Page 22 of Taken By the Bad Boy
Pete rolled his eyes.“We’ll agree to disagree on this, but you did, and now look at you, you’re all happy about it.”
“I’m not happy about it,” Caleb said.“I’m fucking envious.You’re a fucking dick.”
Again, his friend burst out laughing.
“If this is how you feel, why not turn around and tell Mae you want kids?”
“Because what if she only wants me to have a good time?What if ...my stupid fucking reputation is the problem?She doesn’t want to be with a guy who has been with so many women.”Caleb sighed.“You know, I can’t believe this but my dad was right, and he even said there was going to come a point in my life where I would sit back and listen, and then think, ‘my dad was right.’Fuck!”He growled the last word and Pete was not exactly being a lot of help, because he just seemed to find it exceedingly funny.“Why do you keep laughing?”
“I can’t help it.You are having a little temper tantrum, and I’m seeing my best friend backtrack and regret his life choices.”Pete put a hand to his heart.“It’s kind of poetic.”
“Stop.”
They had already dealt with Pete’s problem.A customer had come into the shop, claiming they had done their tattoo and it had gotten infected.Caleb kept a record of every job they did.They threatened lawyers, legal action, and even attempted blackmail and intimidation.He was not going to be threatened, and once he stepped toe to toe with the man and didn’t back down, he soon ran out of the parlor.After that, he’d put a call to the sheriff, to advise him there was a scammer in town, and now he was in this conversation with his best friend.
“If it helps, I don’t think Mae is with you just for fun,” Pete said.
Caleb ran a hand down his face.“You don’t know that.”
“True, but I do know Mae.She’s not like that.You know this, because if she was, she would have gone looking for you a long time ago to have her fun.She didn’t, and she also did have other offers.A couple of guys wanted to take her out.”Pete shrugged.“She turned them down.”
This didn’t make him feel any better.
“I should have told her,” Caleb said.
He looked toward Pete, and the truth was, he felt helpless.
Pete groaned.“Mae wants a big family.She has told Emily about it.She loved her grandparents, but ever since she was a kid, she has always wanted a large family.She wished she had brothers and sisters and cousins, but her parents were only children, and she has always felt so lonely.You have always said the very idea of kids terrifies you.”
“Well, I was wrong, okay?”
“You’re willing to settle down and have a bunch of kids with Mae?”Pete asked.
Caleb gripped the back of his head and looked toward his best friend.“With Mae, I want it all.I want everything you and Emily have.”
“What changed?”Pete asked.
“What?”
“Well, as we are both aware, I’m married to her best friend, so if I’m not careful, my ass will be the one in the firing line here.What changed for you to suddenly want it all with Mae?She’s been single for a long time, in fact, her whole life.She’s never had a long-term boyfriend.Shit, I don’t even think she’s enjoyed a short-term boyfriend.You could have gone to her at any time, and yet you didn’t.What changed?”
Caleb knew Pete was covering his ass.
“She walked into a bar,” Caleb said.
“What?”
“I know that’s crazy.I’ve wanted Mae for a long time, but we’ve rarely crossed paths, and asking her out hasn’t worked.Sure, I’d seen her in passing when she came to visit, but it’s not like we’d ever stayed for dinner.Something always came up, but that night I was about to leave the bar, and she stepped right into it.The moment I looked at her, I knew she was coming home with me.”
“Shit, you are in love with her, aren’t you?”
Caleb turned toward his friend.“Yeah, I am.”
He knew it better than anyone.Mae was his whole world, but what scared him the most was, he had a feeling she’d been his whole world for a lot longer than he even realized.
“Why the fuck didn’t you say anything?”Pete asked.
He looked toward his friend, and the truth was, he didn’t have an answer.Fear of rejection?A lifetime of not admitting what he wanted?He didn’t know what to say, so he shrugged.
