The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden(58)

Chapter 9
#43 Face Your Fears Head On and Tell Them to Fuck Off

Callie

I drive home with Seth from the carnival. Kayden looks like he’s going to be sick, so I don’t ask too many questions when he says he needs to ride back with Luke and call it a night.

When we get to my door, the red scarf is on the knob again and I frown. Seth and I don’t say anything as we walk across the campus yard in the chilled air and go into his empty room. He sinks down on his bed and starts to unlace his boots as I slip off my sneakers.

I stand there in the middle of the room, recollecting every detail that happened. The way Kayden’s hands touched me, the feel of his lips, how it felt so incredibly good.

“Do you want to share what that weird look on your face is about?” Seth kicks his boots into the corner and lies down on his bed with his hands tucked behind his head.

I lie down next to him and rest my cheek on the pillow. “You really want to know?”

He glances at me from the corner of his eyes. “Heck yeah. You look like you’re high.” He pauses, propping up on his elbow as he pivots to his side. “Wait a minute. Is that what you were doing up there? Were you getting high?”

I swat his arm. “No… we were… kissing.”

He laughs at me. “You say that like it’s so wrong.”

I shrug, picking at my fingernails. “It feels like it should be wrong… the last time someone kissed me that’s how it felt.”

He shakes his head and sighs. “That’s because the last time it was wrong, but not this time. This time it was right and both of you wanted it. Right?”

I nod slowly, trying to hold back a smile, but it sneaks through. “It was a really nice kiss.”

He springs up on his knees and puts his hands on top of his legs. “Okay, tell me how it went. What were you doing? And how did it happen?”

I sit up and lean against the wooden headboard. “He said that whole challenge thing was a set up to get me up there.”

Seth rolls his brown eyes. “Well, duh. I got that they were up to something.”

“Really?” I feel stupid. “I thought they were just being guys.”

“Oh they were,” he assures me. “Relax, it was all for fun and he got to kiss you just like he was trying to do the whole night.”

I pull the pillow onto my lap, reliving it over and over again in my mind. “Yeah, but did Kayden seem a little offish when we left?”

Seth shrugs. “He seemed tired, but not offish.”

I yank the elastic out of my hair, gather the strands into a messy bun, and secure the band around it. “What happened with that guy you were talking about?”

He reaches his hand into his pocket and takes out his phone. Flicking the screen with his finger, he shows it to me. “I got his number.”

“I’m so happy for you.” I incline back against the headboard. “Are you going to go out with him?”

“Maybe.” He drops the phone onto the desk at the foot of the bed and then lies back down, glancing at the picture on the wall. “God, it was such a great night.”

I slide my body down and lay flat on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “It really was.”

And at that moment, I mean it.
***
I wake up in the middle of the night dripping in sweat, unable to tell where the hell I am. The sound of heavy breathing drifts up from the warm body lying beside me. I sit up, blinking around the dark, clutching at the blankets, panting feverishly, trying to shake my dream.

“Callie, listen to me,” he says. “If you tell anyone about this, you’re going to get into trouble and I’m going to have to hurt you.”

My small body trembles, my muscles are sore, and my body and mind is bruised. Tears stain my eyes as I blink up at my bedroom ceiling with my hands lifeless at my sides, my fingers clutching the comforter.

“Callie do you understand me?” His face is getting red and the tone of his voice is sharp.

I nod, unable to speak, gripping the blankets tighter.

He climbs off me and zips up his pants, then backs away to the door, putting his finger to his lips. “This is our little secret.”

When he disappears out the door, I gasp for air, but my lungs won’t work. I can’t breathe. Letting go of the blanket, I stumble off the bed and run to the bathroom, leaning my head over the toilet bowl. I heave my guts out until my stomach is empty, but I still feel dirty inside, spoiled, rotten, foul. It’s killing me, gnawing away at my insides and I need to get it out.