Page 48 of Unforgivable

“I guess being forced to take in her sister's bastard kid wasn't on her list of favorite things. Jack is the one who decided they'd adopt me more or less, so she didn't really have a say. Blair also complained she was ignored by the family when mom got sick. It probably didn't help matters,” Cal said dryly.

“So she started abusing her nephew just because she had issues with your mom?” I was outraged on his behalf, hurting for the boy who was treated like a burden from the minute he was born. “What about your uncle? If you were close with him, why didn't he stop her?”

“Uncle Jack was hardly ever home and traveled for work any chance he got. We stopped being that close. Also Blair didn't start out that way. I mean, she was always a bitch, but I didn't know how bad it could get until I lived with them. It started out small, some yelling and grounding me for every little thing. Then she got steadily worse. She would scream at me that I was worthless, hit me with whatever was nearby but not hard enough to leave a mark, and she…she became creative with her punishments.”

The grilled cheese I had bitten into turned chalky in my mouth andthe tomato soup turned to battery acid. I choked it down through the tension in my throat as his words settled heavy on me.

“I was angry all the time. I mouthed off at school, got into fights, started sneaking out just to escape that house. She was different when Uncle Jack was home, hid it from him and acted like she loved me in front of him. I stupidly thought it'd get better eventually, or at the very least she'd get caught. Things got so bad at one point that I caved and told my counselor what was going on, and that day she called CPS.”

“What happened then?” I asked tentatively.

“Nothing,” he replied flatly. “Like I told you that night, Aunt Blair was a well-off, beautiful wife who had taken in a little thug of a kid who couldn't stop getting into trouble. No one believed that she was capable of hurting a child, and she cried and made it seem like I was doing it all to hurt her and push her away. Everyone believed her. CPS, my teachers, Uncle Jack—all of them took her side because all they could see in me was bad behavior, failing grades, and a fucked up temper. They assumed it was the grief over my mom that was causing me to act out and blame Aunt Blair instead of seeing it for what it was.”

I felt queasy hearing more about how much Cal had endured after he lost his mom. It wasn't fair. He had only been a kid, innocent from the day he was born, yet he was hated by those who should have loved him fiercely. Even his uncle had eventually let him down when Cal needed him the most. My body moved against its will, my arms wrapping around his body and squeezing him to my chest.

He tensed beneath me, but I refused to let go. I desperately hoped he wouldn't push me away. Slowly, his arms slid around my back as he held me tightly to him. Cal buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling shaky breaths that vibrated through me. I poured everything I felt for him into our embrace, hoping he could feel how much I cared about him.

“I'm so sorry you weren't believed. What she did to you was unforgivable,” I whispered, burrowing into his shoulder and hugging him as tightly as I was able. I felt Cal release a deep breath before he untangled himself from my arms. He stepped back and gave me a weak smile, those divergent eyes of his glassy with unshed tears.

“Come sit down and watch a movie with me,” I suggested, gesturing over to my couch. Cal nodded mutely and moved to sit with me. I flipped through my downloaded movies, hunting for the one I wanted.

“What got you all upset yesterday at lunch?” I carefully asked as I kept my attention on the TV.

Cal shifted beside me uncomfortably. “It was my uncle. He texted me saying he knew it was mom's birthday and he was thinking of both of us. It was just…salt in the wound, you know?” he replied. I shot him a sympathetic glance before finding what I had been scrolling for.

“Excellent choice,” Cal remarked as the opening scene started.

“The Princess Bridewas my and my dad's favorite movie. He'd always tell my mom “as you wish” whenever she'd ask him for something. She'd act all annoyed and say she hated the movie after watching it a hundred times, but I know she secretly loved it,” I shared with him, the memories hitting me in the most bittersweet way.

“She hated the movie? Inconceivable. No one hates this movie,” Cal scoffed, relaxing into the cushion next to me.

“I know, right? It's practically a crime.”

“Yes, yes, some of the time…”

I shot Cal with an unimpressed look. “Do not start rhyming on me. I mean it!”

“Anybody want a peanut?” Cal mumbled and my lips tugged up at the corners as I fought a smile. Knowing I had a small hand in lightening his mood had warmth seeping into my chest. I could see Cal looking at me from the corner of my eye, but I focused on the movie instead.

We talked through half of the film, making odd comments here and there and discussing the best scenes. We quoted the poison scene back and forth until I broke character, laughing like an unhinged hyena when Cal reenacted Vizzini's death to perfection. I let out a loud snort that finally broke him along with me, both of us collapsing on the couch and gasping for breath.

Once we could breathe normally, I noticed that we had unknowingly leaned into each other, our faces so close together that our breath became mingled between us. Cal's eyes held mine, the air around us shifting into something palpable and charged.

My skin buzzed with that familiar energy I only ever experienced with him, that undeniable pull that was as inexplicable as it was powerful. Cal's breathing became harder and his pupils dilated, kicking up my own pulse in return. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, drawing my gaze to them reflexively. The only clue that he had movedeven closer was the heat from his body that was fast becoming unbearable.

My own breathing sawed in and out of my chest, my brain screaming at me that this wasn't the night for any of this. Cal was grieving, hurting. I wanted to be there for him, not maul him with my mouth. But no matter what I told myself, I couldn't break away from those mesmerizing eyes that were fixated on mine.

Slowly, Cal closed the distance between us, but lifted slightly to press his lips firmly to my forehead. The kiss was tender and sweet, antithetical to most of what I knew about Cal, yet it made tears spring to my eyes as my heart pounded. The simple caress had the power to crumble my defenses and ignite my blood.

“Can you hold me?” I heard the words escape me on a whisper, and I prayed I had just imagined it. Humiliation flooded my nervous system and I willed myself to disappear on the spot. Instead, strong arms came around me and pulled me down on the couch until I was reclining my back against Cal's hard chest.

He didn't speak, just held me like I was something precious and fragile. It settled something deep inside me that scared me to acknowledge. Not even being with Connor had felt as right as being in Cal's arms.

“When I was growing up, my mom used to hold me and read to me from this book she kept from when she was a kid. It was this shortened collection of classic stories, likePeter Pan,Alice in Wonderland,the Wizard of Oz, things like that. Even when I got older, she would still read to me every few nights if I asked.”

I stayed quiet, mystified and grateful that Cal was sharing this piece of himself. I soaked up every syllable, almost able to envision Cal as a bright-eyed boy curled up with his mom, safe and cherished in her arms just as I felt in his right then.

“I still have that book. It was one of the only things of my mom's I was able to keep in my aunt's house. After mom died, Blair wouldn't let me talk about her or keep any of her pictures out. She threw away the two framed ones I had on a bookshelf when I pissed her off once. After that, I stuck the two remaining photos I had in the middle of mom's book and hid it in my closet to make sure Blair wouldn't find them. I had to keep that last piece of her safe,” he finished, his grip tightening almost imperceptibly.

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