Chance(23)

My eyes fall to my lap to where our hands are still tightly woven together. I'm grateful that he's not dumping me back at my place before he goes to shelter himself in his own apartment.

I hold tight to his hand when the driver opens the back door of the car. I allow Caleb to help me out and I lean into his body as we move silently through the lobby of my building and into the elevator.

"Can I stay all day?" The words come out in a low growl. "I want to stay all day."

I nod against his chest, closing my eyes briefly to try to find the strength I'll need to walk from the bank of elevators to my apartment door.

"Is your roommate home?" He fumbles with my keys as we step off the lift.

I pull on the sleeve of his shirt, wanting him to raise his arm. He acquiesces and I twist it around so I can look at the watch. "He meets a friend for coffee on Saturday mornings. He's gone by now."

He opens the door before pushing it open. He holds my hand as he pulls me inside.

"Do you want some coffee?" I glance towards the small galley kitchen. "We have coffee. I can make some."

"I want to go to bed." He finally drops my hand as his fingers fly to the buttons of his shirt. "I need to close my eyes."

I nod silently as I turn towards the hallway. "You can rest in my bed. I'll show you."

"Come with me, Bell." He wraps his arm around my waist. "Lay with me."

I don't respond. I rest my hands over his arm, step forward and lead him into my bedroom before I shut the door behind us.

***

"I fell asleep." His breath is against my cheek. "How long have I been sleeping?"

I glance at my phone. I've been holding tightly to it since I laid next to Caleb after he slid his shirt from his shoulders and fell into my bed. I'd watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he drifted off to sleep. I listened to the soft sound of his snoring when he turned towards me and I'd cupped my hand over his cheek when he mumbled something I couldn't quite understand. "It's been about three hours."

"You haven't slept." He gestures towards my phone. "Have you been on that since we got here?"

"No." I twist around so I can rest it on the edge of my bedside table. "I was just texting my friend. I was supposed to meet her for lunch today."

Normally he'd be shooting off questions about who I'm meeting and where. "I feel numb, Rowan. I feel numb inside."

I shift my body until my head is resting back on my pillow. I pull on the bottom of the sweatshirt I'd put on before we'd left my apartment this morning. Caleb had barely given me enough time to yank on a pair of jeans and rummage for a shirt before he'd pulled me into the hallway.

"You were so strong today." He brushes a piece of my hair from my forehead. "How did you get to be so strong?"

"I'm not strong." I smile softly. "I just knew it wasn't him."

His eyes rake over my face stopping when they reach mine. "You didn't believe it was him for a minute, did you?"

I fist my hand to keep from reaching up to cup his cheek again. It felt natural and comfortable when I did it when he was fast asleep. Now that he's awake and he's staring right at me, I feel vulnerable and exposed. "I'm not sure. Maybe I just didn't want to believe it was him."

"I filed a missing person's report two days ago." He swallows hard. "I've contacted everyone I can think of who might know where he is. No one has seen him in weeks."

I lick my lips. "I've tried to contact him too but he doesn't answer. It's not like him to go silent on me."

"You care about him a lot, don't you?" He raises a brow. Normally when Caleb would ask me that question, my defenses would kick into high gear. I know that he feels threatened by the closeness of my friendship with his brother. It has to stem from the sibling rivalry that has always been a part of the dynamic between the three brothers.

"He's my friend, Caleb," I answer without hesitation. "I can't imagine my life without him."

He shifts slightly on the bed. His lips move but he doesn't say anything. I can tell from the expression on his face that there's a question right there, sitting on the tip of his tongue.

"What?" I ask softly. "What is it?"

"It's just…" he stops as he leans closer to me. "It's just that I think about you a lot. I think about when we were kids."

Out of a sheer need to breathe, I slide away from him until I'm on my back again. "What do you think about? When you would pull those pranks on me and my friends?"

His eyes light up in the warm afternoon sun that is pouring in through the open window. "You always screamed when I scared you on Halloween."

"That's because you'd wait by the side of the stoop with a mask on and jump out at me when I came outside." I tap him playfully on his bare chest.

He shifts and moves one of his arms around me until he's hovering directly above me. "I loved scaring you then. I don't want to scare you now."

"You don't scare me, Caleb." I stare at his lips. "I'm not scared of you."

Time feels as though it stalls as he tilts his head slightly to the side before he lowers it. I catch my breath when his soft, full lips finally touch mine for the very first time.