“What do you mean? Where are you?”
“I’m on my way to Emily’s. I’m just twenty minutes outside Boston.” He pauses, and I recognize the whooshing sound now as cars racing past. “Just don’t go anywhere, okay?”
It’s like my brain has trouble registering his words. Emily looks at me questioningly, mouthing,what?
“You’re on your way to Boston? But how—” my voice breaks.
“I’ll tell you everything when I’m there. Just—” And just like that, Caleb’s voice breaks too. “Just don’t go anywhere, okay? Stay with Emily. Promise me, sweetheart.” The imploring edge returns to his voice, and I nod, his brokensweetheartreverberating in my chest. “Kayden?”
“I promise. I won’t go anywhere.”
I won’t ever go anywhere without you again.
“I’ll wait for you.”
Please hurry.
“Just… just be safe.”
He chuckles in that low, deep way of his, and my body aches to hold him, to touch him, to feel him against me. “I will. I promise.” He pauses, and I can hear him swallow. “Everything will be okay now, okay, baby? I love you.”
I never thought I’d hear those words from him again. I never thought I’d speak them again either, and yet they fall from my lips like the easiest words I’ve ever spoken. “I love you too. I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon.” I hear the smile in his voice, the panic now gone, replaced by relief, hope. I hang up, then press the phone against my racing heart.
Emily blinks at me. “Oh my God,” she groans, then pretends to swoon.
“What?” I feel all floaty, like I’m in a dream. Caleb’s on his way. He didn’t listen.
“Forget fucking Shakespeare. That’s some real Austen shit you guys’ve got going on.” Emily fans herself, batting her eyelashes.
I blush at her words, Caleb’s voice still ringing in my ears.I love you.Every emotion I’ve felt over the past twenty-four hours seems to hit me all at once, like a tsunami. I move toward Emily and straight into her arms, sobbing like a baby.
She pats my back. “Hey, hey, everything’s okay now. You heard the man. He’s on his way.” I cling to her, fisting her shirt, until she eventually eases me away from her. I offer her a watery smile. It feels like I’ve been crying forever. “Eat something and then take a shower. You know I fucking love you, babe, but you stink.”
“I don’t stink,” I pout, lifting Caleb’s shirt to my nose, smelling it. “I smell fine.”
“You don’t, K. You really don’t. You’re a guy who slept in his boyfriend’s clothes. You stink.” She sticks out her tongue at me, then grabs the two plates piled with French toast. “C’mon, call your mom and tell her you’re okay. I texted her last night, but you know moms. Then we’ll eat.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Caleb
Earlier the same day
Icheck my phone obsessively, but my texts to Kayden remaindeliveredbut notread. I can’t fucking believe Sal. He acted as if I were a damn predator or something. I know it must’ve come as a shock to him, walking in on Kayden fresh out of the shower, calling mebabe, but we’re both adults, and if Sal thinks I would ever take advantage of Kayden, he’s fucking delusional.
I parkMarilynin my usual spot in front of the shipyard, but I’m reluctant to go inside. I rest my forehead against the steering wheel, trying to get my pulse down and at least some of my anger to evaporate. I don’t know if Kayden went in today, but Sal never misses a day at work, so I’m bound to run into him. I need to make sure that I’m somewhat under control when I face him.
I enter through the shipyard, saying my good mornings to everyone as usual. The place is buzzing, the sound of the robotic sanding machine we introduced last year filling the large space. Lance, our foreman, fills me in like he usually does, but I find myself zoning in and out of the conversation. We’re one man short this morning since Carl called in sick with something, Lance explains. He assures me they’ll manage just fine. I pat his shoulder, then head inside the main office building. Gwen’s on the phone, talking into her headset while tapping eagerly on her keyboard. She looks up briefly and throws me a smile as I pass her. I force myself to smile back, then head straight to Kayden’s office.
The door is closed, and the lights are off. My chest tightens, the worry back in full force. I check my phone again, but there’s nothing. No texts, no calls, nothing. Well, I might as well face the music, grab the bull by its horns, or whatever. I run upstairs, passing my office, making a beeline for Sal’s. The door is closed. I knock, only greeted by silence. My stomach sinks. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing Sal thismorning after yesterday’s shitshow, but I woke up determined to sort this mess out before it escalates any further. I know Sal told me, well, rather yelled at me yesterday, that we are done unless I break it off with Kayden, but those were words spoken in shock and anger. I hope Vivian has been able to talk some sense into Sal.
I knock again, but there’s not a single sound from inside his office. I open the door carefully and peek inside, only to find it dark and empty.Fuck. I close the door, then brush my hands along my face. Less than twenty-four hours ago, my life was a dream. I was kissing a sweaty, smiling Kayden in my kitchen. Shit, I was planning on… I scream silently into my hands. How the hell did everything get so fucked up in a matter of minutes?
I jog down the stairs, and Gwen greets me with a cheery, “Hey there, sunshine,” now that she’s done talking on the phone.
“Hey,” I pant, leaning against the reception desk as I try to catch my breath and keep my voice neutral. “Sal not in yet?”