I swallow, tears forming in my eyes, but I don’t let them fall. Instead, I stroke his hair, letting him know I’m here for him. Caleb clears his throat, his voice a little raspy as he purges himself of the last bit. “So I decided. The whole family with a picket fence thing is a lie. I thought I had my dream right in my hands and it imploded. Since then, no commitments. No getting tied down. I haven’t told many people that story, and until I met you, I thought I could just keep cruising down the road of life, not worrying about it. Now . . . now I’m scared, because we’re becoming something I never thought I’d be part of again. But yeah, been there, done that, got the Fuck You t-shirt.”
Unsure of what to say, I say, “Caleb—” But before I can utter another word, he stops me.
“You asked. That’s the story. I don’t want to talk about it anymore or ever again.”
I don’t want to cause him any further pain, and I know how much it had to hurt to dredge all of that back up and pour his heart out to me. Quietly, I agree. “Okay.”
With that, he takes a big inhale, settling down to sleep. There’s nothing more to say, so I choke back my tears until I hear him start to snore lightly. Finally, I let them fall from my eyes, hoping the feeling of them striking his cheek and face doesn’t wake him.Caleb
I wake up like I always do, just before sunrise, to find myself in familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings. I have that foggy-headed moment of confusion . . .What’s going on? Where am I? But as my brain clears enough, I realize I’m in bed with Cassie. Sigh. After the way she let me unburden myself last night, I couldn’t just run out the door, even though I wanted to get away from the pity I’m sure she was hiding in her eyes. But if I’m honest, I slept better than I have in years. We snuggled for most of the night, but sometime this morning, we disentangled ourselves. I ease myself out of bed.
I’ve got a message on my phone, and after reading it, I decide to wake her up with the way I know best. Well, second-best, as the best would lead to sex, and I don’t have the time for that right now.
“Good morning, sleepyhead. What’s on your agenda for today?”
Cassie rolls over, sleepily brought up by the scent of coffee as I hold the cup out to her. She stretches like a cat, pushing her bare tits up at me for a moment, then grins and reaches for the cup. Tempting, oh, so tempting, watching her succulent body as the sheets pool around her waist. She’s a woman a man could easily lose himself in.
“What time is it?” she asks before sipping the coffee suspiciously. Her eyes open wide at the first sip, and she blinks in surprise. “Wow . . . this is good!”
“I helped out at Mindy’s Place for a week when she was out on maternity leave. She taught me a few secrets. And it’s just after seven o’clock. Sadly, as delicious as you look right now, I’ve gotta get going. Ms. Steele sent me an urgent text message this morning, saying she’s got an alarm going off and could I be the best handyman in the world and swing by and take a look? She probably just needs a battery, but I want to be sure. Knowing her, she probably took the battery out herself to have an excuse to check on me.”
Cassie sips her coffee, looking at me in just my jeans, and smirks. “She probably just wants to check you out.”
I laugh. “Nah, I think she wants to adopt me.”
Cassie grins. “I need to head into the office too. I’ll text you to see what’s up later?’
“Deal. Make sure you get the paint colors to me as soon as you can. I’ve got some work to do for Oliver, but I figure I can get the texturing done within the next few days. I’ll be ready to paint by this weekend.” I tilt my head, putting on a fake affect and rolling my eyes. “It’ll be so hard to cover up your hard work on the tape job, but it must be done, fair maiden. And with that, I bid you adieu.”
Laughingly, I lean down to give her a kiss, and she squeals something about her breath, but I cover her lips with mine anyway for a goodbye kiss. Cassie smiles and gives me a little wave as I walk out of the bedroom, pausing at the door to turn back, giving myself a final glance of her as she sips at her coffee and looks at me with naughty, twinkling eyes. “Oh, hey, Cass . . . you need to do something about that coffee breath!”
I hear her laughter as I close the door behind me, and after grabbing my spare t-shirt out of the back of my truck, I drive back into town. As I drive, humming along to my music, I feel lighter, more energetic than I normally am at seven fifteen in the morning. Unfortunately, I have to skip going by Mindy’s Place to get my morning sludge, but other than missing her insight on things, I’m not worried. I can stop by later, I guess, and grab something before taking care of Oli’s stuff.
At Ms. Steele’s, the beep of the alarm can be heard even outside, and she opens the door with the bright blue rubber of ear plugs visible in her ears. “Hi, Ms. Steele!”
She waves me inside, yelling at the top of her lungs. “Sorry I had to call you so early this morning, but I didn’t know what
