he Resolution of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence, #6)(12)

But that night, he noticed me, like I had always noticed him.

And I – neither of us … was the same again.

‘You know you can come up to my room?’ he teases as he strolls over to me. ‘There’s not a “no girls allowed” rule.’ He winks as he stops in front of me, all smiles. I can see in his eyes that he’s keeping something from me, though. Something that’s bothering him. It’s not even the same sadness I’ve been seeing for a few weeks. This is different. He’s carrying more weight around, like when we first were together and I didn’t know about his problems. ‘So what’s the naughty thing you wanted to show me?’ His gaze skims down my body and makes my skin feel like I’m on fire.

‘Yeah … sorry about that,’ I say with an exaggerated sigh. ‘Seth actually sent you that text.’

He chuckles under his breath. ‘I was kind of wondering.’ He looks around at the trees and the parking lot. ‘Where is he?’

‘Oh, he left,’ I tell him as his eyes land back on me. He waits for me to explain so I step back and let him read my little snowflake note.

At first, he appears puzzled, and then he starts to laugh. ‘You two are so weird.’

‘Yeah, I know …’ I trail off, wishing I wasn’t nervous. ‘The thing starts at eight. We can go there or meet up because I know you have practice and stuff.’

He looks back up at me and places his hands on my hips. ‘I’d love to go with you, but we’ll have to meet there if that’s okay? I can’t miss practice or coach will f*cking flip out.’

The anxiousness in me eases. ‘That’s perfectly okay. And thank you for going with me. And sorry about the weird note. Seth just thought since I never got to go to prom, this kind of thing would be fun, but not that I think about it. It’s kind of weird.’ I stop rambling. I don’t know why, but I feel stupidly high right now. It’s not like we haven’t been on dates before – we’ve been on a ton of them – but this time I’ll get to wear the dress I bought. If someone asked me a year ago if I ever thought I’d be excited about doing such a thing, I’d have told you no. But here I am, spreading my wings and flying all on my own.

He gives me a sympathetic look. ‘Callie, I’m so sorry … that you didn’t get to do that stuff.’

‘It’s not your fault. And besides, you’re helping me do that stuff now.’

‘Good. I’m glad it feels like I am.’ He gives me a sad smile, which I don’t like. He’s feeling sorry for me and I don’t want him to.

‘Kayden, it’s fine – I’m fine,’ I promise him. ‘What happened … it’s in the past and I’m working on moving on – moving forward.’

He looks even sadder, but I’m not sure if it has to do with me anymore. ‘Moving forward’s good.’ He clears his throat then shakes off whatever he’s feeling. ‘Do I have to dress up, though? For the party?’

I shake my head. ‘Not if you don’t want to.’

‘Are you going to?’

‘Yes.’

He momentarily considers something. ‘I’ll see what I can come up with.’

‘Seth wanted you to wear tights,’ I tell him, playfully pinching his side. ‘And be Peter Pan.’

He swiftly shakes his head. ‘No way in hell am I doing that.’

‘It’s okay,’ I assure him. ‘I didn’t want to be Tinkerbell anyway.’

He nudges my foot with his, his sad mood lightening. ‘What are you going to be?’


I wink at him, trying to be suave, but I think it comes off more awkward than anything, but his laugh makes it worth it. ‘It’s a surprise.’

His eyes search mine and I think he’s going to say something deeply profound, like maybe what’s got him all down, but then he decides against it. ‘You want to come inside? I have Doritos, Coke, and we can stream Netflix.’

‘Awe, you know the way to my heart.’ My grin breaks through and for a moment, everything feels perfect, if only Kayden could feel it, too. But the hint of sadness in his eyes tells me he doesn’t.





Chapter 6


#115 Share a Passionate Dorito/Coke Kiss.



Kayden


I am the shittiest boyfriend in the history of boyfriends. Seriously. Callie is always putting her heart out there for me and I can’t even tell her about the call I got from Dylan today. I don’t even know why I can’t just tell her about it. Or maybe I do. Maybe I know that Callie will make me talk about it because that’s the kind of person she is, and I just don’t want to talk about it.

After I agree to go to the party/concert with her, we go up to my room. I feel like the biggest douche after her whole statement about prom. I went to every one of mine, did all that stupid shit in high school that was supposed to mean something, but took it for granted. And here Callie is, trying to make up for everything she missed with a Halloween concert, one she asked me to go to. I need to start doing more things for her, making her feel more special, stop being such a shitty boyfriend.

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.