Page 45 of Unforgivable

I snuck a glance in his direction and it stole my breath seeing how good he looked. It wasn't like I hadn't noticed before, but this last week had been different. He'd been relaxed and playful each time we talked, his unforgiving mask nowhere to be seen. This was the Cal I had always suspected had been hidden away and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enthralled. Seeing him this carefree was a breathtaking sight to behold.

“Hey? You all good?”

Cal's voice yanked me back to reality and I realized I'd been staring at him like a loon. His brow perked up quizzically as heat crept up my neck.

“What? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. I mean, I'm good. Sorry. Uh, tacos sound great. Love a good taco. Haven't had one of those in forever and I'm starving, so honestly I'd eat just about anything, but tac—tacos are good. Yep.”

What. A. Moron. Seriously, Rhys? Are you an actual functioning human right now? You sound like an escaped mental patient.

“Okay, weirdo. Tacos it is,” Cal responded, his smile bright. I didn't trust myself not to sound like a babbling idiot again, so I simply nodded and let him lead the way.

We settled on Torchy's Tacos after Cal nearly had a conniption when I told him I'd never eaten there before. I was oddly satisfied I wasn't the only one prone to hysterics in our dynamic, so I let him have that one.

“So do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?” I asked around a mouthful of barbacoa. I bit back my moan when the flavor exploded on my tongue andsweet Lord on high, he may have been right about this place. That's annoying.

Cal froze imperceptibly before continuing with his meal. “Nah, not really. There's this house party that my friend Kenji's throwingSaturday night, so I might go to that. His parents have a house on Lake Travis that they let him use from time to time.”

“Seriously? They just let him throw a kegger whenever he wants? No questions asked?” I could sense this was one of those times where the differences between my life and Cal's would be thrown into sharp relief. I was worlds away from the kinds of people who could afford houses on Lake Travis or who even enjoyed boozy college parties. It sent a twinge of self-consciousness through me wondering, not for the first time, what Cal saw in me.

“Hell no. He's allowed to have “a few friends over”, but his parents don't know about how wild those parties get. Kenj kills the security cameras for the party and turns them back on afterwards. He pays a crew to clean up and his folks are none the wiser,” Cal explained.

“Must be nice,” I snorted. Cal gave me a strange look that I couldn't quite peg.

“You should come,” he said and I choked a bit on the soda I was guzzling.

“Wait, what?”

“Come to the party,” Cal continued, his voice steady and sincere. “It starts around nine. It's always a blast and there's skinny dipping if you want to get real freaky with it,” he chuckled while reaching for his phone. Two seconds later my phone pinged with the address for Kenji's house.

“Hold up, you really want me to come? Isn't it all jocks and people like—” I cut myself off before I unintentionally offended him, but he just smirked back.

“People like me? Sweetness, there are no people like me,” he winked. “Also yes, it's a lot of athletes, but this isn't high school. Everyone's chill and drunk at these things usually. It's not like some teen drama where there's assholes left and right.”

His reassurance would have been nice, except for the thought that needled at my brain. “Were you the asshole anomaly at the last party then?” I blurted out before I could think better of it.

Way to get a grip on that brain-to-mouth filter thing, you half-wit. Really superb social skills you've got going for you.

Cal's gaze darkened slightly and I wished I could swallow the words back down and choke on them. I braced myself for his ire, but he continued to surprise me.

“You're right. I was definitely an asshole to you and you just hadshit luck running into me on that particular night. It's no excuse for anything, but that was a really rough day for me. It always is,” Cal said gruffly. He wouldn't look in my direction and my chest pinched at the lost look on his handsome face.

“Why is that day so hard for you?” I cautiously questioned.

“It's not important,” he said quickly, shutting me down. “So what about your break? Going anywhere special?”

The Nosey Nelly in me wanted to press him for an answer, but I went along with his change of topic to keep the peace. “Not really. I usually travel to Oklahoma for Christmas to be with my Gran, but Thanksgiving is normally spent here. I think my roommate is also staying in town, so we'll probably hang out.”

Cal just nodded and went back to chowing down. We sat in easy silence for a while, one that fell over me like a blanket, comforting and peaceful. I never in a million years would have guessed that anything relating to Cal would bring me comfort, but shocker of shocker and miracle of miracles.

Cal's phone buzzed on the table and he picked it up to check. Instantly, his face paled and it seemed marred with both anger and sadness.

“Cal, you okay?”

He was unresponsive, his posture rigid and frozen as he stared at his phone. I was itching to know who had texted and what they could possibly say to kill his good mood in three seconds flat. I reached across the table and grasped his hand gently, swaying his attention back to me.

He swung his gaze back up to mine and I saw the watery sheen across his eyes. His green iris grew deeper and darker as the blue lightened and became almost pearlescent. I could get lost in those eyes as easily as Alice down the rabbit hole.If I fell into him, would I find Wonderland?

Cal abruptly pulled his hand out from under mine and started gathering his bag. I was yanked out of my absurd thoughts and thrown off by the jarring shift between us.

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