Page 201 of As the Rain Falls
He touches my neck, smoothing the marks he left there. I catch a glimpse of something familiar in his eyes.Anger. It’s lying underneath other things, like desire and entitlement, but it’s there. And I don’t want Caleb to resent me, but maybe he will.
“Please, don’t get mad.”
He stands in the middle of the room, glaring at me. “So this is what we’re doing? We’re breaking things off?”
“I was never your girlfriend, Caleb.” I swallow hard. “There’s nothing to break off.”
“And you just want us to pretend this never happened?”
I blink hard, finding his words stupid.
“Of course.”
“But I love you!” he sighs, walking towards me and brushing his thumb over my cheek. “Cassandra, you don’t want to do this.’
“Stop touching me!” I raise my voice, slapping his hand away. “We’re not in love, Caleb. Get that through your thick head.”
Caleb’s eyes widen with surprise. My tone must have thrown him off.
“Okay. I will,” he promises, and I feel instant relief.
“Just leave me alone and I promise not to tell her.” I dry my tears, not knowing why I’m suddenly crying.
“I mean, you better not. If people found out, they’d take you for a skank.”
“I hope you know that’s fucked up.” I sit by the edge of the bed, watching him get ready to leave. “We did this together.”
“I mean, it’s the truth,” he snickers, stopping by the vanity and fixing his hair up. The black strands fall all over the place, and I regret gripping them so hard. It’s a little too obvious we just had sex. I must look crazy.
“I know.” I think back about our texts, the pictures we shared. It’s been a crazy month, but now I want to erase everything. “Delete the pictures.”
He needs to know I’m not about to let him keep anything hanging over my head. If we’re done, we’re done. I never want to hear about this again.
Caleb scoffs, gaze flickering back to me. “Now,that’sfucked up, Cassie. You think I’m some creep who’s going to spread them around?”
I roll my eyes. “What if she goes through your phone?”
“She’s not like that.”
It’s my time to scoff, too.
Heknowsshe will. Any other girl would.
“You talked to Kayla.” He shakes his head, coming to the most obvious realization. “You had no problem with us doing our thing before. She’s such a fucking bitch.”
“Don’t you dare talk about her like that.” I rise from the bed, putting on my heels. “She’s my friend, and she only wants what’s best for me.”
“Okay, I get it. You’re right.” Caleb crosses his arms over his chest, leaning against the bathroom door. “Just let me keep the pictures.”
“Caleb, no.”
He raises both his hands, waving me off. “You don’t want to do this anymore; that’s fine. But there’s no need to be so uptight about it.”
Uptight.
Andthat’swhen I lose patience.
“You’re acting like a jerk, and for what?” I snap. “Because I told you I don’t want to fuck around anymore? Because I don’t want to ruin your relationship with Maria?”
