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He charged. Fast.
And almost took me out.
“Oomph.” The air left my lungs, and I nearly fell on my butt. Calvin should play football.
“That was beautiful,” he said, but his voice was muffled, his face buried in my chest awkwardly over my boobs. After a few moments, he realized what he was doing and stepped back, looking down at the ground, blushing a deep red that crawled up his neck and bloomed across his face. I stared at him for a long moment, finally picking up the signs.
Calvin had cried.
I made this sweet little boy cry. I glanced at Paxon for what, I wasn’t sure. He had a small frown as he met my eyes, then he gave me a small head shake, telling me to leave it alone. I went with it.
I rubbed Calvin’s hair, messing it up. The neat style it had been in didn’t suit him anyway. “Thank you, little man.” This time, I pulled him in for another hug, wanting to give him the little bit of comfort that I could. It seemed to be what he needed as he hugged me tighter. He stayed like that until Paxon pulled him away from me.
Bryan approached next, standing in front of me with a warm smile. “You’re still that little girl that leaves everyone in awe of her performance.”
His words were a hot balm to my heart. I was already raw from the performance, from my thoughts, and his simple words tipped me over. I had to do everything I could to not let the tears loose again. I was pretty sure my ugly crying would scare them away despite nothing else doing the job.
Of course, it’d be my crying. They’d probably think I was a big crybaby. So I fought as hard as I could against the tears. Remaining composed was impossible as I lost miserably. They fell. I cried.
In front of all of them.
Mortification made it worse as the tears fell. I wasn’t ugly crying, I wasn’t even making a noise. I just stared at Bryan as the tears spilled over and ran down my face.
“Cadence, are you—”
“Shit, you made her cry. What the hell?” Toby shoved Bryan away.
Toby drew me into a tight hug while Paxon took on the job of rubbing my back. They were saying something, but I couldn’t focus on their words. Finally, I realized I should probably relieve them of their distress. I pulled away.
“I’m okay,” I said, my voice coming out hoarse. I wiped at the tears. “I’m just happy. Thank you all for coming.”
“All you have to do is ask and we’ll come. Every time,” Justin said.
“Well, maybe not every time,” Paxon said. “Depends on our schedules—”
“Every. Time. Fuck our schedules.” Toby glared at his friend.
I couldn’t help it as I giggled at their interactions while trying to do my best to wipe the tears away. Did I look like a clown now? I bought waterproof makeup, but after crying, it was always questionable. None of the guys gave any clue that I looked weird, and I was sure Bryan would have loved to point it out if my makeup turned me into a clown.
“So, how is everyone?” I asked. “Did you enjoy the charity?”
“We’re great!” Toby had a huge grin on his face. “We didn’t know you were so amazing. I mean, you told us, but I didn’t know you could sing like that. How are you not a rock star? Shit, you should be a fucking rock star. Wait, no. I lied. You can’t be a rock star. We would never see you. You’ll be too busy traveling the world, and I really don’t want to have to chase away your stalkers because you’ll definitely have stalkers—”
“Toby,” I interrupted him before he could keep going. I could barely follow half of what he had said. He was overflowing with energy, and it seemed the only outlet for it was through his mouth. “When will you stop to breathe?”
As Toby closed his mouth, everyone else chuckled.
But of course, Toby couldn’t remain quiet or still for long. Before I could say anything else, he drew me into a tight hug that surprised me. But for once, I wasn’t scared. In fact, I took in his warmth and enjoyed it. All of them were so touchy, making it hard to stop their advances, especially since they were so sincere and kind.
This was probably the moment I should have told them to fuck off. And by the way Seth looked at me, he probably expected it. But instead, I gave him a weak smile over Toby’s shoulder, letting him know I was okay.
All the while, Toby was still talking a mile a minute. “Fuck breathing. It’s overrated anyway. I can’t believe you’re so good. Now I can’t wait until Monday. Better yet, you need to skip that class or call in sick or some shit like that. The class will fall over their feet to gain your attention after they hear your voice.”
I patted his back to get him to stop. As he talked, he squeezed tighter.
“Can’t. Breathe,” I joked.
“That’s the point. This is a bear hug, Candy. Feel it. Remember it. And be prepared because there’s more where this comes from,” Toby said. “This is proof that someone cares for you.”
