forever.”
“Absolutely.”
The elevator doors opened up, and we stepped out on the ninth floor, still laughing.
Nathan was standing outside my apartment door with a frown. But he smiled a tight-lip smile when he saw us. Caleb immediately composed himself. I sighed, still trying to catch my breath from the laughter.
“Hey, you,” I said as Nathan hugged me and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. “I’m all sweaty!” I tried pulling away, but he didn’t care. Caleb was stillvery muchstanding behind us. It would forever be uncomfortable to flaunt hugs and kisses in front of Caleb after having done that with him too.
“I was worried sick,” he said with an anxious tone. “You weren’t answering your phone.” He turned to look at Caleb and scanned him from head to toe.
“I’m sorry. I left my phone in the apartment. Do you want to come in?”
“Actually … Caleb, could I have a quick word?” Caleb nodded.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked in barely a whisper. Maybe he didn’t like me being friends with Caleb. I didn’t want Nathan to scare him away as my father did before.
“Why don’t you go take a shower, and I’ll meet you inside in a few minutes?” He smiled, but I could see something was off. And I didn’t enjoy being dismissed like that by him either. I hate being told what to do.
“Okay. I’ll see you inside.” I closed the door and huffed my way to the shower, hoping Nathan would return soon so he could tell me what the heck he talked about with Caleb.
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body as I dried off my hair and combed it.
Nathan knocked on my bathroom door, which was already open. He stared at me with raw hunger in his eyes. “I’m going to need you to put some clothes on,” he said—another order.
I bit my lower lip, trying to prevent myself from replying something of the same caliber. I was starting to lose my temper with all that ordering around.
My body was still damp. I unwrapped the towel to dry myself completely, but Nathan was still standing there in front of me.
“Fuck,” he uttered with exasperation. He turned around and sat on my bedroom’s couch, running his fingers through his hair.What is his problem?
I joined him a few minutes later,fully clothed, as he requested, and sat next to him. “Can you please tell me what’s going on? I’ve never seen you like this before. What did you talk about with Caleb? We’re friends, and we were just laughing and—”
“I know that, Murph. But that’s not why I pulled him aside.”
The doorbell rang. Nathan rushed to the door, but I followed him. He was up to something, and I was going to find out exactly what that was.
Caleb and Aaron stood behind a guy in a fancy suit. “Hey Gabe, this is my girlfriend, Billie. Why don’t you come in?”
“Nice to meet you, Billie.” He was holding a binder.
What the hell is happening!
Nathan guided Gabe toward the dining room, and I took a seat beside Nathan as Gabe pulled out a stack of papers. He placed them in front of Nathan and handed him a pen.
“Thank you for putting this together on such short notice,” Nathan said, signing the documents. “Do you have the dossier?”
“It’s all in here.” Gabe tapped a sealed letter-sized envelope. Nathan grabbed my hand and squeezed it. He knew that not only was I clueless, but that I was getting nervous.
“I’ll submit the paperwork right away. I’ll text you once it’s done,” Gabe said, standing up. “Pleasure meeting you, Billie.” He shook my hand and walked himself out of the apartment.
“Nathan,what’sgoing on?”
“I just signed an order of protection against Thomas,” he said, licking his lower lip. He knew I would react to it. He was waiting for the blow.
