Stolen Course (Wrecked and Ruined #2)(43)

“Sarah, no one blames you for the wreck.”

The lies won’t stop coming out. I once again glance up at Caleb, who might as well have flames shooting from his ears. I’m trying to talk my way out of this, yet I only seem to be digging myself deeper.

“Caleb does! For f*ck’s sake, Emma. You can’t be this stupid. He is going to use you to get to me. He is hateful and calculating and will do just about anything he can to hurt me. And in this case, he is doing you! Wake the f*ck up!” she screams before hanging up on me.

“Shit!” I quickly begin looking through my numbers to find one for Building Foundations on speed dial. “Hi, Judy, this is Emma Erickson. Can you have someone go check on Sarah? We just had a pretty big argument. I just want to make sure she doesn’t do anything rash.”

“Sure thing. I’ll call you if anything is wrong,” she says reassuringly.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

I hang up the phone and turn my attention back to the man who is damn near exploding in the doorway.

“What?” I scream, becoming increasingly pissed off by his over-the-top reaction.

“Where do you want me to start?” he hisses.

“Oh God, stop the dramatics. Just tell me what you’re pissed about already.”

“You never told her about us, but then again, why would you? It’s not like we’re serious or anything.” He doesn’t say another word before he turns and heads for the door.

“Caleb, you’re acting like a baby!” I shout at his back.

It’s probably not the smartest thing I ever could have yelled, but I’m pissed. If he doesn’t understand why I didn’t tell her or why I tried to downplay it, then he isn’t as smart as I thought.

“Fuck you, Emmy,” he says over his shoulder, charging for the front door.

“Hey, dickhead. Don’t talk to her like that,” I hear Hunter say from the other room, and I know this just got a hell of a lot worse.

I rush into the den and find Caleb standing nose to nose with Hunter, with Alex pushing into the middle to separate them.

“Enough. Everyone just quit!” I yell, trying to break up the chaos.

Caleb’s chilly gaze swings to mine. “Gladly,” he says before walking out the front door, slamming it hard behind him.

I’m so mad right now—at him, at Sarah, at myself—but Caleb is the only one close enough for me to take my anger out on. I immediately head out the front door, catching him just steps away from his truck.

“You recycled ‘sweetheart,’” I say accusingly.

He freezes and slowly turns to face me. “What does that even mean?” he snaps, anger seething from his body.

“You used to call Manda sweetheart.”

“And?” he asks with genuine confusion on my face.

“Well, you call me sweetheart! I thought it was something special. But now I find out it’s just a generic term you use for people you sleep with.”

His already pissed eyes turn dark as he steps in close. “First of all, since apparently you think I recycled the word sweetheart, you need to know a few things. One, I was no more ‘just sleeping with Manda’ any more than I am with you. Two, I was with Manda for years. I also called her babe, baby, honey, love, beautiful, gorgeous, honey buns, sweet cheeks, darling, dear, hot ass, and most recently, angel. Should I also strike all those words from my vocabulary as well?” He lifts an eyebrow while staring down at me. Suddenly I feel like an ass, but Caleb keeps going just to drill that home. “However, never in my life have I called another woman Emmy. Focus on whichever name you would like, but I know the only one that counts.”

How the f*ck did I just go from anger to guilt in three sentences? I try to pull myself together and give a bitchy response, but damn. He has a point.

“Caleb.”

“No. Listen to me, Emmy. I’m the type of person who gives the women in my life pet names. It’s what I do. I call Jesse baby girl, my niece Lulu, and my sister bubbles. I’m sorry if that bothers you, but that is what I do for the women I love. I think of disgustingly silly names to make them special. You are and have always been Emmy.”

I suck in a stunned breath. Thank God we are standing outside, because if we were inside, I have no doubt that I would have sucked all the oxygen out of the room. Did Caleb just say that he’s in love with me?

“You’re in love with me?”

“No,” he says very shortly, and the sudden pain in my chest surprises me. “I am absolutely not in love with you. Because that would imply that I could ever be out of love with you. But, Emmy, I do love you. Plain and simple.”

“What?” I breathe as shock settles over me.

“I get it. Obviously we’re on different pages. I didn’t know ‘we weren’t that serious,’” he says, being sure to throw the air quotes my way. “Somehow, I mistakenly—”

I have to cut him off. When Caleb gets on a roll, there is a very good chance he will never come up for air.

“Stop! Just shut up for ten seconds and let me process this!”

“I don’t want you to process it. I want you to feel it!” he yells, turning back toward his truck.

“I love you too, Caleb. I also hate you because you are a broody ass who hates my sister. Don’t think I don’t notice that you head to the shop every night I visit her. I deal with it because I love you too—no matter how f*cked up that huge detail in our relationship may be. You are not exactly the easiest man to love, you know? I may have Sarah, but you have a shit-ton of baggage of your own.