The Resolution of Callie & Kayden(15)

Once we settle on my bed with my laptop in front of us, we pick a movie out, and then binge on snacks and drinks. My roommate is gone so we have the place to ourselves, which usually I’d take advantage of by exploring every inch of Callie’s body, but today my head’s in the weird place.

Callie must sense my distance too – of course she does – because about halfway through the movie, she moves out of my arms and pauses the screen. ‘Okay, what’s up?’ She grabs a handful of chips and dumps them into her mouth.

‘Nothing’s up,’ I lie, glad the lamp is the only light on so she can’t see my face clearly.

She takes a sip of her soda, eyeing me the entire time. ‘You know I can tell when you’re lying, right?’

I sit up on the bed and rest back against the headboard. ‘How?’

She leans over me to set the soda on the nightstand and I breathe in the scent of her hair, strawberries with a hint of vanilla. ‘Because your jaw twitches when you’re not being honest.’

My fingers absentmindedly travel to my jawline. ‘It does not.’

She bites on her lip to keep from grinning. ‘Does, too.’

I shake my head as I stretch out my legs. ‘Then why haven’t you mentioned it before?’

‘Because you’d try to control it and I wouldn’t have my little secret lie detector anymore,’ she says, hitching a leg over me and straddling my lap. ‘But I’m calling you out now because I want the truth.’ She puts her hands on my chest and lowers her body toward mine, looking me directly in the eye. ‘What’s bothering you?’

I’m overwhelmed by her nearness and the intensity in her eyes. Even after almost a year of being with her, it still gets under my skin in the best way possible. My head becomes foggy and I find myself divulging without even meaning to.

‘I got a call from Dylan today.’

Her legs tighten around me as her muscles tense. ‘I know he calls you sometimes, but by your tone … I’m guessing it might not have been a normal checking-in call.’

I nod, knowing I have to tell her what happened now; otherwise, I’d be really lying instead of just keeping things to myself. ‘It wasn’t. He called to tell me that …’ I clutch onto her hips because touching her makes everything easier. ‘That he found Tyler. Or, well, Tyler found him, I guess.’

‘What do you mean found? Where was he?’

I shrug. ‘Dylan’s not sure yet. Tyler’s high and I guess he’s been living on the street …’ I trail, still not sure if I believe that story.

‘What, you think he might have been living somewhere else and is lying?’ Callie asks, reading me like an open book.

I shrug again. ‘I’m not sure, but maybe.’ I don’t want to talk about this anymore and I think she can tell.

‘What can I do to make it better?’ She places her palm on my cheek and smoothes her thumb along my jawline.

My fingers slip under the bottom of her shirt and caress her soft flesh. ‘I can think of a few things.’

A gasp escapes her lips as my fingers drift up her shirt toward her breasts. It’s the little noises she makes every time we’re together that drive me crazier than anything else. They’re what end the moment quicker than I want to because I can’t keep myself under control. Just like now.

Tangling my fingers through her hair, I tip her head back and bring her in for a passionate Dorito/Coke-tasting kiss.

‘Kayden,’ she groans, her fingers tensing for the briefest moment on my chest, right where my heart is thudding. I know she can feel it, feel what she does to me, and I hope it lets her understand what she means to me.

As my fingers slide beneath her bra and graze her nipple, she instantly surrenders in my arms, opening her mouth and allowing me to deepen the kiss as she rolls her hips against mine. Now I’m the one who’s groaning, while tugging at her hair, nipping at her lips, biting her neck, licking her collarbone. I’m being a little bit rougher with her than I normally am, but I’ll stop the moment she utters the word.

She never does, though, instead breaking the kiss to grab the bottom of my shirt and tug it over my head. Her fingers instantly find the scars on my chest and I struggle to breathe as she traces the rough and jagged patterns of each one. Her lips follow the path her fingers make, planting kisses on my skin. Callie knows where my scars came from, knows that some I did to myself while others my father gave me. I didn’t give her every gory detail of what happened, wanting to spare her the ugliness of them.