My heart rate had finally returned to normal, but that didn’t mean I was mentally anywhere near that point. My hands still shook and I felt like any minute now someone was going to take a swing at me. But I wasn’t with Dex anymore. I was with Caleb and he was different. At least I’d felt in my soul that he was from the first time I’d seen him.
He’d seemed so lonely, so standoffish, but now, he appeared to be just what I needed. His fingers touched me gently and although there was pain from the injury, there was also warmth from him. Always the heat when he was near and now that he was actually touching me, my mind whirled with emotions like fear, regret, anxiety, and lust. The last was more prominent especially as he was close to my feet now, his back facing me.
“I need to get this shoe off,” he stated.
I’d been so absorbed in my surroundings and my rampant feelings, and distracted by his continued touch that I waited a beat before replying, “Oh, okay.”
It was a good thing I knew I had on good socks today. Usually when I slipped on my Uggs I didn’t bother with socks. The moment I heard him chuckle I remembered which ones I’d put on today.
“Hello Kitty?” he said, looking over his shoulder to me.
It was such a sexy look, his dark eyes raking over me, the corner of his mouth slightly lifted and that damned beard that was never too long, just a shadow that drove me crazy with wanting to rub my fingers along his jaw.
At first the look had been playful, for as much as a guy like Caleb could pull that off. His thick brows had arched, his lips turning up ever so slightly at the ends, like he almost wanted to smile. But as our gazes held his expression changed. His eyes grew darker—like the brown turned to black—his jaw was set, a muscle twitching on the left side. It was an intense look, one that made me very aware of the fact that I was lying on his couch and he was leaning over me, his hands rubbing along my skin.
I cleared my throat and searched for a whimsical reply. “They were clean,” was the best that I could do.
Caleb shook his head then looked back to my feet and continued what he was doing, which consisted of him peeling off the pink-and-white ankle sock and touching my bare foot. Now, besides the little gasp at the spark of pain elicited by his tilting my ankle in the other direction, the feel of his hand at the ball of my foot was dreamy. “Yeah,” I said, dreamily, and that’s exactly what I meant.
My eyes closed for a couple of seconds and I almost moaned, his touch was so gentle and yet strong enough to have my breath catching.
“This needs to be wrapped. I think I’ve got a bandage in my room. And then you need ice.”
He was talking but it was about my ankle and not about how he was making me feel so I barely registered all of his words. There was a tug-of-war going on for my attention, the radiating pain from my ankle and the quickly building desire sparked by Caleb’s closeness. So, yeah, the ice sounded good right about now.
When he walked away I felt like a total flake for having these continuous thoughts about how good his hands felt on me in the midst of tonight’s events. On top of that I knew I had to look awful. I attempted to pat down my hair, which I knew had to be all over the place. As if a greater entity was sending a signal of how ridiculous my thoughts had become, razor-sharp pain shot straight through to my skull, the stinging of my tender scalp bringing tears to my eyes. For what seemed like forever I just lay there with my eyes closed, taking shallow breaths and waiting for the pain to subside.
“You need a painkiller.” Caleb’s deep voice sounded through the fog of aching I was currently visiting.
“Uh hmm,” was my best reply. I felt like I needed so many things right at this moment. A painkiller would most likely help, then I’d at least be pain free while trying to get a grip on the growing arousal.
“Let me take care of your ankle and then I’ll get them,” he said.
I kept my eyes closed even though I did enjoy watching him move around like he was some sexy-assed paramedic. My entire body was in pain from the exertion of battling with Dex. That whole scenario brought back other memories, ones I’d never wanted to think about again, ones that still weighed heavily in the center of my chest.
In the next moments Caleb was handing me a glass and pills, while a large Ziploc bag was tucked under his arm. “Ice for your foot and orange juice and painkillers for you,” he instructed.
“You’re an answer to my prayers,” I blurted out.
He looked kind of uncomfortable with those words, as he should be, I guess. I just took the glass of juice and tossed the pills into my mouth, being careful not to look at his face again.
Caleb came closer, his Dr. Martens boots thumping lightly over the hardwood floors as he stood right over me. If I looked up—which it took all the strength I had left not to do—I would be on a first-name basis with his crotch. That thought sent serious thrills throughout my body. And then, he knelt down beside me, giving me that serious—serious as in demeanor and as in seriously hot as hell—look. I gulped down enough juice to swallow the pills then another gulp just to make sure my mouth didn’t go dry staring at him.
“Do you need anything else?” he asked. “Extra pillows or a blanket?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m fine,” I replied, reaching out to place the glass on the floor. There was no coffee table but since this was a guy’s house I didn’t really expect one.
“I think I know what happened to you, but I’d like for you to tell me,” he said.
“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask the question because I’d been wondering why he seemed to be everywhere I was lately, or more likely everywhere I was when I needed him to be. “I mean, all I know about you is that your name is Caleb and that you like to come to the bar to drink Blue Moon and eat hot wings. I’m sitting in your apartment and I probably shouldn’t be because maybe you’re a serial killer or something.” I sighed, impatient because the pain pills hadn’t kicked in yet and because I didn’t know what to say to him without saying how much I wanted him.
The next thing I felt was Caleb’s fingers lightly moving over my forehead, then massaging my temples.
“Just relax,” he said. “Relax and know that I’m not a serial killer and that all I want is to keep you safe.”
My eyes fluttered and I licked my lips. “I want to believe you but I know I shouldn’t. I’m too trusting, that’s what Hanna says.”
“Hanna’s a little rough around the edges,” he replied.
“She’s my only friend,” I said in defense.
He stopped massaging my temples and instantly I wanted to take the words back so he would resume.
The look on his face was filled with a little confusion and a lot of pity and in the next instant I felt like sinking so deep into the comfortable cushions of the couch that he would no longer see me.
“What about your family?” he asked.
I hadn’t had anyone ask me that in a long time. After graduating from high school I noticed how less frequently I was asked about my parents or siblings. I figured adults had other things to worry about. So I remained quiet for a moment, wondering what I should say, if I should lie, if I should just brush him off. It wasn’t any of his business, the dysfunctional nuthouse that I’d come from. It was nobody’s business. And dammit, just thinking about it all had tears burning my eyes once more. I’d cried so much as a little girl, in the dark corner of my room as my brother and sister slept, I started to believe there were no tears left once I grew older. When I finally left that house I declared to never shed another tear. Tonight, it seemed I was doomed to break that vow.