“I’m sorry I’ll miss my shift as a bodyguard tomorrow,” she said.
“That’s okay. I’ll have Caleb bring me to your house to visit you.”
“You should make him take you to a chick flick as payback for hurting you.”
“He’d probably try to get frisky in the theater.”
Cece’s attempt at a smile fell. “I’m tired. Will you tell my parents I’m going to sleep?”
Caressing her face, I said, “Yes, see you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Gianna.”
Jared and I went through a fast food drive-thru on our way to my house and sat eating our food in the parking lot. I finally got my burrito, but barely tasted it.
“I’m going to kick his ass,” he said, tossing his half-eaten food into the paper bag.
“I think he’s beating up himself enough over it, Jared. He doesn’t need you pounding on him."
My words didn’t help to calm him down. “I’m glad she dumped him. I know for a fact she was a virgin before she met him and he couldn’t even protect her from getting knocked up.”
“Everyone knew she was,” I reminded him. “Her boyfriend before Dante complained enough about it.”
“She should have waited until after high school.”
“Because you did?” I teased him, knowing exactly when he’d started having sex with an ex-girlfriend a couple years ago.
He gave me a dirty look. “Are you and Caleb back together?”
I shrugged. “Sort of.”
He started his car. “You and Cece should both think about waiting until marriage from now on.”
“Whatever you say, Jared,” I said, rolling my eyes at him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Sad things happen. They do. But we don’t need to live sad forever.”
-Mattie Stepanek
GIANNA
“Where are we going?” I asked as we left Cece’s house and Caleb didn’t head toward the mall like I’d expected.
“It’s a surprise,” he said. He didn’t seem in the least bit excited. In fact, he appeared tense and slightly nervous.
“A good surprise?” I asked, not in the mood for anything less.
“Hopefully,” he answered vaguely.
Cece was still devastated about losing her baby and her parents worried she’d become depressed. Jared had taken me aside, asking for the name of my therapist. I’d supplied it, embarrassed but wanting to help Cece.
When Caleb had come over this morning, he’d filled me in on how Dante was taking things. Basically, not good. He blamed himself, felt like his not wanting the baby had caused the miscarriage. He loved Cece, but Caleb wasn’t sure he’d fight for her because of his guilt.
I wasn’t positive Cece wanted him to bother trying.
When Caleb drove into the parking garage by his mom’s apartment, it was easy to guess our destination. “Is your mom home?”
It was Tuesday afternoon and she worked full time as an interior designer. He turned off the engine and I got out before he could open my door. I brushed off his disapproving look.
“She’s working on some rich guy’s house in Boulder.”
As we went up to the apartment, he leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Remember the first time I brought you here?”
I scowled at him playfully. “You were a jerk.”
He laughed, hooking an arm around the back of my neck. “Yeah, but you loved it.”
“You’re dreaming,” I teased. It was less than a year ago, but it seemed like forever ago. I’d had no idea how hard I’d fall for my annoying stepbrother.
He unlocked the apartment and held the door open for me. “The first time I met you, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.”
“And now?”
His face went soft along with is voice. “Now, you’re even more beautiful.”
I walked farther into the apartment and dropped my bag onto the couch. “I won’t be beautiful forever, Caleb.”
His arms went around me from behind and he pulled me against him. “Yes, you will.”
“What about when I’m a wrinkled old woman?” I asked, placing my hands over his.
“Beautiful.”
“What if I get fat when I’m pregnant and have stretch marks?” Leaning back into him, I relaxed my body.
His arms around me felt right. “Even more beautiful.”
“Where’s my surprise, Caleb?”
“In my mom’s art studio,” he said, guiding me by the hand back there.
I expected a new painting, one of me or both of us together. When he led me to two canvases wrapped in paper, I tried to back up. “Is that what I think it is?”
He finally let go of my hand and leaned down to place the paintings on a nearby table. “Yes.”
“What are you doing, Caleb? I don’t want to see them!” I was ready to bolt and take a taxi back to Cece’s house or anywhere but here.
“They sold at the show,” he said. “But I insisted my mom get them back from Jim before they were delivered to the buyer.” He began tearing off the paper and I wrapped my arms around myself. “I couldn’t stand the thought of them out in the world and my mom understood.”
“What are you going to do with them?” Avoiding where they lay on the table, now unwrapped, I stared at the space to the right of them.
Caleb’s hand cupped my jaw. “Jim was pissed, but I’m going to destroy them.”
My eyes met his piercing ones. “You are?”
“Gianna, I’d destroy the world if it came between us.”
I bit my bottom lip when it began to tremble. “Thank you.”
He kissed me, his lips firm against mine. “You’re welcome. You’re going to help me.”
“What? No!” An arm around my waist kept me from escaping.
“You’re not healed yet and I need my girl whole so we can move into our future together. You need to learn that Josh can’t hurt you anymore. He didn’t win.”
“I’m not strong enough,” I admitted.
“Yes, you are.” He led me to stand in front of the table, grabbing my wrist to place a pair of scissors into my hand. “Look at it.”
Reluctantly, I forced my eyes to look at the image of Josh in his football uniform. Those clenched fists had punched at me. Those strong hands had broken me.
“Do it,” Caleb urged.
Raising a shaky arm, I began to cry as my arm lowered in a swift motion and the scissors struck Josh’s face, stabbing through his angry expression. In a frenzy, I sliced at the canvas, shredding it.
“That’s my girl,” Caleb crooned in my ear. “Now the other one.”
My wild gaze moved to the painting of me at my most pathetic. Without further prompting from Caleb, I destroyed the other painting. While I worked, Caleb kept speaking. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you like that again, baby. I love you so much, Gianna.”
I believed him. Dropping the scissors, I spun around, throwing myself at him as I cried. “I love you so much, Caleb.”
He rubbed my back, holding me for a long time while I released the pain and ugliness of that night. When my sobbing quieted down, he rubbed my back. “Feel better?”
I nodded against his chest. “Yes, thank you.” I reared back to look at him. “How did you know?”
“Painting them helped me work through my rage, so I hoped destroying them would help you through your pain.”
“What now?” I asked, glancing at the mess.
“I plan on burning them.”
“Are you in trouble with Jim?”
“He made enough money off the rest of the show.”
“What about the buyer?”
“Jim will tell them they were destroyed and that’ll have to be good enough.”
Caleb and I left the studio. Instead of going into the living room with him, I tugged on his hand and guided him into his bedroom.
“There’s something else coming between us,” I told him.
“What’s that?”
&nb
sp; “My ridiculous fears,” I said, pulling my cotton dress over my head.
He stood in place, not moving toward me or taking off his own clothes. “You know I won’t hurt you?”
“I know,” I told him, unclasping my strapless bra.
“You know I love you more than anything in this world?”
“Yeah,” I said, slipping off my panties. There was no hiding from him in the brightly lit bedroom as the sun shone through the open blinds.
He groaned, rubbing a hand over his mouth. I stepped forward, helping him pull his shirt off and unbutton his jeans. He tugged them off, revealing black boxer briefs.
“I don’t have any condoms,” Caleb said, looking crestfallen.
I giggled at his expression. “I’m still on birth control.”
“Thank fuck,” he breathed, moving us onto the bed.
He went slowly with me, even more gently than the first time. Not once did my fears surface. This was Caleb, the guy who loved me enough to take on the world for me.
He made love to me like he was worshiping me and I somehow knew it’d always be this intense for us. I returned his passion while he moved inside me, filling me in the best way.
When we were done, Caleb started all over again. This time harder, rougher, holding nothing back of his fierce desires.
Afterward, I lay in his arms, staring at the sunbeams.
“Caleb?” I asked softly just in case he was asleep.
His eyes opened. “Yeah?”
“I want you to pick where we go to college.”
He stroked my cheek with a thumb. “It doesn’t matter to me. I just don’t want us to be apart again.”
“I don’t care where we go and I don’t want us to be apart either.”
His laughter made his chest shake under my head. “Then it’s decided. We won’t be apart and we’ll go wherever we both get into.”
“If you don’t go to an art school, I at least want you to get into a really good art program at a university.”
“You really don’t know what you want to do for a career?”
I had no clue. “No. I may not know for another few years. So, we’ll concentrate on you first.”
“What if I don’t want to be an artist?” he asked.
“Then we’ll figure out what we want to do together.”
“Should we stay in Colorado?”
“If you want,” I said, hugging my arm tighter around his torso.
“Chance would miss you if we left,” he pointed out.
“You’re right, and I don’t want to miss him growing up. Can we stay in Colorado?”
“Whatever you want. Boulder would only be a fifteen minute drive to your mom’s house.”
“Maybe she’d let us live with her while we’re in school?” I teased him.
“No way,” he said, pulling me up higher on his chest. “I want my girl to myself. When we move in together, I’ll be able to fuck you whenever I want.”
Giggling, I slapped his chest lightly. “You’re so romantic.”
“I try,” he joked, slapping my bottom through the sheet. “Now get dressed, I need to feed my girl.”
“Can we go to the diner?” I asked, hungry for a big hamburger and fries.
“That’s what I had in mind,” he replied, stepping into his underwear. I was a lucky girl. My guy was hot, his abs toned along with the rest of him. “Quit perving on me, Gianna.”
I pulled my dress back on. “Oh, I’m the pervert now?”
“When you look at me like I’m a piece of meat, yes.”
“I am hungry for a piece of meat, but I want a milkshake with it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Forever is composed of nows.”
-Emily Dickinson
CALEB
“I don’t see why we have to buy all this crap for Ian,” I complained as I pushed the red shopping cart through Target.
“You said why yourself, Caleb. He’s lonely and his dad doesn’t ever visit him. We’re not family, so we can’t get in to see him. This will let him know we care.”
I pulled the Thinking About You greeting card out of the basket. “I’m not signing this.”
“That’s okay,” Gianna said smugly. “I’ll sign it for you, even include a note.”
I threw the card back into the cart. “No, you won’t.”
Gianna gave me a pouty face. “He probably misses you.”
“What he misses is tits and ass, told me so himself.”
“Caleb!” Gianna said, glancing around to see if anyone heard me. “Could you not talk like that when we’re in public?”
“Nope,” I answered, ignoring her scandalized expression. “Love me, love my dirty mouth. And, baby, I know you love my mouth.”
“I can’t believe you,” she muttered, blushing.
As she marched ahead of me, I stared unashamedly at her heart-shaped ass. When we got back to her house I was taking her from behind. She turned down an aisle, causing me to swerve right to follow. “What’s Ian’s favorite candy?”
“How the hell should I know?”
“You’re no help,” she huffed. “I’ll just get him a little bit of everything.”
“Starburst,” I told her.
She grinned, bending over to grab a bag.
“I only know because he bitched every other day about wanting some.”
A cruel idea entered my mind. I’d slip inside the care package a picture of me holding a handful of Gianna to rub it in his face that he wasn’t getting any while the hottest chick ever belonged to me.
“Come here, baby,” I told her. She dropped more candy into the cart.
“Why?” she asked, reaching down for Snickers.
“I want to take a picture of us for Ian.”
She moved into my arms while I held my phone outstretched in front of us. “That’s so sweet, Caleb.” She couldn’t see the smug look on my face as I snapped the picture. I’d print this out later after dragging myself off of Gianna.
*****
Jim had asked my mom and me to meet him to pick up the check for my portion of the sales. The three remaining paintings which hadn’t sold yet would be displayed for a while longer at the gallery.
My mom was already in discussions with a larger gallery in New York to get me another exhibit. There were far more artists in the world than there were galleries or collectors, so she wanted us to move fast now that a ripple of momentum had begun.
Painting had become almost as addicting as Gianna, but I aspired to what very few artists achieved, true success. If this career didn’t work out, I’d alter my plans for the future. Any show in New York would be scheduled months in advance, possibly next year.
As we entered the gallery, Norah sat at the front desk. “Jim is waiting in his office for you. He said to just go on back.” My mom and I ignored her, both still pissed about her stunt with Gianna during the show.
Jim sat behind his desk, swiping at the tablet in front of him. His head came up as when we stepped inside his office. “Caleb, Eliza,” he greeted. “Normally the artist has to wait weeks or months for their cut, but I’m hoping to entice you into allowing me to exhibit you again next year.”
“We would love that,” my mom lied smoothly. She wanted international acclaim for her son’s talent and we’d have to look outside of Denver for it.
The amount on the check wasn’t enough to retire on, but it was a promising start. If things went well, art dealers would be able to demand higher prices for my work.
Since I only needed one class to graduate high school, my mom was looking into me taking college art courses though Metro State during my senior year. It’d mean I’d only be at the high school with Gianna half of each school day, but I’d also get a jump start on my degree.
We got to our feet, Jim reaching out to shake our hands. “One more thing.”
He pressed a button on his desk phone and Norah’s voice came over the speaker. “Yes, Jim?”
“Could you come back here, No
rah?”
“Be right there.”
She showed up seconds later. “What did you need?” Her tone polite and face blank, she focused only on Jim.
“I lost two sales because of your lack of professionalism at the show. You’re fired, Norah.”
Her face fell as her posture slumped. “But, Jim!” she protested.
He handed a check over to her, also. “That should cover your wages through today.” I hadn’t realized it was a paid internship. It would suck for her to lose it, but she deserved to be fired after the shit she’d pulled.
Walking to the car, I caught the satisfied smile on my mom’s face. “You tattled on her?”
My mom’s grin disappeared. “Do you care?”
“Nope,” I answered, shutting her car door for her.
*****
Her body swayed against mine to the pulsating beat of the music. She wore that red dress again at my request and had already reapplied her lipstick twice. Gianna’s passion for dance mirrored my own for art. Music was her medium as mine was paint.
Blue eyes shining, hair mussed, her entire body rocked to the music. The seductive curves rolled under my hands. Multicolored strobe lights flashed overhead as the crowd around us lost themselves in the song about sex, some people mimicking the act on the dance floor
My hands ran up Gianna’s front as she ground back against my crotch. She whirled, her legs entwined with mine as she arched her back. The song changed to something with a faster beat and her body moved a few inches away from mine. Not having that, I hooked her waist and hauled her against me.
Her body felt warm in my arms. “Time for water,” I yelled in her ear.
She nodded, fanning herself in silent communication. Guiding her off the dance floor, I kept her close so other guys couldn’t brush against her. The club was one we’d gone to when we’d first got together. Her dad had dropped her off at ballet class this morning and I’d picked her up afterward. She hadn’t been out of my sight for more than ten minutes since.
Cece had called her this afternoon declaring her need to get out of the house for a night of fun. The last we’d seen of her, she’d been dancing up on one of the guys from the crew. Loyalty had me wanting to text Dante to tell him where she was. Gianna’s threats had held me back and I figured Cece deserved a drama free night.
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