Page 59

Caleb

The banging at my door starts two seconds after my ass hits my mattress.

It’s soft. Every part of me is sore, bruised, and aching, so anyone wanting me to move from somewhere soft is asking to die.

I glare at the door and the person I want to murder on the other side of it. “Go away !”

They bang harder.

It’s supposed to be spring break. All students everywhere should be drowning themselves in tequila on a beach in Florida—not bothering me.

Bang. Bang.

“For fuck’s sake.” I slam my glass of water on my bedside table, wincing as I lever myself up, grumbling and cursing under my breath on my slow hobble to the door.

I wrench the door open. “I told you to… Tobie !”

She’s breathing hard, hair windblown, glasses askew.

But she’s here.

Right-fucking-here.

Her eyes search me, and they linger on every bruise and cut on me. There’s a lot of them.

When her eyes swim with tears, there’s no guessing what she thinks.

“This wasn’t your fault,” I say. Too late. The first fat tear is rolling down her cheek.

“It was…” she sobs, hands covering her face, “… I’m so sorry you nearly died because of me.”

I’ve been hurting for the last five days.

The only time I stop hurting is when I’m asleep.

And now.

Because Tobie is hurting, and I can’t have that. I ignore every ache in my body and step forward, scoop her into my arms, and wince as I pull on a cut.

“ Caleb !” She yanks her palms from her face. “You nearly died. Put me down.”

I kick the door closed, failing to hide a wince which Tobie spots and wiggles to get down.

I clamp my arms tighter around her and walk over to my bed, set her down on it, and follow her down.

“Are you okay?” she whispers.

“Fine.” My muscles are trembling, and I’m stupidly out of breath for five steps to the door and five steps back.

She peers down at me, teeth worrying her lip. “I shouldn’t have come.”

She moves to get up. I grasp her arm and nudge her back. “This is not your fault. If you get up, you’ll force me to get back up. Tell me where you’ve been.”

“With my dad.”

“In Nebraska?”

She nods.

I study her as she looks down at me. When a lock of hair falls from her scrunchie, I can’t stop myself from tucking the hair behind her ear. “I thought I lost you. We all did.”

She lowers her gaze. “I should have been the one in the hospital. I know you said it wasn’t my fault, but it was.”

“Tobie, it was?—”

She jerks her head up, hazel eyes spitting with fury. “If I’d just kicked him down the nearest flight of stairs, none of this would have happened.”

My mouth snaps shut.

Her head drops again, and a second later, lifts a couple of inches as she peeks at me from beneath her lashes. “What?”

“That, uh, wasn’t what I thought you were going to say,” I admit, swallowing my smile. “You’re more bloodthirsty than I thought.”

“Thanks. Can I get you something? Like…” Her eyes dart from me to the bedside table and my desk. “A plaster or a bandage or something. Maybe soup?”

I stop swallowing my smile.

“What is it?” she asks.

I point to the case of chicken soup on the floor beside my door. Twenty-four cans, and I am not prepared to eat a single one of them.

Her eyes sparkle with amusement. “I bet I can guess who’s responsible for that.”

“If Reid isn’t doing something to help someone, he starts to go crazy.”

“Like nearly knocking old ladies over in a sprint to get me ice cream?”

“Like that.”

“Why a case?”

I point to the three cans of soup on my desk.

“He started bringing one can a day, pissing me off by making me get up and hobble to the door. After the third day, I snapped at him to just bring a case and be done with it.” A smile transforms her face, and I feel an answering one on mine.

“I should have known better than to say something like that.”

“But you haven’t been eating it.”

“And I won’t.” I shake my head, eyes caught on her beautiful smile. “Hate soup.”

“But why didn’t?—”

“He needed to do something to feel useful. Usually, I offload the cans onto someone else when I get sick, so he never needs to know. With everyone away for spring break…”

“Means no one to offload it to.” Her smile widens. “You’re softer and squishier than Reid.”

I grumble, curling my fingers in her hair and tugging. “No, I’m not. Come here. I need to hold you.”

Her smile stretches across my neck as I wrap my arms around her.

“Reid said Javier paid for his brother’s hospital treatment before. Javier hasn’t been trying to buy you a hospital, has he?”

I stroke my hand up and down her back. “Funny you should say that.”

Her head lifts.

She gives me a searching look and smiles. “You’re joking.”

I pull her back down. “Only a little. He’s been as generous with his money as he is with his time. Trying to get him to leave me alone has been impossible.”

“Is that what you really want? To be left alone?”

No.

I didn’t want anyone to fuss over me, which is how I made my mom cry when I told her Chris could go back to his girlfriend, and I wanted to stay on campus instead of going home with her.

I hadn’t meant to make her cry, but I needed to be here in case Tobie turned up, and Mom would be checking on me every hour if I went home.

But that isn’t the only reason I stayed.

“They need me as much as I need them.” I kiss the top of her head. “As much as we need you.”

For several seconds, I simply enjoy having her in my arms. “Jay said Marc proposed.”

“Yeah.” She sighs. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

“I take it from the lack of a ring on your hand that you said no.”

“He knows I want to get married and have kids. He was offering me the thing he knew I always wanted.”

My arms tighten around her. I’ve always wanted kids one day. Reid and Javier want the same, but we can’t all marry Tobie, and I have no idea how we would decide who does.

“But?”

She lifts her head and peers down at me. “Marriage is a commitment that I can take or leave. What I want, what I truly want, is love. And maybe kids one day. I don’t care if the kids are adopted or if I have them. I just want to give a kid all the love my mom and dad gave me.”

“You do?”

“But not with Marc. With you, Reid, and Javier. I was so scared I would lose you that I ran away to Nebraska.” She blinks, and a tear rolls down her cheek. I lift my hand to thumb it away. “He said you were all cheating on me, and he had a picture on his phone of a girl outside Javier’s dorm?—”

I frown. “We would never do that to you, Tobie.”

“I know. Reid already explained about Daniela. If I’d talked with you instead of running off, we’d have cleared this up days ago, and Reid wouldn’t be out prowling the campus looking to kill Marc.”

A smile twitches my lips. “He told you that?”

She nods, and she hesitates for a beat, chewing her lip.

“What is it?”

“I got into grad school.”

I grin at her, so proud of her that I give her a squeeze. “Knew you would.”

“No, you didn’t,” she denies.

“ Yes ,” I tell her firmly. “I did. You’re going to be the best damn teacher the world has ever seen.”

Her eyes get glassy. “No, I’m not.”

“You are.” I kiss her.

“But you’re going into the NHL,” she tells me. “We probably won’t be in the same city.”

“If we have to do long-distance while you’re in grad school, then we do long-distance. This is your dream , Myers. You chase those down, and we support each other’s dreams. Always . Jay and Reid feel the same way.”

“You say that like we’re a team.”

“Because we are. Come here. You haven’t been in my arms nearly long enough for me to want to let you go.”

“How long is long enough?”

I breathe in the floral scent of her hair as I close my eyes. “I’ll let you know when it happens.”