Fight or Flight(94)

Harper nodded, the excitement dimming from her eyes as she surveyed the space again. I waited as she walked slowly over to the window and stared out across the water at Boston Harbor. “What must they think of me?”

“Not at all what you’re thinking they think,” I said instantly. “They were angry for you, Harper, not at you.”

“Then I shouldn’t be afraid to face them.” Her shoulders straightened and she turned to me, looking determined. “I can’t let other people’s opinions sway my decisions. And I can’t let Vince win that way, you know. Time to be brave.”

I nodded in agreement.

“I feel safe here. I’m taking it.”

“I’m glad.” I gave her a relieved smile.

“And you”—she stepped toward me, her expression sober—“you need to be brave too, Ava. No more letting Nick win. Because that’s what you’ll be doing if you don’t tell Caleb the truth. You need to tell him that you love him.”

I couldn’t even pretend to be surprised that she’d worked it out, probably long before I did. “How did you know?”

“The way you talk about him. Especially now, after how he was with me that night … it changed things for you. You love him. And I know not seeing him all week has you paranoid and upset. Go work it out.”

Emotion choked me, so all I could do was nod.

Harper smiled a real smile for the first time in weeks. “He loves you too, Ava. I know it. Make him admit it. Please. One of us needs to get a happily ever after.” When she just continued to stare at me, I fully comprehended her meaning.

“What? Now?”

“He lives in this building, right?” She smiled.

My pulse instantly sped up at the thought of just showing up at Caleb’s place. There was no denying he was giving me the brush-off this week and I knew that it was because of everything he’d told me about Carissa. He had made himself vulnerable to me and I was pretty sure it had spooked him.

However, I knew Harper was right. I couldn’t go on pretending I didn’t love him and I definitely wanted to stop running away from my feelings.

“Okay.”

Harper grinned and grabbed me by the shoulders. “You can do this. Go. I’ll get all the paperwork signed for this place, and if you and Caleb work things out, text me and I’ll just head back to the apartment.”

“Are you sure?” An angry swarm of butterflies suddenly erupted in my belly. “Oh, I feel a little sick.”

“That’s because this matters.” She turned me around to face the door and then slapped my ass. “Go get him, tiger.”

I rolled my eyes but released a nervous little laugh that made me feel marginally better.

By the time the elevator took me up to the sixteenth floor, however, my heart was racing so fast I thought I might pass out. Breathing in and out slowly as I stood outside his apartment door, I fought for calm, and reminded myself that, no matter what, this was Caleb. I could trust him to be totally honest with me and I’d have closure, one way or another.

I rang the doorbell and felt flutters in my throat at the sound of footsteps coming toward me on the other side of the wall.

Caleb pulled open the door and froze at the sight of me.

He was wearing a plain black T-shirt and worn blue jeans. Last week his beard was starting to become an actual beard—not that I’d minded—but he’d trimmed it. Maybe even that morning. His hair was wet, as if he’d only recently gotten out of the shower.

My eyes finally found his after perusing him hungrily.

Caleb wasn’t looking at me hungrily in return. He looked pissed. “What are you doing here?”

Without giving him a chance to shut the door on me, I stepped inside and walked toward the living room, seeing it was empty. “Are we alone?”

“Jamie’s out. And I repeat, what are you doing here?”

I turned to face him, unhappiness and anger piercing me at the way he was staring at me. Like I was a mere acquaintance who had decided to inconvenience him on a Sunday morning. “Harper is interested in a studio in your building. We were here anyway, and you’ve been avoiding me, so I thought I’d drop by and ask why.” Thankfully, I sounded much calmer than I felt.

His expression turned almost pitying and I think I loathed him as much as I loved him in that moment. “You know why, Ava.”

Inwardly, I flinched, feeling a painful crack down the middle of my chest. “Too much of a coward to just come out and say it?” I whispered.

“We aren’t in a relationship. We dinnae need tae offer each other explanations or owe each other a conversation. I thought my lack of communication spoke for itself. I no longer want tae sleep with you.” His eyes were hard, flat, his features carefully lacking in expression.

And I knew with soul-deep certainty that Caleb Scott was lying to me.

“Liar,” I whispered.

His eyes narrowed as he walked toward me. “I never took you for the clingy type. You knew what this was and you were good with it.”

I wanted to smack the unemotional look right off his face and shake the flatness out of his voice. “We both know that it changed. And we both know why you’re running scared now.”

Caleb shrugged. “I’m not running scared. I’m just done.”