Page 24 of Forgotten Dreams

The blaring horn finally stops, and the guy looks over at us. “Hey,” he says with his chin up at us before returning to the bar.

“I should get back in there,” I say, looking down and trying to walk past him. I should have known he wouldn’t just let me leave like that. His hand comes out to grab mine, and I ignore the way my whole body lights up, but I stop and look over at him. “We can’t do this,” I say in a whisper.

“What?” he asks, shocked. “Why?” He drops my hand.

I shake my head, trying to get my emotions under control. “I just can’t.”

“Are you with someone?” he asks, his voice sounding hurt.

“Of course not,” I retort, a little pissed he would think I would kiss him if I had someone. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.” All he does is stand there and look at me, waiting for me to give him more. “I’m sorry I led you on and kissed you.” The lump forming in my throat makes it hard for me to swallow. “I’m sorry,” I finally say, walking away from him, actually almost sprinting away from him.

I walk back into the bar and head over to the table, seeing Lilah’s eyes light up when she sees me. “I was looking for you.” I pull out the chair, not sure my knees will hold up much longer.

“I went out to get some air.” I avoid looking at her as I sit and pick up my drink. “All that dancing.” I take a sip of the whiskey to stop myself from blurting out that I also kissed Caleb. Not only did I kiss Caleb and let him kiss me, but it was the best kiss I’ve ever had in my whole life. Like bar none, he kisses as if he has a gold medal from the Olympics for it.

“Are you ready to go yet?’ Emmett comes to stand behind her and wraps his arms around her, his hands resting on her stomach as he buries his face in her neck.

“I’m ready,” I confirm, not really wanting to stick around, knowing that Caleb isn’t too far away. Also knowing I’m going to be spending half of my night forcing myself not to look at him, and then the other half of the night pretending I’m having such a great time. Which is going to be exhausting. We don’t say goodbye to many people before ducking out. Everyone is now scattered all over the place, and it’ll be hard to get to them all and make it out in four seconds, which is the time limit Emmett gave her when she agreed to leave.

“I’m going to sleep in tomorrow,” she says, clapping her hands. “What do you have planned for tomorrow?”

“I have a big day tomorrow,” I admit to her when I get into the truck and put my seat belt on.

“A big day?” Lilah looks over her shoulder at me. “But it’s Saturday.”

“Yeah.” I nod at her. “I’m taking my ancestry test tomorrow.” Her eyes go big. “I know,” I say excitedly. “I mean, it’s not like it’s going to come back and be like, your mother is this person and your father is this person, but I can start to trace my ancestors, which is very exciting.”

“You ready for that?” Emmett pipes into the conversation, and I look over at him. “As someone who wishes he didn’t know who his mother is.” He shakes his head, and it’s the first time I’ve ever gotten anything personal out of him. Lilah reaches over the middle console and slides her hand in his. “It might not be such a good thing.”

“But at least you know.” He doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just nods. The rest of the drive is quiet as I look out of the window, my head going back to Caleb and that fucking kiss.

When we get to the house, I don’t even go in. I just hug Lilah by my car and then take myself home.

I step into the house and hear the door echo through the rooms once I close it. I make my way into the kitchen to see the progress, gasping when I see they already have everything gutted and the floors stripped. I turn and walk through the empty house as I make my way upstairs to my bedroom. I drop my purse at the side of my door before kicking off my shoes and carrying them through the bathroom and to the closet.

It takes me about twenty minutes to take off my makeup, shower, get ready for bed and brush my teeth. When I finally slide under the big thick duvet cover, I lie on my side, looking out the window at the stars twinkling in the sky. The sound of Caleb saying my name replays over and over again, followed by the images of him kissing me. “You fucked up,” I mumble to myself, closing my eyes and forcing myself to go to sleep.

I’m in what is my hundredth dream of Caleb when I hear the front door open and then close. I open one eye as I listen to hear the sound of boots heading toward the kitchen. I toss the covers off myself and close the door before going to the bathroom.

I wash my hands and face before walking to my desk and picking up the white box. “Discover your ancestry.” I read the top of the box, turning it over and opening it, taking out the folded sheet of paper that gives me the directions. Once I’ve done all the steps, I place the vial in the box and seal it. “Step one done,” I tell myself, looking at the box with the return address on it. “Now, in two to four weeks, I’ll know a little bit more about myself.” I get up and head toward the closet, getting ready to do step two today.

I get dressed, putting on a white bra and then a bodysuit before slipping into blue jeans that hug my hips but are loose all the way down, grabbing one of the hanging jackets. I opt to go with a rust-brown one before putting on a pair of sneakers. Tucking the box into my purse, I make my way downstairs and go toward the kitchen. I smile when I walk in, expecting it to be Theo but come face-to-face with Caleb.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him, trying not to think about the way his lips felt on me, but the way parts of my body are tingling, it’s making it very, very hard. I fold my arms over my chest so he doesn’t see my nipples want to be a part of this conversation.

He looks up from the nail gun to look at me. “Morning to you too.” He smirks, standing up and dusting off his hand. “Fired the other guy.” He looks me up and down, not even trying to hide it. “So came to do the work myself.”

“It’s Saturday.”

He nods. “Yeah, but you want this done as soon as possible, so we’ll be working weekends for the next little bit. The guys are expected to come in at ten.” He stands there looking like he’s about to model for a fucking photo shoot, even though I know he’s been working in my kitchen all morning. “You look nice.”

I shake my head. “I’m not doing this.” I turn to walk away from him.

“Why not?” His question stops me from walking out of the room. “You’re single, I’m single.” He points at me, then himself.

“Yes, but you dated my best friend.” I watch his eyes to see if he still has lingering feelings for her.

He throws his head back and claps his hands as he bursts out laughing. “I think dated is a far stretch.”

---