Page 252 of Fame & Chaos

Somehow…

… Caleb is here.

My head snaps toward the entrance, where he walks into the coffee shop with Aston beside him, a red-haired woman close behind, and two men in black who can only be security.

Panic instantly surges through me. I duck instinctively beneath the table, but my handbag catches the metal napkin holder, sending it crashing onto the floor, and the sharp clang echoes through the café.

Caleb turns.

Our eyes meet.

Everything else disappears…

The conversations.

The music.

The hiss of the coffee machine.

All of it fades beneath the weight of one look.

God… he looks broken.

I slowly rise from the booth, unable to tear my eyes away from him. He stares at me as though he’s seeing a ghost, his chest rising and falling with uneven breaths while disbelief, relief, and heartbreak all battle across his face.

Aston grips his arm and says something to him, but Caleb barely seems to hear it.

He shakes his head.

Then he starts walking.

Straight toward me.

Each determined step sends my heartbeat higher until my knees begin to tremble beneath me. I grip the edge of the booth to keep myself upright, terrified they will simply give way before he reaches me.

“Indi.” The sound of my name on his lips almost undoes me.

God… I’ve missed him.

“Indi… is it really you?”

Before I can answer, he’s pulling me into his arms.

I should push him away.

I don’t.

My body betrays me, melting against him as though it’s finally found the place it has been searching for.

“Caleb?” I whisper, breathless beneath the strength of his embrace.

“Oh, b-baby.” His voice cracks. “Where have you been? I swear to God, I never slept with Sasha—”

The moment her name leaves his mouth, every wall I’d spent three months rebuilding slams back into place, and I pull away from him.

“How could y-you?” My voice is barely more than a whisper. “She was my one hard limit, Caleb.”

“I just told you, Indi, I didn’t—”