“I got you,” Caleb said as his arms wrapped around me.
“Thank you.” I gave him a small smile. “For everything tonight. Dinner, and listening to my horrible story. I'm sorry I couldn't keep my emotions—”
“Hey, no,” Caleb said firmly but with a sweet tone. “Please don't ever apologize for telling your story. Don't apologize to me for telling me anything about yourself. Emotions or not, you're not a burden or an inconvenience, and I will always be here for you. Always.” He rubbed little circles on my arm with his thumb. It was the smallest comforting action, but it meant so much to me.
I looked up at him, tears of gratitude in my eyes. I was afraid to speak for fear of crying again, so I nodded my thanks to him with a small smile. Caleb walked me to the passenger side of the truck, opened the door, and helped me inside.
The drive to my home was quiet—just the sounds of the truck on the road leading to my house. As he pulled into my driveway, we noticed the porch light was off, so he made sure his headlights were angled at the front door.
“Wait here,” he requested as he jumped out of the truck. He walked to my side and opened up the door for me, extending a hand in my direction.
“Thank you. You didn't have to do that,” I said as I took his hand and hopped out.
“Sunshine, you will never be shown disrespect by myself or any other man again if I have any say about it.”
Without thinking, I leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. The second I pulled back, my hands trembled. I hadn’t planned it, hadn’t thought it through—it just happened. My heart hammered as I glanced up at him, afraid of what I’d see. But his smile was wide and easy, his bright blue eyes glistening as he looked down at me.
“Thank you for trusting me, Rae,” he said softly.
A shaky breath escaped me, one I hadn’t realized I was holding, and for the first time in a long time, the relief felt real.
He walked me to the door and waited as I unlocked it. I reached inside to flip the switch for the porch light, but it didn't turn on. “Oh well. My parents probably have bulbs in the garage. I'll check in the morning. Thank you so much for... everything.” Another yawn betrayed me.
“Do you want me to check the lights before I leave?”
“Nah, it's okay. I have the cameras and that light by my bedroom window. Thanks, though. You've helped me a lot tonight. Plus, it’s really late.”
He seemed hesitant but agreed, “Okay, have a good night, Rae.”He turned as I closed the door, but did not walk away until the lock clicked in place.
Once I was safely locked inside, I peeked through the side of the blinds and watched as he walked to his truck. It was as if he could feel me watching him. When he got to his truck he looked back, with a smile already on his face, and he waved at me.
I didn’t know how to feel when he saw me watching. I wanted to pull back and hide, but I didn’t. Instead, I smiled and gave a small wave back in his direction. His smile grew and he turned back to his truck.
I saw him pull out his phone, illuminating his face in the dark cab of his truck. He looked focused but then looked up at me and waved again before turning his screen off and pulling out of the driveway, leaving me silently wishing he didn’t have to go.
The next morning, Iwoke up to the sound of a truck pulling into my driveway. I looked at my alarm clock and it said it was 8 a.m. My phone buzzed and I retrieved it and my glasses from the nightstand. I couldn’t help but smile as soon as I saw who the text was from—Caleb.
Caleb: Good morning, Sunshine. I'm outside with some bulbs for your front porch light, in case you didn't have any. Take your time waking up, I'm in no rush. No need to change or do anything special to your hair, you look beautiful already.
I felt my face warm as soon as I read the words “you look beautiful already.” Without asking, he brought lightbulbs over so I didn't have to worry about the porch being dark another night.And he's calling me beautiful before he's even seen me.
I replied briefly to the text to let him know I saw it. Then I ran to the closet to grab something to throw on and saw myself in the mirror. I didn’t know how he could see any of this as beautiful. My hair was in a lop-sided top knot, and my shorter layers were falling out of the bun. I had absolutely no makeup on and was wearing a giant T-shirt and some leggings with mismatched tube socks on. My eyes were also extremely puffy after crying last night.
I was a sight to be seen, but I didn't want him waiting for too long, so I threw on some slippers and a large sweatshirt, then fixed my hair so it looked less crazy.
I ran to the door and then stopped suddenly, not wanting to seem too excited. “Good morning! I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, you could have called me, I wouldn't have mind,” I said as I walked onto the porch.
Caleb stepped out of his truck. I couldn’t help but notice the way his shirt fit, his muscles filling out the sleeves perfectly. “No worries. Like I said in my text, ‘no rush.’ I meant it. Plus, you're worth waiting for.” Caleb reached up to rub the back of his neck and gave me a grin that made my heart race. To make me blush more, he looked at my outfit and said, “You lookreallycute by the way.”
“You're just saying that to try and get a reaction out of me!” I laughed, covering half my face with a hand as we walked to the back of the truck.
Caleb grabbed the box of bulbs and gave me that same playful grin but then changed it to asweet smile. He stepped towards me and was so close I could feel the warmth of his body. He knew I trusted him. His sweet smile widened, and I felt my whole body warm. “Yes, to get a reaction, but only because I love it when you blush.” His voice deepened as he continued to speak. “But no, I'm being serious. You look beautiful. I like this ‘just woke up’ look on you. You look comfy. At peace.”
I blushed and got distracted by his sweet words and the chaos it caused in my brain that I didn't even realize he'd moved to the passenger side of the truck and was retrieving something from the passenger seat.
“I brought you something. You in the mood for coffee? Vanilla latte with cinnamon, honey, and oat milk, right? I remembered you can't eat dairy, so I hope oat milk was okay to choose.”
I stood at the back of the truck, still trying to wrap my mind around what he'd just said, and then he went and said he not only remembered my food allergies, but he remembered my favorite coffee as well.
