Page 12 of Wild For You
Turning the tables, I leaned against the doorjamb, eyeing Caleb like he was the dirt on the bottom of my running shoes. “Actually, I’m watching a series about how to kill someone, hide the body, and get away with it.” Caleb visibly stiffened as he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his distress. “This one episode, a woman chopped up her cheating ex and put his limbs down the garbage disposal. The detectives only found out when she confessed after thinking he was haunting her. But you know something, Caleb?”
“What’s that?”
“I’ve never been afraid of ghosts.”
Caleb didn’t look as confident as he had a minute ago, while I finally felt like I had the upper hand for the first time today.
“Here are your things.” I gestured to the two boxes I set in front of the bifold doors of my laundry area.
Caleb glanced down and frowned. “So… can I come in? Maybe we can talk about things.”
“No,” I said immediately. “You threw me under the bus, Caleb. Blamed the entire relationship on me and made it seem like I focused on you when you signed with the team. Hell, the team owners are looking back at tapes in the therapy room to make sure I wasn’t crossing lines with any of the other players. You’ve tarnished my entire reputation. So, excuse me if I have zero desire to speak to you ever again.”
“Aw, Kelsey. Don’t be like that.” He unleashed that charming smile that won me over the first time but now felt slimy as he reached a hand out for mine. “We could figure out how to make things work.”
I immediately recoiled from his touch and straightened. “Caleb. You have made it clear that everything we shared over the last year meant nothing to you, so excuse me if I have zero desire to continue anything between us. Truthfully, I’m not even sad.”
The vein along his temple expanded through the skin, and his jaw ticked.
“Fuck you, Kelsey. You’re a terrible lay, and I was cheating on you the entire time anyway.Youwere my dirty secret.”
It took all my energy to rein in my anger at his words. I always felt like our relationship was hush-hush and not just because of the job, but he always assured me that was the sole reason. Now I knew why. I was the “other woman.” I’d never questioned him, but now I wish I had.
With renewed energy, I turned to the side and reached for the first box. I lifted it into my arms and chucked it across the hall.
“What the fuck, Kelsey!” he shouted as the box gave way and clothing spewed across the carpeted floor.
While his back was turned, I did the same to the second box. The pile landed close to the other.
In my head, I was thankful I never left anything other than a toothbrush, razor, and hairbrush at his place. Things that were easily replaceable and nothing I needed to rely on him to pack up for me.
While he was busy picking up his clothes and toiletries, I fought back my grin. It was nice to see him struggling. Caleb always made it seem like he had most things in life just handed to him.
“Don’t call me,” Caleb grunted as he set one box on top of the other.
“I’ve already erased your number.” That was the partial truth. Blocking his number when I arrived home was one of the first things I’d done, but not before I took an extended screenshot of all of our texts. If ever I was asked about our relationship again, I was going to have proof. I could have just removed his entire contact, but I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. I did change his contact name back to Caleb though.
“Fuck you.” He hefted the two boxes into his muscular arms and made his way toward the steps.
“No, Caleb, fuck you!” I shouted, just as my neighbor across the hall peeked his head out from behind his door.
“Everything okay?” he asked quietly, and I nodded. He glanced down the hall, his toupee shifting a bit on his head, and eyed Caleb before closing his door.
I watched Caleb wait at the elevator. Thankfully, he had the brains not to turn around until the car arrived and he stepped inside. Just as the doors closed, he stuck up his middle finger in my direction like the childish man he was.
Closing and locking my door, I asked myself what I had ever seen in the man. I pressed the call button on the box next to the front door that rang down to the security guard in the lobby. I requested that Caleb be removed from my approved list, leaving just Rory.
The knowledge that I didn’t have a single friend in Nashville was upsetting. I’d lived in the large city my entire life, and I had no one to show for it. My only friend was someone who lived an hour away.
As I sat back on the couch, my dinner didn’t hold the same appeal as it had before Caleb arrived. Groaning, I tried to catch up on the show, but I was already lost as the story continued. Instead of restarting it, I scrolled through my phone, noticing by my default settings that Caleb changed his profile picture to him with a beautiful blonde. Their arms were wrapped around each other as if there was a familiarity that stemmed from a long relationship.
“My God,” I said as I took a screenshot and sent it over to Rory. Her response was a bunch of expletives that left me giggling.
Was this what my life was coming to? Stalking my ex on social media?
I thought about running myself a bath or pouring myself a glass of wine, anything to help me relax, but just as I started cleaning up my unfinished dinner—because let’s be honest, Chinese food is almostbetterthe next day—my phone rang with a number I didn’t recognize.
Normally, I didn’t answer those, since they were usually spam calls or someone that butt dialed. But my gut told me to answer this one. So I picked my phone up off the couch, slid my finger across the screen, and prompted, “Hello?”
