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I shake my head and dodge him. “Not now, Caleb.”
“Kayleigh!” Holden calls again from the top of the stairs.
I run outside and start walking down the block - back toward campus. I’m freezing, since I’m no longer wearing Holden’s sweatshirt, and I left the bag I packed in his room. I can’t go back for it. I won’t. But where can I go? I can’t go back to my dorm for obvious reasons, and now I can’t even go to Holden’s.
What am I going to do?
Why did I have to go and get involved with Holden Rivers? There’s a reason I’ve never liked him. He’s arrogant and narcissistic. He selfishly puts himself above everyone else, and he doesn’t care about anyone. Except for when he does, like when he went running with me just because he didn’t want me going alone. And when he left the party he was so excited for simply because I needed him.
A horn blows next to me, pulling me from my inner turmoil. I expect to see Holden’s car, but it’s not.
“Get in.” Caleb yells through the window of his truck.
I shake my head. “I said not now, Caleb!”
He turns the music down. “Look, you can throw whatever fit you want, but at least do it where you’re not going to get pneumonia. Let me drive you somewhere.”
As much as I don’t want to be near anyone right now, he’s right. It may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m freezing and the last thing I need is to get sick.
I reluctantly climb into the truck and mumble a quiet thank you. As I’m buckling my seatbelt, Caleb pulls back onto the road.
“Where do you want me to take you?” He questions carefully.
I hesitate. I don’t want to tell him about what’s going on, but I can’t tell him to take me home.
“The coffee shop on campus.” I answer. It’s close enough to the dorms so I can go back after Bree is asleep.
He starts to head in that direction, and turns up the heat when I shiver.
“So, you and Holden, huh?”
I roll my eyes. “Please don’t. I’ve had enough yelling at me for one day.”
“Oh, no. I’m not going to yell at you.” He puts his hands up in defense, even though he should be steering.
“You’re not?”
He shakes his head, placing his hands back on the wheel. “Why would I? Holden’s a good guy.” I sarcastically hum in acknowledgement. “No, really. I mean he may be a bit of an asshole at times, but he’s a good dude.”
I don’t respond, afraid of saying something I don’t mean. Thankfully, the ride isn’t very long. What would have taken me at least a half hour to walk, only took a couple minutes to drive. As Caleb pulls up next to the coffee shop, I thank him again and open the door.
“Oh, and Kayleigh?”
I stop. “Yeah?”
“For what it’s worth, I’ve never seen Holden as happy as he has been the past couple of weeks.”
That’s the first thing to make me smile today. Although, it doesn’t change the fact that he was out of line. I shut the truck door and enter the coffee shop quickly, trying to avoid the cold. As I approach the counter, I order my favorite – tea with milk and extra sugar. After I get my drink, I go sit down at a table and begin scrolling through social media on my phone.
AS NIGHT FALLS, I’M just finishing up one of my assignments. After I had spent an hour on my phone, I texted Caleb and asked him to bring me my laptop from the bag in Holden’s room. Thankfully, he did it without hesitation. It may not have been the place I wanted to spend my day, but I got a lot of work done.
I’m typing the last of my references on an essay when the male barista comes up to me. His brown hair is styled in a surfer cut, and his blue eyes have more of a teal tint to them. He looks like he can’t be much older than I am.
“Do you always spend the entire day in a coffee house?”
I’m taken back a little. “Do you always ask questions that are really none of your business?”
He grins broadly and reaches his hand out. “Sassy, I like you. I’m Dawson, and you are?”
