Page 43 of We Thought We Were Invincible
“We can't do this, Cal.” I leaned against the door frame and hung my head. I wished I could tell her these words hurt me as much as they did her.
“I know.” she sniffed. A steely resolve entered her eyes as she tried to shove her weakness away. I wanted to tell her I didn't think it was weakness at all. She was the strongest person I knew. “You're with Amelia.”
Those words startled me. How could she ever think I'd choose Amelia over her? Now, this was about more than my ex. I looked up at her. “I broke up with her. That's why I left you at the hospital.”
She looked up, urging me to continue.
I did. “She's a nice girl. It wasn't fair to stay with her when I had feelings for someone else.”
She reached out as if to touch me, but I was too far away. Pushing herself up from her bed, the pain showed on her face as she put weight on her leg.
She wobbled, and I lurched forward to catch her around the waist and ease her back onto the bed. When she was lying back down, I released her.
I jumped away from her bed and paced.
“I don't understand,” she finally said.
I said nothing for a long moment before turning toward her and bursting out. “You're Jay's!”
“Excuse me?”
“He's my brother, and it's always been you two. Everyone assumed it always would be. I can't do that to him.”
She pushed up again, her sudden anger keeping her going. “I don'tbelongto anyone. Jay has a girlfriend.”
“But we all know he's just waiting for you.”
“No, he's not. God, all you people don't know what you're talking about. I make my own decisions. Jay doesn't have any hold over me, and I don't have any over him. We're friends. Get that through your thick skull. You drive me insane.”
“What about Colby? He'd be so pissed.”
“What does he have to be pissed about? Right now, I'm more likely to kill you than kiss you again.”
“But he's your brother and my best friend.” I scratched my jaw, looking back toward the door, not wanting to tell her Colby had forbidden me from seeing her.
“You're talking and all I hear is blah blah blah.”
I stopped pacing at the side of her bed, right in front of her, smiling at her words.
“Blah blah blah, huh?”
With confidence, she reached out and took my hand, intertwining her fingers with mine.
She tugged and I couldn't make myself stop her this time. Bunching her other hand up in my shirt, she used it to pull me down onto the bed.
“Maybe we shouldn't tell Colby,” she said.
I winced at that, but all resistance had left me, and my voice came out strangled. “Definitely not.”
My lips seared the promise into her.
I'd figured out what I was a long time ago - an escapist. Surfing, skydiving - they gave me everything I needed. But Callie, she was the ultimate escape.
18
Callie
Mom smiled at me, sitting up straight on her board as the waves raced toward the shore in front of us. She was beautiful, perfect. My entire life, everyone told me I was just like her. Not the beautiful part, but the personality.
