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Hey! I was expecting to hear from you. Are you okay?
And an hour later:Don't make me come over there and check on you.
I should let him know I'm okay just so he doesn't make a fuss. On the other hand, the point of this trip is for me to manage life on my own, without people keeping tabs on me.
"You're safely locked in with me," Caleb says as he saunters into the kitchen. I close my phone and toss it into a drawer. I've got other things to do tonight.
* * *
Someone's calling my name. I struggle to wakefulness and look over at Caleb, but he's sound asleep, his face is sweet when he's dreaming and his hair is tousled. But he's clearly not the one calling my name. I blink and look around. There's an old clock radio on the nightstand that says it's seven a.m. Who could be out looking for me at this hour?
"Alex, you get out here right now and let me in." The voice is loud, angry and distinct and can only belong to one person. Nicco. Crap. I probably should have at least replied to one of his text messages, but I was having such a nice time with Caleb, pretending I really was a poet in search of peace and quiet, that even that small amount of contact with the rest of the world felt intrusive.
So I ignored it.
Until it showed up and pounded on my door.
I grab the closest thing, which turns out to be Caleb's worn and wrinkled shirt. He really needs to at least get some fresh clothes, I think absentmindedly as I slip it over myself and close the buttons.
The glass in the door is rattling so I scamper out of the room and hurry to the door, throwing the lock and pulling it open, though Nicco pushes in past me before I actually get a chance to open it or invite him in.
Like that's going to stop him.
"What the hell, Alex? I've been worried sick about you for hours and I just spent half the night driving through the godforsaken wilderness to get here to check on you."
"I-I'm sorry, Nicco. Really I am," I say, speaking softly. I don't want to tell him to lower his voice but I know that if I lower mine, he's likely to do the same. I hope. "I should have let you know I was fine. I just lost track of time."
He's stomping around the living room and then turns to look at me. Gives me a close examination and rears back. "A man! You ignored me so you could screw some country guy? I suppose you have the same stupid cowboy fantasy as every other woman out there."
"It's not like that," I defend, but he's not exactly wrong. Except Caleb is much more than that.
Nicco comes close, so close I'm sure he can smell the sex aromas that linger on my body. "Who is he? Do you even know his name?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. And he's someone you know. It's Caleb, the guy you asked to keep an eye on me."
There's a long, frightening period of silence as that sinks in and Nicco's face contorts into a sort of fury unlike anything I've ever seen before. "Caleb. Is. Married."
I stagger back like I've been punched in the gut. Hard. Multiple times. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"I mean, that you've been sleeping with a married man and it also means that I'm a shitty judge of character because I thought he was an alright guy. Obviously not. And they've got a new baby. Man, what a prick."
"A b-baby?"
"Where is he?" Nicco demands. "Oh never mind, I know where he is." He runs for the bedroom. I follow close behind. Tammy the kitten has been roused by the ruckus and she’s right on my heels.
Nicco bursts into the bedroom. Caleb, the man I thought might be the answer to all of my unsaid prayers, has his back to the door and is pulling on his jeans. I'm not sure how much he heard, but he had to have at least heard some of it. Nicco grabs him by the shoulder, spins him around and punches him in the jaw.
It's all one fluid motion and Caleb lands on the floor of the bedroom like a sack of flour. Out cold.
CHAPTER11
CALEB
My head is pounding and my jaw throbs. I'm flat on my back in the bedroom of Alex's cabin. Did we have a fight?
I open my eyes and two faces, plus a kitten, come into focus. Alex is holding a cold cloth on my head. "Oh, Caleb, are you okay?"
The other face is a man I don't recognize, though it's possible he escaped from the zoo he's so fucking large. Like a cross between a neanderthal and a bull. He's giving me some serious stink eye and I suspect he's the reason I'm prone and aching.
