Toxic Bad Boy Part 13

"If a man is truly in love, the most beautiful woman in the world couldn't take him away. Maybe for a few days, but not forever."

-Eva Gabor GIANNA.

I knocked on the door. "Caleb!"

No answer.

Trying to call him for the third time this morning, I hung up when I got his voicemail. d.a.m.n that s.e.xy voice!

His car was parked out front and it wasn't even nine o'clock yet.

"Caleb, wake up!" I yelled, pounding harder.

Frustrated, I decided to go get breakfast since I'd skipped it this morning and come back in an hour. I was just starting my car when the front door swung open.

He wasn't wearing a s.h.i.+rt again. Just because I was scared to act on the feelings he aroused didn't mean they didn't exist. I killed the engine, stepping out more cautiously than earlier.

Caleb came onto the porch, wearing nothing but shorts and a pair of headphones around his neck. After the racket I'd made getting his attention, housewives in the neighborhood were probably peeking out their blinds. His muscular chest and arms were going to make them all hot and bothered.

Not that I felt the least territorial, of course.

The happiness in his hazel eyes at my being here had guilt creeping in until I snapped out of my hot guy daze and remembered why I came.

"Inside!" I ordered, barging past him.

"Gladly," he said softly.

Walking into the living room, I spun around to see him shut the front door. His toned chest and abs were distracting me from my anger. "Put a s.h.i.+rt on!"

Without a word, he grabbed a sweats.h.i.+rt lying on the couch and pulled it over his head.

"Gage called me last night."

"Good for him," Caleb answered. "How did you know where we moved to?"

"My mom told me. Now, how about you explain last night to me?"

Caleb walked by me into the kitchen, opening the fridge and drinking straight from an orange juice carton. "What are you talking about?"

Leaning forward, I snapped, "Caleb! You sent some s.k.a.n.k to that frat party to have s.e.x with Gage!"

He braced himself on the countertop, his eyes darkening. "So?"

"So?" I yelled. "That's all you have to say for yourself?"

"I'll do anything to get you back. I'm not going to apologize for it. And Hailey totally screwed me over."

"Hailey? Were you trying to give him a STD?" The girl was nasty. Caleb was lucky she hadn't given him anything when they messed around years ago. "And you sound a heck of a lot like Josh when you say c.r.a.p like that."

Caleb circled around the counter to stand in front of me. "Don't compare me to that psychopath. I love you, Gianna. How many times do I have to tell you that I'd never hurt you?"

"And having Hailey sleep with my boyfriend wouldn't hurt me?"

His dark brows drew closer. "You don't love him."

"Yes, I do!" I lied, p.i.s.sed at his selfish att.i.tude. "We are not getting back together, Caleb. And the answer you've been dying to know is yes, I've had s.e.x with Gage!"

His face twisted in pain and I instantly regretted my lies.

His arm swung toward the front door. "Get the f.u.c.k out!" I flinched at the rage contorting his face. He looked so hurt and angry, for a second I actually worried that he really would hit me.

I ran out of there, still mad at Caleb, but now even madder at myself. I knew he'd had s.e.x with someone else since getting released, so what right did he have to be so upset with me? It took him only hours after I'd broken up with him to move on. I'd cried myself to sleep that night and the next.

So why did I feel so guilty?

The house was empty when I got home, my dad at work. Good thing, since my face was a wreck from crying.

Feeling horrible despite everything he'd done, I sent a text to Caleb around noon. I'm sorry I hurt you.

He never replied.

I cleaned the house for the next few hours, stopping only to answer the phone when Cece called. She was b.u.mmed about having to turn down the invitation to the Colorado Ballet Academy, but starting to be happy about the baby. Dante seemed to be taking it well, but neither one had told their families yet.

At four o'clock there was nothing left to clean, so I grabbed my keys and walked to the corner to check the mail. It was all for my dad except a blue envelope that greeting cards came in. Addressed to me, there was no sender listed. My grandparents had sent Chance a present last week and I figured they may have sent me a gift card. My dad's parents were loaded and sometimes sent gifts for no reason.

I dropped my dad's mail on the kitchen counter for him to find later and ripped open my letter. It was a Get Well Soon card, which was odd since my injuries had healed months ago. Opening it, my eyes went straight to the handwritten note at the bottom.

Because I'm going to cut you up, wh.o.r.e.

I dropped the card and envelope, rus.h.i.+ng to the front door to double check that I'd locked it.

CALEB.

I'd forgotten all about Norah. With everything that happened since last night, it had slipped my mind. She'd called earlier in the day, but I'd turned off my phone. Gianna had ripped my heart out once again with her admissions this morning and I was finally forced to face the truth.

I wasn't getting my girl back.

I turned my phone back on at dinnertime, planning to ask my dad if we could eat out. After spending the day alone, feeling like s.h.i.+t, I needed company and to get out of the house.

Before I called my dad, I saw a text from Norah sent about an hour ago. We on for tonight?

h.e.l.l yeah.

I dialed her number instead of texting back. I'd forget Gianna and if Norah was willing to help me out, all the better.

She answered sounding breathless, like she'd ran to her phone. "h.e.l.lo?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"How about you pick me up and we see where the night takes us?" Her voice was slightly raspy, something I hadn't noticed before. It made me think of s.e.x. Lots and lots of s.e.x.

"Text me your address and I'll be there in an hour," I told her, making a mental note to take condoms.

"Okay, see you then, Caleb."

I was so getting laid tonight.

A little over an hour later I knocked on the door of an apartment not far from the University of Denver campus. A chick who wasn't Norah answered. She was short and round, but cute, like a chubby version of Cece. Heck, Cece would probably look like this girl's twin in a few months.

Norah came out from a bedroom, wearing another of those short, skintight dresses I'd found a new appreciation for. This one white, it was a perfect contrast to her olive skin. I pictured the same dress on Gianna and found the image even better.

f.u.c.k Gianna!

No, f.u.c.k Norah tonight, Caleb!

Pus.h.i.+ng away thoughts of my lying, cheating ex-girlfriend, I forced a smile for Norah and her friend who glanced back and forth at us. "You look, uh, beautiful."

"Thanks," she replied knowingly, as if it wasn't news to her. "See you later, Christina."

"Have fun!" Christina said before closing the door behind us.

I followed Norah down the stairs to my car. She clapped her hands together in excitement as I opened her door. "I love your car!"

I got that a lot in the past from girls. Once I'd settled behind the wheel, I asked, "Where to?"

"Why don't you surprise me?"

Was this girl expecting romance? Before Gianna I hadn't done romance. I wasn't sure I could fake it. "Hungry?"

"Can we eat Chinese?"

What was up with girls wanting Chinese food this week? I supposed Panda Express wouldn't cut it with Norah, so I drove to a restaurant I liked near my mom's place.

We sat in a booth across from each other. She reached out to hold my hand. I went with it even though it felt wrong, as if my hand was rejecting the person it belonged to.

"I've never dated a guy younger than me, but there's this connection between us," she said. Two years wasn't that big of a deal. The age difference between me and Claudette had been larger. Not that the relations.h.i.+p with Claudette had been dating. More like banging as often as possible.

"I've dated older," I a.s.sured her.

"See! There's something about you that's so much more mature than other guys. It shows in your paintings."

n.o.body had said that about them before. Perhaps she was seeing what she wanted. The waiter showed up with drinks and took our order. While we waited for our food, Norah asked lots of questions about my art. I was impressed by her knowledge of art history. She knew more than me, for sure.

"What are you planning to do after high school?" she asked between bites. "Art school?"

"I'm not sure yet." I'd planned on going to college wherever Gianna did. Now, who knew? Maybe I'd skip college altogether.

"How about you? Do you plan to get your masters?"

"I haven't decided. It depends on how I feel about it when the time comes and what's going on in my personal life." Her eyes held mine and I suspected she was hoping I'd be her personal life.

I changed the subject. "Do you want to see a movie?"

"I don't know what's out right now. Did you have one in mind?"

"No. We could pick whichever one starts soonest after we get there."

"Sounds good."

I paid the bill, grabbing her hand to lead her out of the restaurant. No matter the past with Gianna or what the future held, I'd live in this moment, with this girl. At least she wasn't in love with someone else. Tonight, she'd chosen me.

We got tickets to a comedy I'd never heard of, picking seats in the back row. On a Monday night the theater was practically empty. Ten minutes into the movie, I realized the film had probably bombed at the box office. It was complete c.r.a.p.

Fifteen minutes into the movie, we were making out.

Thirty minutes into the movie, Norah was on my lap.

By the time the movie was over, I'd fingered her to o.r.g.a.s.m.

She'd wanted to blow me, but I'd insisted we wait until we got back to her apartment. Her roommate hadn't waited up and I followed Norah into her bedroom. It was decorated in different shades of purple and gray. Lights strung up above her headboard were already lit.

She slowly began stripping off her dress. I'd seen her t.i.ts in the dark theater, but the view now was even better in the glow of her room. Like her a.s.s, they weren't as perfect as Gianna's, but I'd enjoyed sucking on them earlier.

A memory of another striptease flashed through my mind, causing an actual physical ache in my chest. I shoved it away with everything other thought of the girl I loved who didn't love me back.

Norah's panties were next and I saw the landing strip I'd only felt with my fingers earlier. The hair was dark and I couldn't help wis.h.i.+ng it were blond.

Stop thinking of Gianna!

She sauntered closer, still in her heels, still having a great walk. Her fingers worked on the b.u.t.tons of my s.h.i.+rt, giving my chest little kisses. Her silky hair brushed against my arms.

The wrong color!, my mind screamed.

The wrong girl!, my heart joined in.

My c.o.c.k didn't care. It hadn't felt anything but my hand since last October. I slipped off my shoes as Norah's hands moved to my belt. "You're so hot, Caleb."

It was polite to return the compliment. "So are you."

"I'm so glad we met," she said, smiling up at me.

Her smile was too wide. Her lips not full enough. Her eyes not blue.

A soft hand reached inside my pants.

"Wait!"