Emotional for the second time in an hour, Alex reached over and gave her friend a big bear hug. Until Caleb, Rachael was all Alex had had for the last three years, besides Bear. Their friendship was priceless.
Rachael gave her friend a small smile. “You okay?” she asked. She was going to ask at some point tonight. Might as well do it before the funny movie.
Alex sighed and didn’t answer at first. She wasn’t sure she knew the answer. Was she okay?
“I think so,” she started. “Everything has just been so crazy lately. There are a few unanswered questions with Caleb but, for the most part, things are really good! Too good. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Rachael snorted. “The problem is, you need to learn how to be happy,” she said matter-of-factly. “You’ve spent so long with one foot stuck in sadness. It’s about time you got out.”
Alex sucked in a breath at the truth in her friend’s words. It did seem like Alex had somehow just gotten used to the sadness.
“You’re right, of course. You always are,” she nodded. Rachael was probably one of the most sexually active people Alex knew, but there was so much more to her than that. She was also one of the smartest people she knew. After graduation, she planned to join the Peace Corps and was really excited about it. Alex thought the world was the one who should be celebrating. Rachael was going to change it.
“He was married,” Alex suddenly blurted.
Rachael’s eyes widened. “I knew it!” she shouted angrily.
Alex paused in shock for a second, but recovered quickly. She shook her head.
“No, it’s not like that. He was married. It was an arranged marriage and he didn’t really love her. Plus, she’s, well… she’s dead.”
Rachael shook her head, blown away. “Wait, what? Dead wives from arranged marriages? Start from the beginning.”
So Alex did. She told all about the time they’d been spending together and all they had in common. Then she told her about Caleb’s marriage, the fire, and the news about him being an Earl. She didn’t know any more about that yet, so even though it felt like she had all this news, what she really had was more questions.
“An Earl!” Rachael sighed and fell back against the couch pillows. “Well, obviously you have to find out more about that. But it sounds like you have a really good thing with him, Lex. Don’t just give up and run. Promise me you won’t do that. And stop letting his sex distract you from getting the answers you need to be comfortable. You deserve this!” she insisted, squeezing her friend’s hand.
Alex groaned. “Yeah, yeah. I won’t… to either. I’ll ask him tomorrow. He has a surprise planned.”
Rachael eyed her friend suspiciously.
“I promise!” she held her hands up in surrender. “Now can we watch the movie please?”
Rachael finally smiled and grabbed the remote to the TV.
“Alright, I’ll stop. Just keep me posted,” she relented.
Alex smiled at how much Rachael cared for her.
“Deal,” she agreed.
As the two settled in for the movie, Alex reflected on the conversation. Rachael was right. Every time she tried to get answers from Caleb, she was distracted by something, usually his mind-blowing kisses. She needed to focus next time. No matter what, she had to get answers tomorrow.
But, she decided, tonight she planned nothing but brainlessness, wine, and junk food.
Bear jumped up onto her lap, eyeing the streamers suspiciously. She turned around in a circle a few times and flopped down, instantly falling asleep.
Alex watched her. “Ah, to live the life of a cat,” she shook her head and smiled. “Pass me the lemon drops.”
Caleb’s alarm clock assaulted him awake the next morning. He shut it off and reached around to find Alex, but found the bed empty. Confused, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked towards the window at the dusty morning light leaking through his dark curtains. It was too bright to be early in the morning. Finally, Caleb realized that was because it was Saturday. Then he remembered Alex went home early the night before for some “much needed girl time”. It felt weird to not have her in his bed as he woke up. He had clearly gotten too used to having her around.
He quickly got up, showered, and got ready for the day. On his way out the door, he called Joe to make sure the food he had ordered was going to be ready, then headed to his classroom to pick up some papers. After his life altering blowjob the other night, he’d completely forgotten he had things he needed to go over that weekend. He had a fun day planned for Alex, but he was going to have to find time to grade papers too. Getting any school work done lately was getting harder and harder with Alex around. He wanted to spend every waking moment with her and school work seemed like an inconvenient necessity.
Campus was always slow on Saturdays. A few sleepless students moseyed around like zombies but, for the most part, it was empty and quiet. Caleb walked as quickly as he could to his building and ran up the steps. As he went to open his classroom door, he was startled to find it unlocked. Man, that blowjob really rendered me useless, he decided.
As he gathered the things he needed, he saw a folded piece of thick paper sitting in the middle of the desk. Knowing it wasn’t there the night before, he hesitantly picked it up. He looked around, trying to see if anything else was moved or amiss. Seeing nothing, he opened the paper.
You should be more careful.
I know who you really are.
I know what you’re really doing here.
I’m watching.
Be warned.
Caleb’s blood ran cold.
The drive out to Shenanigan’s seemed to take forever. Caleb couldn’t get thoughts about the note out of his head. It said that whoever wrote it knew the real reason he was there. No one in America, except Alex, knew about the fire, and even she didn’t know the whole story. That meant that whoever had written it was probably from England, and that was very concerning. He hadn’t seen or heard from anyone over there in months.
As much as it worried him, he was going to have to tell Alex about the note as soon as possible. He also knew he was going to have to explain more about his being an Earl, so it looked like there was going to be a lot of talking on his end later. Luckily, he had a quiet day planned and there was going to be plenty of time to chat.
Picking up the food Josie was sweet enough to make for their day, Caleb rushed back out to pick up Alex. About an hour later, he was at Alex’s door with fresh cut flowers.
When Alex opened the door, she stood in awe of the view in front of her. There Caleb stood in faded jeans that fit perfectly and a white linen, button-down, short-sleeved shirt. His dark hair was untamed as usual. It was getting longer and he could curl it behind his ears now. He did so, while standing there. With the wild flowers in his hand looking so nervous and yet relaxed, Alex thought he had never looked better. She bit her lip.
Caleb handed her the flowers and smiled. “My lady,” he bowed. Alex swooned a bit and wondered, for the millionth time, what the hell a guy like him was doing with her. He looked like a freaking knight in modern-day clothing.
Bear walked over and rubbed up against Caleb’s leg, purring.
Alex looked down at her cat. “Traitor,” she said quietly and smirked at her.
Caleb melted with the small pet’s affection.
“And who is this?” he asked.
“That’s Bear, my cat, or the bane of my existence. Depends on how you look at it.”
“Hello Bear,” Caleb said, scooping up the cat to pet her and rub her belly. She instantly relaxed in his strong arms.
Alex rolled her eyes.
“What?” Caleb inquired.
“Never in her life has she let me pick her up and hold her on her back like that. You must have the magic touch.”
Caleb’s eyebrow went up and he gave her a devilish grin.
“Magic touch, huh!?” he half growled and leaned into her. Bear, sensing the attention was no longer on he
r, scrambled out of his arms and up the stairs, breaking up the moment.
Alex marveled at how quickly she and Caleb went from zero to clothes shredding in seconds. Taking a step back to clear her head, she took the flowers into the kitchen and told him to look around. “Just don’t get lost,” she joked.
Caleb didn’t even notice how small the place was. The whole space smelled and looked like Alex to him. It had a homey and unassuming air to it. It was fully and painstakingly decorated, while feeling simple and classy too. He also noticed the little touches of lilac around. It was exactly like her. Caleb loved it.
“The early lilacs became part of this child,” he recited quietly to himself.
He followed her into the kitchen, where she offered him a cold green tea. He declined. He was feeling frisky, and had other ideas. He looked over at her with a mischievous grin on his face and suddenly advanced toward her. Alex’s eyes widened and she started to back away, but her kitchen was so small she only took a few steps before she backed into the counter. Her heart started beating faster as she watched him stalk toward her. Before she had time to react, he scooped her up by the waist and flung her over his shoulder. She shrieked in surprise. He spun her around the small kitchen, trying not to knock anything over. Laughing, Alex tried to squirm out of his arms and slapped at his butt, which was now upside down, right in front of her face. As much as she loved the view, she pleaded for him to release her.
“I’m too heavy! Put me down!” she yelled at him in a very uncharacteristic, high-pitched girlie voice.
Caleb rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Nonsense!” he told her, and to prove his point he tossed her up in the air a little bit. She shrieked again and dug her nails into him with a death grip, afraid to fall.
Full out laughing at her now, Caleb carried her into the living room. He tried taking her right out the front door, but Alex, who was laughing now too, told him to at least carry her to her purse so she could grab it as he ran out the door with her.
Caleb didn’t put her down outside either. He carried her all the way to his car. Alex looked around to see if any neighbors were watching, thankful she lived far away from campus. She saw that a few were out and looking their way curiously and couldn’t help be embarrassed at being carried like that in front of them. She had to admit, though, it also made her feel kind of special. By the time he put her down and opened the car door for her, she was blushing from ear to ear.
Unfazed, Caleb smirked and ran to the other side of the car to get in. Alex slapped his arm as he got in.
“Jerk,” she joked.
All of the jogging Caleb had done around the college had made him pretty familiar with it. It was the biggest campus in Georgia, and maybe even the world. It made finding a private spot really easy, and Caleb took Alex to his favorite. But when they first drove onto the campus, Alex had to duck down in the car. She felt so silly scrunched down like that, but it was broad daylight and there was no way they wanted to get caught together now.
Caleb looked down at her with dark eyes and smirked. “This reminds me of another time you were down on the ground like that.”
Alex’s cheeks flamed. Deciding to get him back, she reached up between his legs and gave him a squeeze. The car swerved as Caleb gave a shout. Alex snickered and took her hand back. Caleb just shook his head and grunted. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you enjoy this sneaking around,” he accused with a smile.
“Maybe a little,” she confessed.
The ride was long as they drove deep into the park. Alex didn’t mind. Once she was able to sit up, the scenery was beautiful. The road was lined with willow trees, and Spanish moss hung over everything like dripping jewels. It looked like a wonderland. Even once they parked and Caleb grabbed the picnic basket out of the back of the car, they still had a little while to walk. Alex was glad Caleb had warned her to wear her old sneakers.
As they started walking to the site he had picked out, Alex kept taking big gulps of fresh air. It felt so good to be outside just enjoying nature. She wondered how long it had been since she went on a run. It was probably since she’d met Caleb, she realized. She missed the feel of the ground speeding under her feet, the wind in her face, the smell of the air as it sucked into her lungs.
Alex sighed. “How heavy is that basket?” she asked Caleb.
Caleb looked down at the basket in question. “Not very… why?”
Without answering, Alex smiled and took off running down the path.
“You’d better catch up if you’re going to show me where to stop!” she shouted over her shoulder.
Caleb stood there in shock for about a half a second and then took off running after her.
“Challenge accepted!” he shouted back.
He caught up quick and smacked her butt as he passed by her. She shouted in surprise and tried to run faster to catch up with him. He told her he was new to running. There was no way she could let him win now.
They ran for almost a mile while Alex tried desperately to catch up with him. Abruptly, the path opened up to a small clearing and Alex stopped, so surprised she forgot about the race. It was the most beautiful little spot she had ever seen.
It was a small, grassy clearing, empty but for a single willow tree. On either side of the clearing were more trees so that it was surrounded on three sides by the forest. On the fourth side, the one opposite where they stood, was a small lake. The lake was clear and calm and also surrounded by trees except where they were. It sneaked around to the left and back further unseen. On it, alone, relaxed a pair of swans.
It was so perfectly serene it almost felt unreal. Alex felt immediately relaxed, like just their arrival at the little place had taken a big weight off her shoulders. She looked at Caleb, trying to show him with her eyes how much she loved it.
Caleb knew. He’d felt the same way the first time he’d happened upon the spot. It was so far off the path of the campus it was also practically impossible to see or be seen by anyone. It was the most private they felt since they’d met.
Without saying anything, they looked at each other and smiled. Caleb grabbed her hand and they ran toward the lake to pick a good spot for the blanket. They found one they both liked, just close enough to the edge of the lake to be able to hear the soft waves lapping the shore. Once the blanket was down and they had settled on it, Caleb began to pull the first part of the meal out of the old, classic looking picnic basket. Alex sat back to watch him. A breeze blew through the little glade and ruffled Caleb’s hair while he worked. She couldn’t help but sigh at how handsome he looked, the sun making his blue eyes shine.
Unpacked, the meal looked more like a feast. It was more food than Alex could ever have imagined. It was as if the basket were a clown car; more and more food just kept coming out of it. There was bread and cheese and meat, most of which was something she had never heard of or was prepared in a way she had not tried. Caleb seemed to enjoy making her try new things. And all the food was paired with the most delicious wine she’d ever tasted. She loved all of it and ate way more than was lady-like. She was commenting on that fact when Caleb gave her a strange look.
“What?” she stammered, confused.
“You women today, you’re obsessed with being skinny like models,” he accused.
Alex rolled her eyes.
“No, really,” he insisted “What you don’t realize is that most men don’t care what size you are as long as you have confidence and enough boob and bum to grab onto!” he contended, shaking his head.
“Well, I’m gonna call bullshit on that one,” she shook her head. “You men say that crap all the time, but it’s the skinny blonde bimbo that always grabs your attention when she walks by.”
“Did it ever occur to you that those women are just the ones who have more confidence?” he asked her. “It doesn’t matter how fit they are, if you see a woman with that much poise, she’s going to get looks. It’s the confidence we appreciate. Besides, the clothes the bi
mbos, as you call them, wear show more tit, and tits always get a man’s attention no matter who has them,” he said with determination and a half smile. “In fact, I prefer my women to have a little curve like you do,” his deep voice vibrated.
Alex blushed and thought about his words. Even with all the running she did she never seemed be able to get rid of her slight hourglass figure. She usually tried to cover it up, but something about Caleb made her feel less self-conscious.
She sighed. “Well, I don’t know why you’d be attracted to me then. I barely have any confidence at all.”
Caleb studied her face. “You fake it well. I guess that’s all that matters.”
He smiled and laid his hand on her waist, pulling her closer to kiss her softly. Alex leaned into him and melted into the kiss.
A little while later, they sat quietly watching the swans. Alex leaned back on her hands and put her face back to let the sun shine on her. It smelled like spring in the little meadow and she wanted to soak up the sun and breeze like a sponge. Caleb laid with his head resting on her lap. Alex noticed how easy it was with him to just sit and say nothing. She looked down at the back of his resting head and ran a hand through his wavy hair. Everything about being with him seemed so easy. It was so different than any other relationship she had ever been in. It made her unquestionably happy and also genuinely terrified at the same time.
“So how was your time with Rachael last night?” Caleb lazily asked, making conversation.
“It was fine… great actually. I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing her,” Alex thought aloud.
“I’m sorry if I have been monopolizing your time,” Caleb smirked in a very unapologetic way.
She pulled his hair a bit.
“Liar.”
“Ouch,” he feigned. Alex laughed.
“No, she understands and is happy for me. She’s not one to be needy or selfish. She just lets me be me and encourages me to be happy.”
Unhinge Me Page 7