Page 91 of Fate Forever and Always

“Really.”

Could Sara really help me? Was there a way both our problems could be solved?

“So, how are you going to handle it?” she asked.

“I told Nick we couldn’t be together. I have an apartment ready in January so he doesn’t have to be involved in my mess.”

“Callie, he loves you. You can’t leave him. He is so perfect for you. You just admitted that a few seconds ago”

Tears began to sting the back of my eyes. I looked up to try to stop them from falling down my face. Sara saw this and put her hand on my forearm. “You haven’t told him? I am sure he could help you.”

“I've been trying to figure it out myself. I don’t want him to get in trouble because of me. I am not worth it.”

“Nick thinks you are.”

Her words made butterflies erupt in my stomach. I nodded to acknowledge her since I didn’t really know how to respond.

She looked around for a moment. I think she was looking to make sure we were alone. Then she stood up and looked at me with a devious smile.

“It doesn’t solve my problem, but,” she put her hand out to help me up, “I have a house key.”

I smiled back and grabbed her hand. “You have a house key.”

Chapter thirty-eight

Callie

When it came time for Christmas at Aubrey's house, Nick and I drove together so we didn’t get asked too many questions. I thought we were doing a good job of just steering clear of each other all night so we didn’t have to really talk. He grabbed my hand at the dinner table and kissed my forehead when he excused himself to the bathroom, but all I could do was smile. I didn’t know if it was him trying to make us seem normal or just instinct. After dinner, I was supposed to be helping Aubrey clean up, but I was stuck in thought, wondering if Nick would ever forgive me for this whole mess.

I was leaning against the counter while Aubrey cleaned the last of the dishes after everyone but Nick and I had left. I was looking into the living room, and I could see Aubrey next to me out of the corner of my eye, trying to decide if she was going to talk to me or not. I knew she noticed Nick and I acting weird. Honestly, I had been waiting for her to ask me about it all night. I still didn’t know what answer I was going to give her.

She put the dishrag down and leaned in, nudging my shoulder to get me to look at her. “You gonna tell me what’s up willingly, or are you going to make me pull it out of you?”

I gave a weak smile. “What do you mean?”

She dropped her voice so no one else would hear us. “Cal, you look sad. And you look especially sad while looking at Nick. What happened? You guys barely spoke today. The last time I saw you guys, you were announcing your relationship to everyone. I mean, I already knew something was going on from the conversations we’ve had, but this is a complete one-eighty from that.”

“I’m not sad, Aubs; I just wish things were a bit different. We are going through some stuff, and I don’t know if it will ever get better.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

I turned and smiled at her, wishing I had the balls to tell her what was happening, but I didn't. “Not today, no. This is your night.”

I loved my best friend and didn’t want to ruin her first hosting of the holidays with my drama, so I changed the subject. I leaned in and whispered to her. “I am so happy for you, Aubrey. If anyone deserves this amazing life, it’s you, babe. You guys are so happy and put together in such a short amount of time.”

She hugged me and laughed. “We are the furthest thing from put together.”

That made me laugh with her. Our loud laughter attracted the attention of the boys in the living room.

“I love you, Cal. It will all work out. You can tell me anything. Never forget that, okay?”

“Of course. Now let’s get this cleaned up.” I finished cleaning the counter, and then Nick and I said our goodbyes and left.

The silence that fell over the car the moment we got in was deafening. I heard that ringing you get in your head when it’s just too silent. Nick didn’t even put music on. I was fine with that because I had a lot on my mind, but it made me a little uncomfortable the longer it lasted. Sara and I had been doing our best to figure out if Jake had any hard copies of the photos and videos. Sara was pretending to stay with Jake, and she told him she got rid of the pregnancy so he would let her come back. That way, she could do some hands-on searching.

She would tell him the truth about the baby, of course, after she left his sorry ass for good. She just had to get to a safe place for her and the baby. We found a one-bedroom apartment she would be able to afford with some help from her mom. The last thing to figure out was those damn files. We could ruin the computer and phone by smashing them, but I hadn’t been able to figure out if he had saved them somewhere else, and I had to be sure they were destroyed entirely.

I hadn’t dared to go near his house in case he had any cameras set up that I didn’t know about…obviously, that was his thing. In doing some research, Sara found some videos of herself, too. Sadly, we had already expected that. Luckily, there was no sign of those on his phone, so it looked like she would be safe unless there were hard copies.

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