Page 58 of Never Let Go (Forbidden #1)
Chapter Fifty-Eight
LAUREN
W hen Caleb called and tried breaking it off, I refused to accept it. We’ve been doing this for months now and—to my knowledge—we haven’t been caught by anyone other than the dean and Brad. I won’t lose him, we’ve been through too much to end it now.
After our impromptu fuck on Caleb’s kitchen counter, we cleaned up and moved to his bedroom, both of us too exhausted to be anywhere else.
We’re lying in his bed, my leg thrown over his waist and my head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating.
Caleb’s stroking a finger gently down my back, an arm behind his head.
“You okay, sweetheart?” he asks.
I gaze up at Caleb and smile. “Yeah, handsome. I am.”
He looks at me with a worried expression, pulling me in tighter as he says, “You suffered a horrific experience last night and I fucked you on the kitchen counter without a second thought. ”
Sitting up, I look at Caleb head on. “Hear me when I say these words: if I didn’t want you to touch me like that, I wouldn’t have let you. This is my body; my choice, and I choose you. Every time, Caleb.”
He cups my face gently, being mindful of the bruise on my cheek and I lean into him, bringing my hand up to cup his. “I love you, Caleb. You make even the darkest of days brighter. You make all the pain melt away. I refuse to let some asshole ruin what we have. To ruin what we can be.”
I didn’t realize I was crying until Caleb wipes a tear from my cheek. He grins at me. “What?” I laugh.
“You love me,” he says, more of a statement than a question.
I roll my eyes. “That’s what you took from all of that?”
“Yup,” he replies as he tackles me to the bed, bracing himself on his forearms. “I love you, too, Lauren. So fucking much.” Caleb leans down to give me a tender kiss and I sigh at the level of contentment I feel.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would find someone I wanted to share my life with.
Even though I’m only twenty, there’s no one else I want to be with, but I’m happy taking it one day at a time and seeing where it goes.
I graduate in four months and after that?
Who knows. But what I do know is that I want this man by my side every step of the way.
“Fuck knows why you want an old man like me, sweetheart, but I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.”
I slap his chest, laughing. “Shut up, Caleb. You’re not old, you're just in your silver fox era.” I wink.
Caleb groans and rolls off me onto his back, covering his face with his arm. “Fuck my life,” he mumbles before pulling his arm down slightly and peering at me, one eyebrow raised. “Silver fox? Really?”
“What can I say? You’ve converted me. ”
“I guess I should say thank you for that.”
“You're welcome,” I retort.
Quick as lightning, Caleb jumps up and starts tickling me. “Brat.”
I start thrashing around, trying to get him off me and laughing at the same time. “You love me… being a… brat,” I gasp between breaths, before shouting, “Truce.”
Caleb stops and gathers me in his arms, kissing my forehead. I snuggle into his chest and breath in his leather and cinnamon smell, knowing I’m exactly where I want to be.