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“Some jerk on defense, side tackled me. Shoulder first right in the kidneys,” he explained.
I pushed him back and lifted his shirt. I could see the beginning of a dark bruise near his kidneys. I also saw the six pack abs he was sporting too. “Are you all right?” I asked.
He removed his shirt from my hands and wrapped me in his arms. “I’m just fine. It’s just a little sore.”
“If you say so but that bruise looks deep.”
“Hasn’t Ty ever come home from a game looking like this?”
I frowned. “I don’t know. He doesn’t usually show me his bruises.” If I had wanted to say anything, I was silenced by another warm kiss.
My hands were pinned to my sides. I couldn’t touch him like I wanted to. We kissed for several long, enjoyable minutes then the bell dinged on the stove letting me know that our pizza was done. Cal stepped back. I didn’t move. He cupped my face and let his lips travel over mine one more time.
“I’m starving,” he whispered. He was way more than I could handle. I stepped out of his embrace and got our food before I did something ridiculous like fall for him.
We decided to eat at the island. He got plates where I told him they were. Third cabinet from the left of the massive double-sided refrigerator. It too was commercial grade. “My mom would love this thing,” he said checking out Mom’s pride and joy.
I chuckled at him.
“Do any of your siblings still live at home?” I asked.
I put the pizza on a cooling rack and grabbed the slicer from the drawer. I got bottles of water from the fridge while Cal sat with our plates at the island. I walked around him and parked my butt on a barstool beside him.
“Only my sister, Blythe. She’s twenty-one,” he finally replied.
“What does she do?” I asked.
“Whatever she wants to do,” Cal replied. I could tell his sister was a sore subject with him.
“Trouble?” I asked.
“She takes advantage of my mother. My other sisters have moved out, moved on and are in relationships with good jobs. They support themselves and sometimes help mom out. Not Blythe. She can’t hold a job. She won’t go to college. She’s nothing but a mooch.”
I heard the hostility in Cal’s tone about his sister. “What does your Dad say about Blythe?” Somehow, I couldn’t imagine his father, being military putting up with someone not pulling their weight.
“He doesn’t care. He’s home so little. When he is home,
he says it’s just a phase. She’s daddy’s little girl.” He shook his head at me. “I can’t stand to be home with her.”
“I’m sorry.” I laid my hand on Cal’s arm. He squeezed my hand then started eating so I did too.
We scarfed down the pizza and cleaned up the kitchen. Then we headed to the living room to watch a movie. The television in the basement was more impressive but this one was fifty-five inches not small at all.
He sat on the sofa and I sat beside him. Cal leaned back and sighed. “Can I watch college football over here?” He asked.
“Sure, Dad and Ty watch it every Saturday.”
“Not a football girl, huh?” He asked gazing at me.
I tucked my legs beneath me. “Not an any sport kind of girl or haven’t you noticed that yet?” I asked.
“I guess I keep holding out hope for you.” I laughed. He took my hand in his and held it. “I really like you, Abby.”
“Why?” The word blurted out of my mouth and he was surprised by it.
Then he responded with such sincere honesty that I almost teared up. “Because you’re smart. Funny. Determined. I like your laugh and your sweetness. So many girls are harsh these days.” He was embarrassed that he had said so much.
“They are,” I agreed, knowing well about the mean girls in school who had teased and tormented me at my old school. I was hoping that this school would be different.
