by Blue Saffire
We got Caleb and Danny, the cutest little boy ever. Caleb’s dad pulled some strings and we were able to take the photos with a real NASCAR and Danny’s go cart all in the photo. Month after month, Caleb is in a photo with a kid on the spectrum doing something ‘Normal.’
In December, the final photo is of Caleb and Cameron, surrounded by the children. Caleb and Cameron wore t-shirts stretched across their chest that said, What’s Different? Just like Cameron said, people didn’t get the message. They only saw Caleb standing up for the kids from the charity we chose to sponsor.
I think most of the calendars sold out because Caleb was bare chest in a few photos, but I’ll take it. We raised the most money, almost five hundred thousand. Mr. Perry had a lot to do with that. He bought out our first batch.
I won the trip to Paris, our charity will be getting all the money, and I get to take someone to Paris with me. I know Caleb may not be able to go…but if he can. I don’t want to get my hopes up.
“What has you smiling so wide, Darlin’?” Caleb asks, as he walks up and kisses the top of my head.
I just got out of class, after receiving the great news. I’m bursting at the seams to tell him about it. I know it doesn’t compare to the draft tomorrow, but it means something to me.
The pictures for the calendar came out better than I expected. A few of the families involved have asked me to do some work for them. This project has totally taken me out of my comfort zone. I have Caleb to thank for that.
“Other than seeing my big strong man,” I purr, “The fact that we totally crushed the calendar contest would be an awesome cause to smile.”
Caleb stares at me for a moment before a huge grin takes over his face. He wraps his arms around me and lifts me from my feet. I throw my head back and laugh.
“We did it, Baby? We raised those folks some money,” Caleb asks in awe.
“Almost five hundred grand. We sure did, Sugar,” I add with a sugary sweet accent.
He places his forehead to mine. “Thank you.”
I cup his ears in my hands and kiss his lips. “You don’t have to thank me. We did it together. You were awesome. Those kids loved you. I love you.”
“Have dinner with me,” Caleb says out of nowhere.
I wrinkle my brows in confusion. We already had plans to hang out together. I figured we’d get dinner at some point.
“O…kay,” I say and give him a curious look.
“No, you don’t understand,” Caleb licks his full lips nervously and looks away from me. “I want to go on a date. Something special. It’s been a while since we’ve done that. Ju-just me and you.
“I want to do something nice. Things will be changing soon. I want to spend time with just the two of us before my world get turned upside down.”
Oh, my God, this man is so adorable. I dip my head to find his eyes and smile up at him. “What should I wear and what time should I be ready?”
He blows out a relieved breath. “As long as I can see and touch your legs, you can wear whatever you want,” he says with a grin. “Can you be ready in two hours.”
“Yup, already done. Now walk me to my dorm, Handsome. I have a hot date,” I sing.
We start for my dorm, but I stop in my tracks. I look around for Cameron or Dakota, but they’re nowhere in sight. I’m so used to one of them being close by I hadn’t noticed that Caleb walked up alone.
“Where’s Cameron,” I ask.
Caleb furrows his brows. “I have no idea. He’s been acting strange. Kay has been over the apartment a few times the last few weeks, but something else is going on. He stormed out of practice looking like he saw a ghost.”
“Oh,” is all I say.
Now that I think of it, Dakota did mention Kay and Cam getting back together. I wondered fleetingly, if Kay knows about all the hooking up Cam has been doing in the time they’ve been apart. I shrugged it off as none of my business then, just like I do now.
“So, we’ll celebrate our win tonight,” Caleb says with a small smile.
“Yup, we sure will. I have so much shopping to do before Paris,” I gush, dreamily.
Caleb stops on a dime. “I-I forgot about that. You’re leaving?”
“Well, yeah,” I say softly. “The tickets are for after the semester is over.”
Caleb’s face clouds over. “Tickets, I can’t go with you, Nicole. If I get drafted tomorrow, there’s no way I can go. Who’s going with you?”
“I…I don’t know. I would love if you could, but I know that’s not going to happen,” I frown. “I can take one of my sisters. Or one of the girls. They all wanted to win and go.”
“No,” Caleb says emphatically.
I look up at him stunned. “What do you mean, no?”
“I mean, what I said, Nicole. No,” he says as his jaw tightens.
His lips press, he starts to squint down at me, and his jaw works under his bearded skin. His blue-grey eyes are more grey. My mouth drops open. He’s pissed off at me?
“Explain this to me,” I say placing my hand on my hip. “You are telling me, I can’t go to Paris, and why is this?”
“Because I won’t be with you. I won’t know where you are or if you’re okay. You’ll be too far away from me and out of my control. No,” he says firmly.
“Hold on, let me clear something up. You don’t control me,” I hiss. “I’m grown. I have been taking care of myself for a long enough time to be able to take a trip alone or better yet, with a friend or one of my sisters.”
“No!”
I suck my teeth and roll my eyes. “Whatever.”
“Don’t do that to me,” he growls. “Don’t dismiss me. You’re my girlfriend. Things go my way, you’ll be more. I’m not letting you go off to Paris, while I’m stuck in a contract that has me here, playing all over the country, with no guarantee that I can come find you or take care of you.”
I sigh and lose some of my anger. I move to wrap my arms around his waist. I know my man, so I won’t dismiss his feelings.
“Okay, Big guy,” I huff. “Can we talk about this later? I’m listening to your concerns. I even understand them to an extent, but I think we should talk about it. I want to go.”
A long stretch of silence passes. Caleb presses his lips. I see him getting ready to say no again, but suddenly, he smiles and nods his head.
I don’t like that smile. Caleb is not as innocent as everyone thinks. I eye him warily, but he just dips to kiss my lips.
“Come on, you have a hot date,” he wiggles his brows.
I can’t with Caleb. He has me wrapped around his finger and he knows it. When the hell did that happen?
Whatever, I’m going to Paris.
~B~
Caleb
Nicole isn’t going to Paris. I know just how to keep that from happening. I already had plans, but they’ll work in my favor now. There’s no way my woman is going to the other side of the world without me.
It’s bad enough that I have been scared out of my mind, that the teams from New York, Chicago, and Atlanta have been the ones that have started to show the most interest in me, in the last month. I want to play here, in Texas. Close to Nicole, while she finishes her last year of school.
After that I’ll go anywhere they want me to. I’ve been looking at apartments with my Daddy. If I get drafted here, in Texas, I want to get my own place. That way Nicole can move in with me.
I have it all figured out. I just can’t get drafted to a team away from home. Since that loss that was my fault, I’ve been focused on nothing else, but making this work.
I haven’t talked to my Mama in weeks. I don’t need her poison in my head. I know what I want and I’m going after it.
“You’re really going through with this,” Cameron asks, from his perch on the bar stool at the kitchen Island.
I look up at him. It’s not disapproval in his words. I relax as I gather that much. I continue to look at him to understand what his question is asking.
Cameron sighs
and nods. “I mean, you love her that much. You’re going to do this for you. Not for Mama, not for Daddy, and not because I told you to. I’m proud of you and impressed.”
I lick my lips and nod. “Yeah, I’m going through with it. It feels right. We won that contest, she told me today. That means she’s won that trip,” I press my lips as I get angry about the thought of Nicole leaving me all over again.
I shake my head to focus. “I don’t like it. Not having enough say because she’s my girlfriend and not my wife,” I grumble.
Cameron throws his head back and laughs. “Dude, I’m sorry to tell you, but that ain’t gonna change cause you’re engaged. If she wants to go, she’s going to go. This is Nicole. She’s shy to the world, but she knows how to put that little foot down. You’re playing with fire, Cal.”
“Well, I’m willing to get burned,” I huff.
“It’s a trip to Paris, Cal,” Cameron says and lifts a brow.
“Do you not see how I get about my woman? How easy it is for me to fixate on her and nothing else. If I’m here and I need to focus on baseball, she can’t be there. I’m not ready to handle something like that,” I explain, looking away from Cameron.
Cam lets out a heavy breath. “Okay, yeah, I see your point. Good luck, I mean that. This is what I’ve always wanted for you. For you to be happy,” my big brother says.
“Yeah, but are you happy? What changed your mind? Why are you entering the draft?” I quiz, I’ve been wondering this all week.
At the last minute, Cameron announced he’d be entering. I was positive he was going to walk away and do something else with his life. Honestly, I thought he was going to go work for Daddy.
However, lately, its like Cameron has been avoiding Daddy. I don’t think he knows I’ve noticed, but something is going on. Something big. He looks…stressed.
Cam pulls a hand down his face. “I fucked up. I can’t afford to work for Daddy. He’ll want me to work my way up. I’m going to need a hell of a lot of money fast,” Cameron groans at the end of his words.
I look at my brother and knit my brows. “What for?” I ask with furrowed brows.
We both have trusts that we’ve had access to seem our twenty-first birthday’s. We just turn twenty-one. There’s no way he could have blown through all that money. Not the way the trusts are set up.
Cameron’s face becomes dark. His jaw flexes. I don’t think he is going to answer me at first. When his eyes look up to lock with mine, I see so much pain.
“Kay says she’s pregnant,” Cameron says through his teeth.
“Wow,” I breathe out.
“Oh, it gets better. She’s not the only one. Ma—, my friend I’ve been hooking up with. We sort of hooked up the first time without protection. It was stupid, we were both hammered. I-I don’t know what I was thinking.
“This breakup was supposed to allow me to see what’s out there, to see if Kay was the one or if I just thought she was the one cause that’s what everyone has been telling us since we were in junior high.
“Now…I know for sure there’s more than Kay and I’m pretty sure she’s not the one. I was supposed to be having fun, but I sort of met someone I clicked with. I-I just don’t know what to do now. I just know I have two mouth’s I’m going to have to feed and I’m damn good at playing ball.”
“So, are you and Kay back together?”
Cameron shakes his head. “I-we were going to see if we could make things work, for the baby, you know,” Cam shrugs. “Then I found out about the other baby this morning.”
“Shit,” I whisper.
“Yeah, tell me about it. Even with my trust, we’re talking two babies. If I get married, the way Kay wants to, that’s just more money I’ll be shelling out. You know Kay. She’s just like Mama,” Cameron sighs.
“I’ll help out,” I offer.
“Nope, you’re about to have a little wife of your own,” Cameron smiles at me. “Speaking of which, let’s get this show on the road.”
I blow out a breath. I’m suddenly nervous, but I know I have to do this. Life without Nicole is not an option and the best way to deal with my Mama is to send clear statements. This is as clear as it gets.
~B~
Nicole
I stand before my closet wanting to stomp my foot. Nothing seems right. Caleb asked for leg on display and plan not to disappoint, but I feel like I’ve worn all of this stuff before.
Tonight, feels special. I tap at my lips with my fingertip, my eyes rumoring back over to the selection of items from my shopping spree with my sister. I sigh and give up. I don’t have time to go shopping.
I need to find something and get dressed. I start to comb through the items in my ignore pile and freeze on what looks like a simple black dress. I pull it from the closet and smile, until I turn it around.
I just remembered why it was in the don’t touch pile. The back of the dress plunges to my ass. The dress itself, —if I remember correctly, falls just above the knee. I place a hand on my fleshy tummy.
My bulge tends to make me a little self-conscious, especially in firm fit dresses like this one. With the plunging back, there will be no Spanx underneath this thing. I shake my head in determination when I think of how Caleb loves to kiss and press his hands to my belly and anywhere else he can get his hands on.
I dip to the bottom of my closet for the Giuseppe shoes I’ve been keeping there for a special occasion. I look into the two boxes and decide on the gold ones for tonight. I’ll wear the blue ones tomorrow for the draft.
I smirk at the ideas of the dress I’ve set aside for that. I went shopping for it as soon as Caleb asked me to go with him. Placing tonight’s dress on the bed and my shoes beside it, I run into the bathroom to pass the flat iron over my hair.
I want to look perfect. I sweep on some lip gloss and run to slip the dress on. I’m sitting on my bed, fastening my shoes, when Taylor walks in with a long face. The smile on my lips falls right away.
“What’s wrong,” I ask in concern.
“Maribel is thinking about dropping out,” Taylor whispers.
“What? Why,” I gasp.
“I don’t know,” Taylor shrugs. “She won’t say. She’s been so happy lately. Now all of a sudden, she’s dropping out. I just don’t get it.”
“Where is she,” I ask, as I stand ready to comfort my friend and find out what’s going on with her.
Taylor’s mouth falls open as her eyes sweep over me. “Wow,” she breathes. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you, where is she?”
Taylor shakes her head. “No, you have a date. Maribel is hard headed. She’s going to do whatever she wants to do. We’ll give her time.”
“But—,” I start, but Taylor lifts her hand to stop me.
“Listen,” Taylor shakes her head and rolls her lips. She sighs and her shoulders sag. “You have become one of us. I know you care and I know you want to help, but I’m telling you. I’ve known Maribel a lot longer than you. She’s going to do whatever she wants. Right now, all we can do is wait for her to tell us what this is all about.”
I eye Taylor warily. My first instinct is telling me to grab my phone and text Maribel. She can tell me to get lost herself, but as I look into Taylor’s eyes, I think better of it and decide to wait it out. For now, at least.
“Okay, fine,” I huff as a knock sounds on the door.
I know it’s Caleb. I know his knock. I cross the small space for my bag, before heading to the door. I turn back to Taylor briefly.
“Call me, if you guys need me, please Tay,” I say.
“I will,” Taylor gives me a small smile. “Now go.”
I rush over and give her a hug, as Caleb knocks again. This time with impatience. I smirk at Taylor and roll my eyes, as I pull away. I move over to the door to open it and my mouth hits the floor as I find Caleb standing before with his hand raised to knock again.
He looks amazing in a light grey suit and pale blue dress shirt that plays off his blue-grey
eyes. The top three buttons of his shirt are loose, relieving that yummy tanned skin.
He’s wearing one of those huge belt buckles at his waist. My eyes travel down to his feet to find expensive looking dress boots. My eyes roll back up, taking him in inch by inch.
I’ve never seen him with his hair like this. It’s pushed back off of his face, combed into submission by some type of hair product. I’ve never wanted to tear his clothes off more.
Wow.
“Wow, you two are such a gorgeous couple,” Taylor breathes from behind me. “Like movie star gorgeous.”
I snort. “Him maybe.”
“You’re kidding right,” Taylor says placing her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what mirror you’ve been looking in, but you are absolutely stunning. Have fun, you two.”
“Thanks,” Caleb murmurs, as he reaches for me and pulled me into his inside. He buries his face into my hair and inhales deeply. “You smell just as good as you look.”
“You too, Handsome,” I beam up at him. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” Caleb gives a small smile.
When I notice his dimples pop, I gasp. “You shaved?”
He hasn’t shaved it all off, but it’s now low enough to see the two dimples in his cheeks. I’ve always wondered if his were as deep and cute as Cameron’s. I think Caleb’s are cuter. I think my panties melt when his smile widens.
“Yeah, you like?” His eyes widen. “Do you?”
“Yes, Cal. You look very, very sexy,” I purr.
I swoon when his cheeks turn red. I lift on my toes and he dips his head to kiss me. I feel the vibration of his groan, when his hand meets my bare back. Caleb breaks the kiss and looks down behind me.
He sighs, grumbling something under his breath that I don’t quite catch. When he tugs me into his side, he wraps his big arm around me. I melt into him, placing my hand on his chest and leaning my head against him.
I think this is my favorite place in the world. Caleb’s arms are everything and more to me. I feel safe and loved when I’m in his arms.