Elusive Love (12 page)

When I walked into our apartment just after noon, Joey was sitting on the couch, waiting for me. I tried to mentally prepare myself for whatever would follow as I sat down next to him on the couch.

“Hi,” I said, my voice soft.

“Go shower, and get changed,” he said.

“What? Why?”

“I’m taking you somewhere. Just go.”

I finally noticed that he wasn’t wearing his typical neon shirt and jeans. Instead, he was wearing a collared shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans. It wasn’t exactly a suit, but it was far more dressed up than he usually was.

“Okay…” I stood and headed back to our room.

After grabbing clean clothes, I headed into the bathroom and hopped into the shower. Once I was clean, I dried and straightened my hair. I applied a small amount of makeup and pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a pretty shirt.

I checked myself over in the mirror and frowned. I looked okay but not amazing. My stomach wasn’t flat, and my hips were far too wide for my liking. I didn’t dare turn around to inspect my butt. I feared I might decide to strap a Wide Load sign across it if I did.

When I returned to the living room, Joey was still sitting in the same place, waiting for me.

“Okay, I’m clean and dressed. What’s going on?” I asked.

He stood and walked over to me. He grasped my hand and pulled me through our apartment. He stopped long enough to grab his keys before he continued out into the hallway, down the stairs, and out into the parking lot. After opening the passenger door for me and shutting it once I was situated inside his vehicle, he walked around and climbed inside.

He stayed silent as he backed out of the parking spot and hit the main road. I impatiently tapped my fingers against my leg as the miles slipped by beneath us.

“Can I ask where we’re going?”

“Nope. You’ll see soon enough,” he said, not taking his eyes off the road.

“I hate surprises,” I grumbled even though it was a lie.

I loved surprises, cherished them even. I tried to think back to the last time Joey had surprised me with anything, and I came up with absolutely nothing.

Twenty minutes later, we were pulling into a movie theater parking lot.

“What are we doing here?” I asked.

Joey finally looked at me. His lips turned upward into a smile. “We’re going on a date.”

I shifted in my seat, unsure of what to think. “A date?”

He nodded. “I thought it would do us some good to get out and spend time together without Amelia.”

“I, uh…thank you. For thinking of this, I mean,” I stuttered, struck nearly speechless by the fact that Joey would do anything nice for me.

He shrugged, as if it were no big deal, but I knew otherwise. Joey wasn’t a natural-born romantic. Even something as simple as a trip to the movies was something he’d had to think about. Coming from him, this was more than a little surprising.

“I can’t think of the last time we went on a date,” I mused as I racked my brain, unable to come up with anything.

“Neither can I,” he said. “And that’s unacceptable. I want to start making things right, here and now.”

Touched by his thoughtfulness, I smiled. “Then, let’s go watch a movie, shall we?”

We climbed from the vehicle and walked across the lot to the movie theater. After deciding on which movie to watch, one about a zombie apocalypse, Joey paid for our tickets. We stopped at the concession stand to grab some popcorn and a couple of drinks. I nearly cried at our total, but Joey didn’t even bat an eye. Clearly, he was determined to follow through with his plan to take me on a real date, money be damned.

We walked side by side down the hallway to our theater. Joey held the door open and followed me inside. The theater was packed since it was the weekend, but I managed to find two seats next to each other. We settled in next to each other as the previews started to play.

For the next two hours, my eyes were glued on the screen. I loved the movie, but it was more than that. It had been so long since I’d been out without Amelia. I loved her with all of my heart, but sometimes, I just needed a break.

I caught Joey glancing at me a few times, but he never spoke. I waited for him to hold my hand that I’d placed on the armrest between us, but he never did. I wasn’t sure if he just hadn’t noticed it there or if he was unsure about whether or not he should. Things were so unsteady between us. He was probably just as afraid as I was of messing things up even more.

When the movie let out, we tossed our empty drink and popcorn containers into the garbage and headed back out to the parking lot.

“That was fun,” I said when we reached the car.

“Yeah, it was. I’m glad I decided to bring you here. It was nice to just get away for a while.”

Joey unlocked the car, and we both climbed inside. I fastened my seat belt before turning my attention to the theater again. I watched as couples came out together, and others went in. I noticed a guy and a girl standing a few parking rows away from us. The guy’s back was facing me, but he looked familiar, so I studied him closer. He turned enough so that I could see the side of his face.

Instantly, I realized it was Ethan. I subconsciously glanced over at Joey to see if he was paying attention to Ethan, but he wasn’t. Why would he? Joey had no idea who Ethan was or that he even existed.

I looked back at Ethan and the girl just in time to see her wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. It wasn’t a chaste peck on the lips either. She hungrily kissed him, as if she couldn’t get enough.

My eyes widened in shock as I watched them. A fire suddenly burned bright inside of me, lighting my entire body up. Heat flooded my veins, and I felt an anger so strong that it left me speechless. Jealousy, rage, hate, despair—all of these emotions flashed through me. I felt as if I were drowning in them.

The girl pulled away from Ethan, and they continued walking to the theater, neither of them even glancing in my direction. They had no idea what had just occurred within me. They were completely clueless to the revelation I was currently drowning in. Seeing Ethan with that girl, watching her kiss him, had finally broken through whatever shield I’d subconsciously put up.

I cared about Ethan. I’d known that much years ago, but after we’d reunited, it had grown stronger. I’d felt some kind of emotion the day he told me about the girl and then later when we’d talked about her at work, but I hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly what I was feeling.

Now, I knew.

I was falling in love with Ethan—no, I wasn’t falling. I was already there. In a few short weeks, I’d grown to love a man who most definitely wasn’t my husband.

Shame flooded me as I tried to sort through the emotions plaguing me.

Oh God, why did I have to realize this now with Joey sitting in the car next to me?

I needed time to sort through this and push it away, and I couldn’t do that with Joey around me.

“Caley? Hello? Earth to Caley. Anyone in there?” Joey’s voice snapped me out of my stupor.

I turned to him, praying that my expression didn’t show even a sliver of what I was feeling inside.

“I’m sorry. What?” I managed to get out, but my voice sounded wrong.

He gave me a strange look. “I asked, where do you want to eat? But you look like you’re going to be sick. Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “I think I need to go home.”

There was no way I could sit across from him while we ate, knowing what I had just realized.

“Sure.” He was still watching me, probably expecting me to hurl in his car.

I secretly feared that I would do just that.

My second date with Danielle was almost as boring as the first.

Our first date had been nothing more than grabbing dinner together. I’d spent the entire time listening to Danielle talk about herself. She worked at a local diner at night while attending classes at the local university during the day. She wanted to be a nurse, maybe even a doctor. I admired her ambition and had even praised her for taking such difficult classes and working at the same time, but after hearing every single detail about her classes and job, I’d wanted to stab myself in the hand just to escape her. She’d asked about my jobs but seemed as if she wasn’t really interested in them. The girl couldn’t tell a flat-head screwdriver from a wrench even if I’d labeled them for her.

We’d switched topics to our hobbies. Once again, I’d found myself bored out of my skull. We couldn’t even agree on music. She preferred country, something I despised. When I’d told her I loved rock music, she wrinkled her nose but didn’t comment.

Needless to say, we had pretty much nothing in common.

We’d parted ways in the parking lot, and I’d assumed that would be the end of it. She was a nice girl, but even she had to know that we were two completely different people.

Imagine my surprise when she’d texted me on Saturday morning just as my shift was about to end, asking if I wanted to hang out that afternoon. I’d stuffed my phone in my pocket with absolutely no plans to text her back. I’d hoped she’d take the hint and let it go.

It wasn’t that Danielle wasn’t a pretty girl because she was. Her hair was dark brown and long enough that it fell below her ribs. Her eyes were bright blue. Her nose was a little too big for her face though, and it appeared larger than it actually was next to her small lips. Like I’d said, she was pretty, but I wasn’t interested in her. Maybe if she’d come into my life before Caley, I might have felt differently.

Once I’d helped the guys, who were still being dicks, lock up the shop, I’d walked out to the counter to see if Caley wanted to spend the afternoon together. She’d told me no instantly. Apparently, Joey had been expecting her home as soon as she left work. She’d seemed nervous about it. When I had asked why, she’d explained about their late-night phone call and how she’d thought that Joey would want to talk to her about their marriage.

In my mind, I had known without a doubt that he would say or do anything to keep Caley with him. That was what today would be all about—soothing Caley so that she wouldn’t go off the deep end and do something crazy, like leave his stupid ass. He might treat her like shit, but he knew he was a lucky bastard to have her.

With that thought in mind, I had pulled my phone out of my pocket as soon as I reached my car, and I’d texted Danielle back, letting her know I would be down to spend some time together.

That was how I’d ended up at her dorm an hour later, picking her up for our second date. I’d hoped I wouldn’t fall asleep while she was around.

I’d decided to take her to the movies. I’d figured it would be my best bet. I wouldn’t have to talk to her for at least two hours, and, hell, I might even enjoy the movie.

“I’m really excited to be here with you,” Danielle said as we pulled into the theater parking lot.

“I’m, uh, glad to be here with you, too,” I lied.

We climbed out of the car and started moving toward the theater together. I was surprised when she grabbed my arm to stop me from walking.

I turned to her and gave her a questioning look. “What is it?”

She shifted nervously for a moment. I was about to ask her what was wrong when she suddenly sprang herself at me. Taken aback, I grabbed her waist as she crashed into me. Her lips landed on mine before I could process what was happening. She fiercely kissed me, surprising me. She hadn’t hit me as the spontaneous type of girl. Unsure of what to do, I held her waist as she kissed me. When she pulled away, she was breathing heavily, her eyes glazed over.

“That was…wow,” she muttered. “Sorry. I had to get that out of my system.”

I couldn’t think of a word to say. She seemed to take that as a good sign since she smiled widely at me. She took my hand in hers, and we continued across the lot, as if nothing had happened.

I hated the fact that her kiss had done absolutely nothing for me. Her body had been pressed against mine. Hell, she’d practically molded our bodies together. That should have brought forth some kind of reaction out of me. I was a male after all, and we tended to listen to our dicks first and ask questions later. But I’d felt nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. The kiss hadn’t been bad. In fact, she was a good kisser, but it left me feeling the exact same way I had felt before—empty.