Straight from the Heart (19 page)

“Damnnnn I think we all need to relocate. I
could eat this stuff every day,” Vince groaned after his
4
^th
breadstick. Raptor slapped him in the back of the
head. “What did I say wrong?”

Louisa laughed with her thick Italian
accent. “I just might have to invest in a delivery driver now.”

“Awe that would rock. My parents can’t even
cook like this,” Vince replied and we all laughed at his over
excitement for the food. I was looking through numbers on my phone
when I fingered over my parents’ house phone number. Did I dare
care them? Did I just show up out of nowhere and make things right?
In the pit of my stomach I knew that while I was back for a little
bit I should try to make amends, but enjoy my freedom while I still
had it.

I felt a hand caressing my covered knee and
I looked only to see Cale staring at me with his usual concerned
look on his face. After last night’s events it was hard not to
ignore every movement he made. I replayed how our hotel room door
got busted down by Damon’s brother Abel and Pauly, putting a damper
on my plans. Both of us were damn near out of our clothes and under
the covers of our nice warm king sized bed when the two guys fell
through.

“Let them call you, Bryn,” he whispered in
my ear. How did this man know everything I was thinking? “If they
gave a rat’s ass they would’ve called by now, hun.”

“You’re a mind reader, Pelton.” I set my
phone down, and leaned into him. “A girl can hope, can’t she?”

His free hand squeezed mine. “Nothing wrong
with dreaming. You’re absolutely amazing.”

“Aww cut the sappy crap and get a room!”
Luke shouted towards us, just as plates of the best lasagna in
town, or anywhere for that matter, arrived. I smirked at him and
ate my food, not giving in just yet. They knew. Cale didn’t have to
say anything and neither did I. But I wasn’t about to display full
on PDA in a restaurant like this, or just come out and say this guy
sitting next to me was my boyfriend.

He was, in a sort of non-official way.

“Just jealous that’s all.” Cale teased,
flinging food in Luke’s direction. It landed square in the middle
of his shirt and Luke looked pissed.

“Cale why’d you do that?” I looked in his
direction, fuming. “He’s joking. Do you really have to throw food
like we’re in middle school?”

“Well
mother,
” he said as he scooted
away from me, emphasizing ”mother”, “I should’ve expected you of
all people to scold me. I mean you weren’t last night when…”

Before I could slap him, Alberto Jr. brought
us some desert. I could feel the tension between everyone at the
table now after our little spat. We had enough of them on the bus,
that’s for sure, but now that we had a small break before going to
meeting with the label again, it might have been the breather we
all needed. I could maybe relax for day or so and get back to
helping out Louisa and Alberto in the restaurant.

Once everyone was done eating, I helped
Louisa clean up the plates and hung back while the guys left and
took the tour bus back to their place, which I still had yet to
see. Before the dinner rush piled in, Louisa and I sat down and I
talked about the tour.

“My goodness, you must never have gotten any
sleep with all those people in one place.” Lou said, resting her
elbows on the counter.

“Once in a while, when we were lucky enough
to stay in a hotel,” I replied. “Even then it was crazy to say the
least.”

“But that boy, the one next to you with the
easy eyes, he has a thing for you, Miss Bryn. I could tell from the
first time he met you here for lunch. What was his name again,
Cale?”

I blushed just thinking about him. Shouldn’t
be since he was practically my brother, but that was opposite of
what I truly wanted. All I wanted was to finally say that we were
boyfriend and girlfriend, not just us sneaking behind the guys’
backs and kissing when no one was looking. He didn’t know this, but
I wanted him to be my first. As immature as he could be, a part of
me was starting to wholeheartedly fall for him.

“That’s his name alright.” I sighed.

“Ohh don’t hide it. You’re young; you need
to explore what’s out in the world. I remember that Ethan you used
to bring by once in a while. Yeah he was nice looking and good for
you then, but you need someone that’s good for you right now.
 That might just be Cale. I know you’ve probably heard that
one too many times, so I won’t say another word about it, Bryn.”
Louisa chuckled. “I polished some of the lamps and things in the
loft while you were gone. I wasn’t sure if you still wanted to stay
there while you were back home, but I cleaned it up a little
bit.”

I smiled and thanked Louisa. “You are too
sweet. Thank you so much, Lou. I can’t wait to sleep in a warm
comfy bed again. It’s long overdue.” Saying goodbye to Alberto and
Junior, I walked outside and upstairs to my loft.

Louisa saying that she cleaned the place was
an understatement. It looked like a brand new place: the floors
were shiny and the carpet looked freshly vacuumed, and it smelled
like lilies…my favorite. Then I approached what I had been looking
forward to the most, my bed. I stripped down to my red bra and
panties, landing face first onto the mattress. The coolness of the
sheets felt good against my skin as I lay there and took in the
bustle of the downtown below me.

“
Are you ready?” Cale whispered against
my ear, his lips leaving feather light kisses down the side of my
face, leading down to my neck. I wrapped my legs around his bare
waist, his hand on his length, probing it towards my soaking
entrance. “Goddamit baby you’re fucking drenched.”

“
Just hurry up and fuck me please.” I
cried, feeling the ache intensify and I was so ready for this
moment that I felt like I was about to come right on the
spot.

Cale’s eyes looked into mine for a brief
moment. This was the side of him I always loved to see. The one
where he was sweet and vulnerable, just like he was then. “I’d like
to think of it as making love. Your first time needs to be nice and
slow, something you’re going to remember for the rest of your
life.” He inched his way in slowly, and I could feel my insides
trying to make room for what was about to be inside of me. Was this
supposed to really hurt? Shit. “Hunny you’re so tight,” he growled,
and I felt a split ounce of pain.
No turning back now Bryn, he
just took your virginity
.

“Bryn?”

I lifted my head off of my pillow and looked
around. It took a minute for my eyes to catch up with me, but when
I could see straight, I saw Cale standing next to me. I glanced
down at my panties and wanted to blush from embarrassment. Here I
was, having a wet dream about this guy and now he was standing
inches from me? Luckily I was mostly covered by my sheets, so I
slipped off the drenched piece of fabric, leaving me only in my
bra.

“It’s called knocking Cale. I wanted some
time to myself,” I mumbled, running a hand through my messy bed
hair. My face fell down to the pillow again as I faced the opposite
way.

“Come on, Bryn,” Cale said, sounding
frustrated. “Please talk to me. You seemed pissed off after lunch
and I just want to talk before I head back home.”

I ignored him, pulling the blankets up to
cover myself. “You still could’ve knocked. For all you knew, I
could’ve been naked. I want to go back to bed, please.” He couldn’t
take no for an answer because then I felt a hand near my backside.
Within seconds Cale leapt over me and onto the other side of the
bed, causing the whole bed to shake.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to get you to
talk, Bryn. Just hear me out, okay?” His amber eyes raked over what
parts of me he could see. “I wanted to tell you I was sorry for how
I’ve been acting. You’ve heard it from Charming, now you’re hearing
it from me. I seriously care about you like you wouldn’t believe,
Bryn. I’ve been standoffish, lead you on…” I didn’t like where this
was going. His fingers inched slowly underneath the sheets towards
my belly and he smirked. Like the kind of smirk I saw in my dream
where he was getting ready to have sex with me. Cale sucked in a
breath and let it out, “No panties, that’s going to get you in
trouble.”

I swatted his hand away. He wasn’t going to
talk serious and get out of it so quickly. “What does it matter to
you anyway?”

Cale shifted from his side onto his back and
put his arms behind his head. “Bryn Michelle, you really frustrate
me. You know that, don’t you?” I had to laugh. This had to have
been the first time he’s ever said my middle name, so I covered my
face up and laughed as hard as I could. Even when Cale tried to
sound frustrated, he still looked hot as ever.

When I finally looked back at him, I could
feel water pouring from my eyes and my face was hot from laughing
so hard. “Bryn Michelle? Never again.” I wiped the tears from my
face and took a deep breath. “In all honesty do you realize that
I’m half naked, well I basically am naked, because you’re all I’ve
been thinking about? I was dreaming that you were my first and my
panties were trashed because of it. But I don’t think it really
matters...”

Cale stopped me before I could finish. “What
are you talking about Bryn? Of course it matters, if you want to,
I’d gladly…”

“Yes I know, Cale, you’ve only told me a
hundred times, maybe more? But you can really piss me off. I don’t
want to be one of those girls on the side that you can just kiss
and feel up whenever you see fit away from the guys. It’s like you
and I are some big secret and I won’t live like that. I really 100%
have feelings for you, I always have and, to me when a guy kisses a
girl like you kiss me, and spends as much time together as we do…I
would say it’s more than ‘friends with benefits,’” I air-quoted,
and felt proud of myself. I spat out what I wanted from him: I
wanted to be exclusive. Cale and Bryn, boyfriend and
girlfriend.

We laid in silence for what felt like hours,
just staring at each other, waiting for the other to say something.
I suddenly felt uncomfortable only dressed in my bra, so I tried to
climb out of the bed with the blanket covering me, but Cale’s
strong hand gripped my arm before I could get any further. He spun
me so I landed practically on top of him, and his face looked
amused. “I’m not good at this boyfriend, girlfriend thing,” he
said, pointing to us. “I don’t want to give us false hope and say
that I won’t screw up and let you down, Bryn. I feel like a better
person when I’m around you. I don’t want the guys to think us being
in a relationship while in the band would take a toll. But damn, if
you were my girlfriend I’d be the luckiest guy in the frickin
world. I should’ve told you that the first time I saw you.” Cale
paused, cupping my face in his hands and bringing it toward his.
“Bryn Michelle Schaefler, it’s a bit delayed, but will you be my
girlfriend?”

My first initial thought? Scared, but happy.
I was taking a big chance and risking the bands musical future by
us being in a relationship, but so be it. I smiled from ear to ear
and said “Yes, you have no idea how long I’ve waited for that
question.” And I bent down to kiss him. I kissed him with every
ounce of passion I had in my body, holding nothing back. My fingers
trailed the hem line of his t-shirt, sliding it up inch by inch,
revealing his flat stomach.

He slipped his tongue into my mouth, and I
let out a whimper. We separated for merely seconds so he could sit
up to take off his shirt. Over the course of the tour I’d seen him
shirtless dozens of times, but at that moment I couldn’t help but
stare in awe. This guy in front of me, the one I was straddling,
was completely perfect. His brown hair stayed out of his face
except for a few curled strands, and his amber eyes were gleaming
at me.  My fingers trailed along the ridges of his stomach and
his ‘Live and Let Die’ tattoo on his heart. I bent down to kiss it,
running my tongue against the ink and laying my head in the same
spot.

“I love you.” Without even thinking, my head
shot right back up, eyes filled with worry. Did I just really say
that out loud to him? I shimmied myself off of his body and part
way off the bed before I got a reaction.

Cale grabbed me by my ass, back to the same
spot as before. Sounding like he was choking up, he asked “You just
said you
loved
me?”

Trying to hide the glow, I covered up my
face with my hands.

“Don’t cover up your face, baby,” Cale
pushed my hands away, trying to make eye contact. “I love you
too.”

I stopped resisting him, arms falling to my
sides as I felt the butterflies coming again. He said he loved me
too. Cale Pelton loved me.

Without a pause, my mouth crashed down on
his, leaving no room to breathe. Cale moved me so I was lying
beneath him on the bed, my head resting comfortably against the
pillows. We continued kissing each other until our lips were
swollen, and I heard the sound of glass being thrown into the
street.

“Are you going to like hearing all of the
noise when you’re trying to sleep?” Cale groaned, stretching his
arms as we tried to go to sleep. After our declaration of love,
Cale left for about an hour and came back bearing chocolate and my
favorite movie: Magic Mike. He told me since I didn’t put him and
the guys up to watching the horrible site of male strippers, I
could play it one time and one time only. Except the whole time his
eyes, and lips, were on me, not even paying attention to the
movie.

I propped myself onto my elbow so I could
look at him. “I put up with loud ass men for a few months, so I
think I can I survive hearing the noise in the street.”

Cale put a hand to his heart as if I
offended him. “Oh, so I’m just a loud ass man? I’m hurt.”

I leaned over and gave him a quick peck on
the cheek. “No. You’re my loud ass boyfriend, who I wouldn’t trade
for the world right at this moment.” Nothing could hide the smile
on my face now. Except the fact I needed sleep. Badly. I yawned and
laid back down facing the opposite way he was. “Now I’m going to
bed. No funny business, alright?”