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He pulled up the last text he and Bodhi had exchanged with the drunken typos, and they made him smile. He took a breath and sent the only real question he wanted answered that morning.
Caleb: Did I do something wrong?
There was no answer, so he sipped on his tepid, over-steeped tea until the anxiety of waiting for a reply settled into a dull hum under his skin. Dropping his phone, he snagged a banana and tore into it, finishing the whole thing before he reached his bathroom to start getting ready for Jori’s.
Dropping the peel into the wastebasket, he turned on the water hot enough to create a steam cloud, then shed his clothes, which still smelled a bit like Bodhi—and a bit like sick—and stepped under the spray.
It felt good to let everything roll off him, even if it wasn’t going to last. He knew the moment he stepped out of the house, he’d be confronted with the fact that he couldn’t lie to himself about how he felt when it came to Bodhi. Caleb had told him last night he wasn’t ready for a relationship, but even then, those signs had felt like a lie.
He wasn’t ready to navigate the dating world and try to find gold amongst dirty, but with Bodhi, he already had it. No, he had something even more precious. He had the potential love of his life, and one wrong move—one more fuck-up—and Caleb knew he could destroy it all.
He’d lose the best thing that ever happened to him.
So it wasn’t about not dating. It was about taking it slow because Caleb was a hot mess in the shape of a person and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin this.
He had to deal with his guilt, though, because he’d been such an epic asshole for the last several months. He was willing to give himself some grace because Cameron really had wrecked so fucking much of his life, but it didn’t excuse the way Caleb had written Bodhi off and made his life harder before Cameron had finally pulled the plug on them.
In all honesty, he was still reeling from the fact that Bodhi wanted to kiss him at all.
And Jesus, what if he hadn’t? What if it was just the alcohol?
What if that was the reason Bodhi had left and wasn’t texting back?
His stomach twisted and he felt sick, like he’d been the one drinking cheap well liquor from a dirty glass all night long. Rinsing the rest of the bubbles off his body, Caleb quickly dried off, ran the comb through his hair, then dressed in a pair of rugged jeans that were expensive but made to look worn and cheap.
He was just finishing buttoning his shirt when he walked into the kitchen and saw his phone’s light blinking at him.
His heart twisted in his chest.
He found himself praying simultaneously for it to be Bodhi, and for it not to be him.
Bodhi: It wasn’t you. Ravi was in the ER. We left.
Caleb: Fuck! Do you need me? Is he okay?
Bodhi: IDK. We’re in an Uber.
Caleb: Going?
Bodhi: Dorms, I think. Long story. Can you meet me?
Caleb: Tell Uber come here. I have guest room. Ravi sleep.
It was telling that Bodhi didn’t argue with him for the first time ever about being an inconvenience. Whatever happened must have been bad, and Caleb immediately felt like shit for assuming Bodhi would run when things got slightly complicated.
That wasn’t Bodhi’s move.
It washis.
He found himself pacing the front window until he saw a car pull up with the little Uber light, and he threw open the door, taking the stairs two at a time and almost falling on his face before he reached the landing. He came to a stop just as Bodhi got his brother out, and Caleb could see the Uber driver speaking, but Bodhi either couldn’t hear him, or he didn’t care.
Not that it mattered. The guy got paid through the app.
He was gone before Bodhi could turn around, and Caleb immediately noticed that he was supporting Ravi who had a very nice shiner around his left eye, a fat lip, and he was holding his arm close to his body like his ribs were broken.
“Inside. Come on.” He gingerly wrapped an arm around Ravi, and together, they got him up the stairs and into the house. The door shut with a firm gust of pressure from an open window somewhere, and Caleb jumped when the vibrations hit him in the chest.
Ravi winced and Caleb gave him another once over before gesturing to the guest room.
