He waved his hand, urging me to continue.
“Anyway,” I said giving him a look of annoyance. “She agreed to listen if I promised to leave her alone when I was done talking.” Taking a deep breath, I continued. “I told her about my feelings for her, and after that she didn’t want me to leave. If only her roommates were as forgiving as she was,” I grimaced
“Shit, please don’t tell me Emily was home when you dragged Angie to her room?” He shivered.
I groaned just remembering Emily standing there ready to rip me a new asshole. “Unfortunately, she was. That chick scares the living shit out of me. I can’t fuck up with Angie or that spitfire will end up kicking my ass from here to fucking California.”
“I don’t doubt it—that girl is hot as hell but she’s vicious when she wants to be. So now what?”
I smiled, “Well Angie has class until one-thirty, but I’m going to pick her up at six and bring her here for dinner.”
He got all excited, jumping up and down like a fucking cheerleader. “Dude, you’re gonna cook again? I miss your cooking.”
“Don’t act like such a girl. Yeah, I’m cooking—but this is a dinner for two.” I hinted.
He huffed. “Fine I get it, you want some alone time.”
“Don’t pout, I’ll owe you.” I laughed.
“You already owe me! Lucky for you I have plans tonight anyway,” he replied.
I looked at the clock. “Shit, I have to get ready for class.”
Have fun tonight,” he said winking at me, “if you know what I mean.”
“Don’t be a dick,” I said as I walked down the hall to my room. The only thing Josh ever thought about was getting laid.
I got showered and dressed in record time and just made it to class. Calculus III was not my favorite class, but it was a requirement for the engineering program. It felt like the longest hour and a half of my life. I still had to plan the perfect evening—she deserved that and more. Finally the Professor dismissed the class and I went right to work.
Dinner had to be special. I needed to sweep her off her feet so she wouldn’t change her mind about forgiving me. I owed her so much more than one perfect date, but it was a start.
Stopping by the grocery store on my way home, I picked up the things I needed for dinner. By the time I got back to the apartment, Josh was back from class.
When I walked in the door with the bags, he looked up from the TV. “Please tell me you bought enough for leftovers?”
I shook my head and laughed at him, heading for the kitchen. I had started to unpack the bags and put everything away, when Josh walked in to grab a beer out of the fridge.
“Man, it’s only two o’clock. Are you really going to start drinking now, when you have a date tonight?” I stopped what I was doing and turned to look at him. “Wait…why do you have a date tonight? You said you were never doing that again.”
“Fuck off. It’s been a long day,” he scowled.
“Like it’s my fault you finally decided to start showing up on time and actually go to class?” I asked sarcastically.
“Shut the fuck up,” he muttered.
“Stop pouting like a baby. Man up and get your shit done,” I suggested.
“Right, this coming from the guy who’s been a total ass the last few weeks?” he grumbled.
“Yeah, but I’m going to start making up for it tonight,” I said with a smile. “Right now I need to get this place cleaned up. And stop being a crabby bastard, you’re just going to piss your date off.”
“Fine. I’m going to take a nap before I have to pick Julia up,” he said with a yawn.
“Julia, huh?” I went back to unloading the grocery bags.
“Yeah, she kept hinting so I thought I may as well take advantage. Not to mention that she is fucking hot,” he said with a wink.
“Don’t be a dumbass. I have no idea why you’re even bothering to take her out at all. All you’re gonna do is fuck her and leave. Shit the last time you went on a ‘date’ you whined for a full twenty-four hours afterwards,” I reminded him. I wasn’t the best example, because I’d had my share of one-night stands. But not nearly as many as Josh, and I never ran out the door the minute I pulled the condom off. Also, I never asked them out on a date—usually preferring to pick them up at the bar or a party. That way they knew what they were getting into when they left with me.
“Don’t judge, man. Maybe if I take a girl out every once in a while, I might find one worth staying with longer than a night,” he told me, before walking down the hall to his room.
I spent the next few hours cleaning. Our apartment wasn’t disgusting, but it definitely wasn’t clean enough to impress Angie. I loaded the dishwasher and vacuumed the carpet. Before long, it was time for me to jump in the shower and get ready. Everything had to be perfect before I went to pick Angie up—including me. I decided to wear jeans and a button-down white shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. I made sure to set up my iPod before I left so that when we got back it could be turned on with the push of a button.
The table was set for two, with a vase of roses specifically bought for Angie as the centerpiece. When I looked around, everything was ready. Just as I was about to leave, Josh left his room to head for the shower.
“Hey, man, I’ll be outta here by the time you get back. Have fun,” he called over his shoulder.
“Thanks, man,” I called back and left to go pick up Angie.
I was excited to see her again. I hadn’t let myself feel like this for a very long time and it felt good—it felt like I could finally breathe. And sleeping without nightmares? That was a miracle. Angie was changing me. She was starting to fix what had broken two years ago. On my way to the car my phone started to ring.
Without looking at it, I answered the call. I expected it be Angie, but when I said hello the person hung up. I didn’t recognize the number. Whoever it was didn’t leave a message, so it must have been a wrong number. I got in my car and headed to Angie’s.
I pulled up to her building and walked up to the door. Buzzing the door, I prayed that Emily wasn’t home this time. I pushed the button on the intercom and spoke. “It’s Caleb.”
“Hold on lover-boy, I’ll open it up,” the voice said. I wasn’t sure if it was Heather or Jillian—I just thanked God it wasn’t Emily. The door buzzed and I went up the stairs. Heather was sitting on the couch waiting for me.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“She’s in her room getting ready. So lover-boy, what’s your plan to treat my girl like a princess?” she asked.
I almost started to laugh, that was until I took a good look at her face. Shit! She was dead serious. It’s not that I wasn’t going to do my best to treat Angie like a princess, but I didn’t want to answer the question wrong. It was bad enough Emily wanted to cause me physical pain—I didn’t want to add Heather to that list. She was tiny, but I had feeling that cute little figure was hiding a raging temper.
“Well…um…” I stuttered.
“Spit it out Romeo, I haven’t got all day,” she demanded.
Damn, were all of Angie’s roommates this feisty? I couldn’t blame them for wanting to protect Angie, but this one scared me almost as much as Emily. I needed to prove to them that I was going to show Angie that she was everything to me. My fucking palms were getting all sweaty, like I was a virgin on prom night. What the hell?
“I’m making her dinner at my place,” I answered.
She looked over at me, “Well that’s a start, but what about after tonight? It’s not exactly like you have a great track record.”
I moved closer, and looked into her eyes. “I’m not gonna fuck this up again.”
She stood up and I stepped back—she was definitely scary! “You’d better not, or your boys will never play horizontal pool again. You catch my drift?”
Did she seriously just threaten to cut my balls off? Luckily I had no plans to hurt Angie ever again. “Heather, that girl means the world to me and I’ll do ev
erything in my power to show her that every day. No matter what, she will always feel special with me.”
I heard a gasp come from the hallway and I turned to see Angie standing there listening. I walked towards her and cupped her face in my hands. Bending down I touched her lips with mine. She looked beautiful in her red top, skinny jeans, and knee high black boots.
I pulled away sooner than I would have liked, but I could feel Heather staring at us. “Hey baby, are you ready to go?”
She smiled at me. “Most definitely.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stairs. She giggled as we made our way out to the car. I just couldn’t wait to have her to myself. Wanting to start off on the right foot, I walked over and opened her door. She got in and I shut the door, before moving back to my side. I climbed into the car, but before I started the engine I turned to her.
“Let me just say, that you look amazing tonight.” I reached over and pulled her face to mine and kissed her. She ran her tongue across my lips, so I opened and let her deepen the kiss. I felt her shiver as my tongue touched hers. It wasn’t until we were both breathless that we finally parted. I smiled at her before I backed out of the space.
She put her hand in mine as we drove back to my apartment. When I pulled into the lot she turned to look at me. “Thank you for what you said to Heather.”
I brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I meant every word.”
I continued to stare into those beautiful brown eyes. “Come on, I believe I owe you dinner.”
I got out of the car and rushed around the front to open her door. As she stepped out of the car, I realized that Angie was bringing something back to me that I had lost that night. It was a side of me that people hadn’t seen in two years—I wanted to take care of someone other than myself.
I grabbed her hand and held it in mine as we walked up the stairs to my door. Josh’s car was gone so he must have already left for his date. I wanted nothing more than to be alone with Angie, even if all we did was cuddle on the couch.
Unlocking the door, I led her into the apartment. I’d never brought a girl home before. If I hooked up with a girl, I usually went back to her place.
I put my keys down on the table and turned to her. “Do you want something to drink?”
She shrugged her shoulders and looked down. “Sure.”
She looked a bit nervous. Was she still afraid of my asshole personality making an appearance?
“Angie, is everything okay? You look nervous.”
Her eyes snapped to mine. “Nothing, I’m fine.”
She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She was fine in the car, what changed in the time it had taken us to walk into the apartment?
“I have everything prepped, but I still have to cook dinner. Do you want to hang with me in the kitchen, or would you rather watch TV?” I asked, hoping to put her mind at ease.
She shook her head, like she was trying to clear it and instantly her smile was back. “I’d love to watch you cook me dinner. I have to see how good you really are,” she laughed.
“Well then, follow me and I’ll show you the true art of cooking,” I said with an exaggerated bow.
She giggled and followed me into the kitchen. I was glad I was so prepared. I walked over to the iPod dock, hit play, and Dashboard Confessional’s “Stolen” was the first song. The song said everything I felt about Angie—she had stolen my heart.
“I love this song,” she said.
She had the same taste in music as I did, so I knew she would like it. “I thought you would,” I agreed as I walked over to the fridge.
“You like Corona, right?” I asked.
She smirked at me, “You pay attention.”
I laughed, “Yes, yes I do.”
“So, what’s for dinner?” she asked, giving me a skeptical look.
“Are you doubting my cooking skills?” I replied in mock horror.
“Maybe I am,” she said with a laugh.
I pulled the chicken and two beers out of the fridge. I waved the chicken around. “Well I am about to prove you very wrong. We will be having chicken marsala.”
I opened the beers and handed her one. Angie turned and sat at the table. Turning on the stove I started to make dinner, but I looked over to see her watching me. Her cheeks flushed pink, when she realized I’d caught her staring.
“Is there anything you want me to do?” she asked, trying to shift the focus onto something else.
I pointed to the cabinet with the plates. “You can set the table if you want.”
She gave me a quick salute and a giggle before heading over to the cabinet. I’d already put down clean placemats. Watching as she tried to reach the plates, I almost laughed at her stretching to get them, but they were just out of her reach. I walked over behind her and placed my hands on her hips. Her breathing hitched, and that sound alone was enough to give me a hard on.
I moved my hands up to her shoulders and turned her around. The look in her eyes sent desire racing through my veins. I leaned down and took her lips with mine. She slid her arms around my neck and into my hair. I deepened the kiss, knowing I would never get tired of the feel of her lips against mine.
As her tongue danced with mine, I felt myself getting a little too excited. I groaned and pulled away. “You taste amazing. I’ll never get enough of you,” I whispered as I brushed her hair out of her face.
She was breathing hard as I turned her back to the cabinet and pulled the dishes down for her. After she took them off me, I brushed her hair to the side and placed my lips on her neck. She shivered before sighing and leaning into me. I wrapped my arms around her and just held her for a moment. “You are so beautiful, I can’t keep my hands to myself, but I’m going to try so maybe we can have dinner at some point tonight.”
She giggled as I let her go. If I didn’t get my shit together, we would end up in my room having desert before dinner. And as much as I wanted to do that, I needed to give her time. I didn’t want her to regret anything about sleeping with me.
I did my best to focus on making dinner but it was hard with Angie sitting right behind me, knowing she was watching my every move. My body had an almost uncontrollable reaction to her, and I knew I would probably be spending an hour in a cold shower before bed tonight.
Once everything was ready, we sat down at the table to eat.
Angie picked up her fork. “This looks amazing. Where did you learn to cook like this?”
I shrugged. “My mom taught me. She didn’t want me to grow up relying on someone else to feed me.”
She looked up from her plate. “What are your parents like?”
Shit. It seemed such a normal conversation, but the truth of the matter was, I rarely spoke about my family. She already knew I was hiding something, but hadn’t pressed me about it. I just hoped that she would continue to avoid the subject. I could answer questions about my family, without talking about that night.
“They’re great—they’ve always been there for me no matter what. What about yours?”
“Well it’s just me and my dad.” She looked a little uncomfortable, and it struck me that maybe I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t a huge fan of talking about their past.
“So what made you choose history as your major?” I asked, changing the subject.
Angie looked relieved. “Well, I want to be a teacher and I love history so I figured it was the perfect combination,” she smiled.
“What grade do you want to teach?” I asked.
“Probably high school,” she laughed when I gave her a look that said I thought she was crazy.
“You’re telling me that you want to willingly spend eight hours a day with annoying and immature teenagers?” Fuck, I would have loved to have had her as my high school history teacher—instead of the balding, middle-aged man that I’d been stuck with.
She smiled. “I know, it sounds crazy right?”
“Just a little,” I l
aughed.
We continued to eat, making small talk about our classes. Once dinner was done, I cleared the table and sat back down across from her. Reaching for her hand, I waited for her to look my in the eyes.
“Thank you for giving me a chance. I’m not sure I deserve it, but I’m going to prove to you it was worth the risk.”
“Caleb—” she stopped as I stood up and pulled her to me. Bending down I brushed my lips across hers.
I heard Ed Sheeran’s “Sunburn” start to play. Shit, I thought I’d deleted this from the playlist. This song was a little too close to reality for me. I just hoped she didn’t listen to the lyrics and see the truth on my face.
Tipping her chin up to me. “Dance with me, Angie,” I whispered.
She nodded her head. I felt her shiver as I put my arms around her and pulled her close to me, just like that first night. She smelled wonderful and I could have stayed here forever with her in my arms. She was everything I never dreamed I could have. As we danced in the kitchen, I felt her breathing match mine. She was so close, and all I could think about was the taste of her on my lips.
I placed a kiss on her the top of her head, and she raised her face to me—she was breathtaking. I leaned down and kissed her. Before I knew what was happening, I had deepened the kiss. Pouring all of my feelings into that kiss, I wanted her to understand everything I felt with actions as well as words.
When the kiss ended we were both breathless. I didn’t want to push her too far, because I knew she wasn’t ready to take that next step. I could wait until she was, but I needed to calm myself the hell down. The first touch of her lips and I was standing at attention. A movie would be a good way to spend time with her without getting all worked up.
“How about we watch a movie?” I asked.
She looked a little confused. “Sure, what should we watch?”
I walked over to the cabinet under the TV and pulled out the DVD’s that were inside. “Here are the ones we have.”
She bent down and flipped through the DVD’s. It took all of my willpower to not stare at her ass. She stood up and handed me the movie. I walked it over and put it in the player, without looking at what she picked. I couldn’t concentrate around her—much less give two shits about what movie we were going to watch.
Forgiven (Forgiven Series) Page 12