Take it All (Blinded by Love) (21 page)

“Yeah, what’d she tell you?” Lennox asked, pulling her lip between her teeth as she switched the phone from one ear to the other.

Jason’s soft chuckle came through the line, “Heard the Kingston’s are back, and you and Caleb have reunited.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“It’s good, Chuck,” she could hear the smile in his voice, “don’t make plans tonight though, the three of us are going to Antonio’s tonight; we’ll talk more about it then.”

“Okay, that I can do.”

“Good, we’re just leaving our meeting, so we’ll see you later,” he said, static filling the line briefly, “love you.”

“Love you too.” Lennox disconnected and put the phone back on the cradle before turning around to see she had an audience. “What?” she asked.

“Oh, Cupcake, I gotta jet and get back to work, let me know about tomorrow night,” Raine said, then turned to Caleb and Emerson, “Nice meeting you both, Londyn, Tater Tots,” he called out, nodding his head at each of them before walking to the door and pulling his shades down.

“I’m not food,
brah,
” she called out, as he pushed the door open and left, pretending not to hear her.

“Well, we should get back to the shop before the boss has a shit fit about us being gone so long,” Emerson said, tossing down some cash on the counter for the energy drinks.

“Yeah, I have a cooler that needs filling,” she said, ringing the cans through then giving him his change.

“I’ll meet ya in the car, man,” Caleb said.

“Sure.” Emerson grabbed the cans in one hand then dug keys out from his pocket with his free one. “See ya, Lennox, nice meeting you ladies,” he called, giving Tatum and Londyn a quick wave before he walked out the door and hopped into the driver’s side of Caleb’s Sunfire.

Lennox bent over the counter and took Caleb’s hands in hers. “Get some sleep tonight, you don’t look too good,” she said, her voice low, and her eyes searching his face.

“I will. I could sleep for days,” he mumbled softly.

“Well, if I don’t hear from you in a few days I’ll know why, but just in case, I’ll make sure Em checks on you to make sure you didn’t fall into a sleep coma or something,” she smiled, teasing him.

“What’re you gonna do tonight?”

“Dinner with my folks at Antonio’s, then probably just watch a movie and crash.”

“Okay, text me later.”

“Of course, but promise me you’ll sleep, okay?”

“Promise, now kiss me goodbye so I can get back to work.”

Grinning, Lennox leaned farther across the counter until her and Caleb’s lips claimed each other in a quick brush of the lips, “Bye baby,” he said, against her lips before backing away and sliding his aviators over his eyes as he made his way to the door.

Lennox, loving the way he looked in his sunglasses, grinned and said, “Bye boyfriend.” She watched his lips pull into a half smile as he pushed the door open and left, walking out to his car. She watched him hop in the front seat and wave as Emerson backed up and took off out of the parking lot.

“So, that’s
the
Caleb who stole our little Lennox’s heart all those years ago; he’s fuckin’ hot babe,” Tatum said, wiggling her eye brows as she hopped up on the side counter and sipped her coffee.

“That would be him, and yes, my boyfriend is quite hot so get your own.” Lennox sat in the chair behind her and Londyn took the stool that was off to the side and pulled it up closer.

“Boyfriend, eh, that’s... quick,” Tatum said, like she meant to say it to herself.

“Oh shut it, Tater Tots,” Londyn burst out in a fit of laughs, “and here I thought Tater Tits was funny.”

“Right, speaking of that, what’s up with what’s his face?” she said, lifting her chin and nodding in the direction of outside.

“Oh, please elaborate on that one Tate; what’s his face could mean anyone,” Lennox said dryly, then looked over at Londyn and rolled her eyes.

“Blaine?”

They shook their head. “Try again,” Lennox said.

“Dane, Lane, Zane, Pain...” she took a sip of her coffee, “in my ass,” she muttered into her cup.

“Raine, his name is Raine!” Londyn exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “My God, you have serious problems.”

“That’s debateable, but anyways, what’s Raine’s deal? Why was he here like you guys are best friends,” she asked, her brows furrowed together as she looked at her nails.

“Because we
are
friends.”

“You’re friends with a guy who wanted to take you out, who kissed you, and who probably wanted to bang you as well? Is Caleb cool with that?” she asked, tilting her head to the side with raised brows.

“You know, Tatum, it is possible for two people, male and female, to be friends and only friends. But so what, Raine and I kissed, there was nothing there and I knew it in an instant and I told him. I also told Caleb and he knows where I stand with that topic so, yes, Raine and I are friends and Caleb doesn’t mind because,” she paused, pointing to her lips, “these lips belong to him, and only him.”

Tatum raised her hands defensively, “Okay, okay, I was only asking. Though, Emerson... that boy is all kinds of yum. Is he single?”

Lennox shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know, I just met him yesterday, but I could ask?” she offered.

“Please and thank you,” she looked at her cell, “shit, Lond, we gotta go.”

As the words finished coming out of her mouth, the front door chimed open and a group walked in, followed by three cars pulling up to the pumps. “Yeah, I think this is the lunch rush coming. I’ll text you guys later.”

Londyn and Tatum gathered their things and left, leaving Lennox to deal with her customers and then clear the store out. Once all her customers were gone, she took a trip to the coffee counter and made a fresh pot of coffee then cleaned off the counter and refilled the creamers. After it was done she grabbed her book from her purse and sat down to read, unable to get passed the first page of her chapter because her head was on Caleb and his strange behaviour and vibe he gave off. Maybe it was just him being tired; once he got home and crashed, he’d be fine. At least that’s what she was hoping for.

The days went by in a blur and before they knew it, March had arrived and things with Caleb and Lennox were going steady. Caleb had his on and off moments where he’d become distant for a few days, without calling or texting. When she’d call him he always sounded in a rush to get off the phone, like he was hiding something. Lennox let it go thinking nothing of it, but it bothered her and being in a new relationship she didn’t want to say anything and come across as that girl. But then it happened again, a few days later, then again a week after that when finally Lennox had enough and called him out on it, not giving a second thought on how she would look.

After bringing up everything that had happened and how he had acted, she asked if there was something she should know, something he was hiding. She wanted to know if he was cheating on her because he was acting secretive and she didn’t know what else to think. The second the word cheating left her mouth, it was like a switch flipped and everything was fine. Caleb apologized profusely, telling her,
promising her
, there was no one else, that he would never do that to her or them. Work was becoming busy and his parents were on his case, like always, about whatever they could pick apart in his life. Lennox believed him, having no reason not to, but she still felt as if there was something wrong, something hanging over his head that he wasn’t telling her. But she took his word and let it go.

They had been together for a total of three weeks and spent a few days a week together, but it was never enough as they were growing closer and more intimate with each other. They still hadn’t had sex and Caleb understood where Lennox was coming from. If she wasn’t ready to go there yet then neither was he, and he’d wait for when she felt the time was right. But Lennox knew deep down that she was ready, that she’d been ready for a while but needed to be sure and wrap her head around what was going on with them. What she was feeling was new and overwhelming; at the same time it was exhilarating in the most amazing way imaginable.

Lennox had that feeling the day they reconnected, then again on Valentine’s Day, but it wasn’t solidified until a few days ago when a delivery showed up for her at work. The card read
‘Thinking of you, Caleb’
and upon opening it she found a black square box. In the black box was a crystal frog sitting on a purple daisy. It was beautiful and thoughtful and completely out of the blue, and like the vase full of flowers he had given her for Valentine’s Day, it was full of meaning and memories. It was then, standing at her till, with the frog in one hand and the card in the other, she felt it. The feeling was unlike anything she had ever felt, completely sensational, and overwhelming. She felt as if the air she breathed was knocked out of her lungs and no matter how quickly she tried, she couldn’t catch her breath. Her soul felt alive, shining brightly through her for the world to see. Her world became more vibrant; it was as if she was seeing every object, every person, every color–
everything
in the entire world for the first time and it was beautiful, it was breathtaking.

Her heart began racing as tears filled her eyes. She knew growing up something was missing; a piece of her– a piece so small it was barely noticeable, but she felt it. She didn’t realize how much it affected her until Caleb walked back into her life. Thoughts of him raced through her mind and she wanted nothing more than to be with him. She wanted nothing more than to feel him against her when he held her and kissed her; to hear the beating of his heart when her head was rested on his chest. There was so much she wanted right then and it all had to do with Caleb.

He was the piece of her that had vanished. He was what she had been waiting for, had dreamt about. He was her other half, her soul mate; the one who completed her world. She was, without a doubt, completely and utterly, madly and deeply, forever and always, in love with him. And the fact that they had only been together for three weeks didn’t faze her. She knew you didn’t have to know someone for months to know if it was love. All it took was a look into their eyes– the window to their soul, to know if they were the one for you.

Love didn’t happen in time. Love happened in a moment, in a heartbeat, in the breath of a kiss. It happened at first sight, without words being exchanged, with a simple glance across a room, with a simple touch; love didn’t happen over time, it grew over time. And with Lennox and Caleb, that’s what it did. She knew there was always something special about their relationship growing up, and when he moved away, she locked it up and put it away in hopes the moment would come when she would be able to unlock it again; that moment had finally arrived.

That day had brought Lennox to where she was, standing in her closet fretting over not being able to find something to wear before Caleb picked her up. It was Friday night, the second weekend in March and she was ready to take their relationship to the next level. There wasn’t a part of her that was unsure, or scared. She was excited and completely ready and open to give that part of herself over to him as well as her heart. She couldn’t keep it to herself anymore; the calls that ended where she so badly wanted to say those three words to him were becoming more and more difficult and she was afraid the words were just going to pop out and then it’d be done. But she didn’t want it that way. She wanted to tell him to his face, to see his expression when she said ‘I love you’ for the first time.

So Lennox had an overnight bag packed and, unsure of what her parents would think, told them she was going to Caleb’s for a get together with some of his friends who she had yet to meet. He would bring her back to town where she was going to stay with Londyn because her parents were out of town for the weekend. She was terrified and she hated lying to them, but she wasn’t going to tell them she was sleeping at her boyfriends place. She knew her parents weren’t stupid and when she told her mom, she was fine with it, telling her to have a good time. Her mom then turned and looked at her, her face soft as she told her to be safe; she knew exactly what she meant by that. It wasn’t surprising; they had raised her and taught her well growing up, trusting her to make the right choices and not do anything she didn’t want to do unless one hundred percent sure about it.

Lennox grabbed her white camisole off her closet shelf and her eggplant colored sweater and changed into them and finished it off with a pair of jeans and her purple chucks. Her hair was pulled back in a side ponytail and hung over her shoulder. Her makeup was darker than usual, giving her eyes a smoky look that made the gold in her eyes pop. Pulling her cell phone from her back pocket when it vibrated, she read a text from Caleb telling her he was on his way. She texted back telling him okay then went to slide her cell phone back into her pocket when it started ringing and she saw Raine’s name flashing across the screen.

“What up, R,” she answered, unable to stifle her laugh.

“I didn’t know we were doing gangster style, must have missed the memo.”

“It’s gangsta, Raine, man you’re so white,” she chuckled, sitting on the edge of her bed, “and, you must have ‘cause I sent it out, big black letters across the top, saying we now only speak gangsta.”