The Redemption of Callie and Kayden (36 page)

was a kid, I used to watch it, wondering what the hell the big deal

was. Fire in the sky. Okay. I didn’t get it. But now, lying here with her in my arms, it’s starting to make sense. Freedom. Things are

starting to make sense.

“Happy New Year,” I whisper to the air as sparks rain down

on the lake.

Callie

I’m having a moment. I’ve been having a lot of them lately.

The kind where everything connects: pieces puzzling together,

stars shining in sync, hearts beating rhythmically. Everything is

perfect and although I in no way believe that it will last, I’m going to cherish the moment forever.

“Happy New Year,” Kayden whispers underneath his breath

as fireworks boom and drift to the water in front of us.

“Happy New Year,” I reply, even though I am pretty sure he’s

just thinking aloud. I prop my chin up on his chest as fireworks

boom. “What’s your New Year’s resolution?”

He makes an outline around my lips as he contemplates my

question. One of his lean arms is tucked behind his head and his

hand is in mine. “To not think about the past.”

“That’s a great one,” I say with a smile. “Can I make it mine

too?”

A grin forms on his lips and he shifts his arm, moving his

hand out from behind his head. He holds out a fist in front of him.

“Pound on it.”

I contain a giggle as I remove my hand from his and move to

bump fists, but he pulls his hand back at the very last second and I

frown. “What’s wrong?”

He bites on his lip as he sits up and my head slides to his lap.

His eyes mirror the colorful fireworks as he lifts me up off his chest and then pushes on my shoulder until I’m lying on my back,

against the windshield. The frost nips against a spot of my skin on

my lower back where my shirt has ridden up but I don’t move as

he leans over me, propping an arm on each side of me. Lowering

his mouth toward mine, I wait in anticipation for him to kiss me,

but right as he’s there, right as our lips are about to make contact, he pauses.

“This is nice, right?” he asks and I nod, resisting the urge to

grab the collar of his shirt and jerk him down to me. “We should

make it a tradition for next year.”

My stomach flutters with a thousand enthusiastic butterflies

as I think about being with him for an entire year. “Okay.” I cross

my ankles over each other, trying to contain the nervous energy

created by the flush of our bodies.

“So we’re on for next year?” he checks, and I nod without any

contemplation. I know what I want and I’m not afraid to say it. No

more living in fear.

“Good,” he says and then leans in to kiss me, whispering,

“Thank you for saving me.”

“Thank you for saving me too,” I say, and seconds later his

lips engulf mine.

The fireworks explode and boom above our heads, vivid and

colorful against the dark sky, but I think about nothing but him.

#11 Say good-bye and move on

Callie

The next two weeks are pretty uneventful. Between the road

trip, the recovery, and the confessions, Kayden and I are drained

and we spend the rest of our winter break avoiding our houses,

and hanging out in the hotel room, diner, or café as much as

possible. Seth and Luke hang out with us a lot too. It’s been

snowing quite a bit, but the air feels warm. My mom calls me every

morning and every night. At first I wouldn’t tell her where I was

staying, because I didn’t want her tracking me down, but then I

finally fessed up that I was staying with Kayden and Seth in a hotel

room.

She isn’t very happy about this, but I’m almost nineteen

years old, which is what I tell her.

“Callie Lawrence,” she says after I finally tell her. I’m sitting on

the hotel room’s bed in shorts and a T-shirt and Kayden is lying

behind me, making shapes on my lower back with his fingers.

Every once and a while, he hits a ticklish spot and I giggle.

“This isn’t funny,” my mom says, sounding irate.

I cover my mouth with my hand to stifle the uncontrollable

laughter. Once I settle down, I lower my hand to my lap. “I know,

Mom.”

“You need to come home… We need to talk about what

happened.” She sighs. “Callie, the police said they can’t do

anything about it and even if they could Caleb… he… No one

knows where he is still. Jackson thinks he might have taken off.”

“I already knew the police couldn’t do anything,” I tell her,

lying down on the bed beside Kayden. He has his boxers on with

no shirt and when he snuggles against me the warmth and

sturdiness of his chest soothes me. “And I’m not surprised about

Caleb.”

“But…” She’s frustrated and I hear something crash to the

ground. “Shit,” she curses—she’s been cursing a lot lately. “I broke

a damn cup.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, arching my back as Kayden draws hearts on

my spine, his hand drifting up my shirt to the area between my

shoulder blades.

“You don’t need to be sorry, sweetie,” she says and then

sighs. “It’s just a cup.”

As much as my mother and I have never gotten along, I have

to give her credit for how nice she’s being through all this. After

her meltdown, she’s been less teary eyed and she’s never once

tried to put the blame on me. Sometimes my thoughts wander

back to my twelfth birthday and my head fills with what-ifs. What if

I had told her then? What if I’d never had to suffer in silence for

the last six years? What if my life had been different? But I always

shove the thoughts right out of my head. What-ifs aren’t

important. I can’t go back through time and change things, but I

can move forward and create the life I want.

“Callie, did you hear me?” she asks, sounding a little

annoyed.

I blink away my thoughts. “Yeah… no… huh?”

Kayden snorts a laugh from behind me as he traces the

length of my spine. “You’re so going to get into trouble.” He

makes a silly airhead voice when he says it.

I reach back and pinch his arm and he laughs even harder.

“What, Mom?”

She sighs exhaustedly. “I said, have you thought about going

to that therapist friend of mine in Laramie when you get back to

school? I think it’ll be good for you.”

“I’m not sure… I’m worried what it might bring up if I do.”

“Callie, I think it’s important… after all the things you told

me… I think you need to get some help. I really wish you’d just

consider staying here with us and take a semester off.”

“I need to go back to school,” I say. “I need to move

forward.”

She gives an elongated pause. “Then please just go see the

therapist…” She’s on the verge of crying. “I need to know you’re

okay.”

I glance over my shoulder at Kayden. “I’m okay, Mom. But if

you really want me to go, then I will.”

“Good.” She sounds relieved. “And you call me every day.

And stop by here today before you leave.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“And you’ll call me whenever you need anything?”

“Yes.”

Kayden starts laughing hysterically, rolling away from me so

she won’t hear. I’ve told him how controlling she is and apparently

seeing it in action is humorous to him.

“Who is that?” my mom wonders. “The person on the

background who keeps laughing?”

Craning my neck, I peek over my shoulder at him and he

smiles. “Kayden.”

“Oh.” She pauses and I hear clicking in the background, like

she’s tapping her fingernails on top of the counter. “Callie… are

you… are you sleeping with this boy?”

Heat rushes through my body. “What?”

Kayden must have heard her, because his laughter kicks up a

notch and fills the room. “I have to give her credit,” he says

between laughs. “She’s very entertaining.”

“Callie,” she says. “I’m not going to judge you… I just want to

make sure you’re being careful.”

Oh my God. This is so mortifying. My cheeks are as hot as

the heater below the frosted window and I tuck my head down

with the phone still pressed up to my ear to hide my blushing face.

“Yes, Mom.”

“Yes, Mom, you’re sleeping with him?” she asks. “Or you’re

being careful?”

“Tell her you’re being careful right now.” Kayden laughs in

my ear and it tickles my neck, causing my shoulders to shudder.

His arms snake around my waist and then he’s pulling me back,

lifting himself up from the bed with one arm. He tucks me

underneath his solid body and then lowers himself down on me.

I laugh into the phone as he starts to tickle my sides and I

squirm, trying to keep the phone beside me ear. “Mom,” I say

through laughs as his fingers trail high up on my ribs and then halt

next to the sides of my breasts.

“Tell her you’ll make sure to be careful every day,” Kayden

teases, his green eyes flashing with untamed desire. He pinches my

sides and then moves his hands up my arms and then down them,

stopping when he reaches my wrists. He cups each one with one of

his hands and then tugs on them.

“Mom, I got to go,” I say quickly. “And yes, I’ll stop by on my

way out.” Before she can respond, the phone falls from my hands

and Kayden gathers my wrists together and brings them above my

head.

For a brief second, panic claws up my throat as I’m hurled

into the past when I was pinned down on the bed and my heart

beat unstably. He must see it on my face too.

His grip starts to loosen. “Do you want me to let you go?”

I shake my head. “Just kiss me, please.”

His mouth turns upward and his lips connect with mine as he

bends his back and leans in. And just like that the panic and the

memories slip from my thoughts and it’s just he and I. No one else

in the world exists.

* * *

“So what have you been up to?” Seth asks as he hops

cheerily into Luke’s truck beside me.

It’s a bench seat and a compacted fit, but it’s not that bad. In

fact, it’s kind of comforting to be squished into a car with three

strong guys who have been there for me in their own wonderful

ways.

“Well, you’d know if you hadn’t disappeared.” I flash him a

playful grin as he fastens his seat belt.

He smirks with doubt in his eyes. “I highly doubt I was

missed.” The seat belt clicks and he sits back, tugging the sleeves

of his black-button coat down to cover his arms. “Besides, I wanted

to give Kayden and you some space.”

“You didn’t have to. We didn’t really do anything.”

He arches his eyebrows, accusingly. “Yeah, right. You two

have been locked in that room since the new year started. You’re

like newlyweds or something, going at it like rabbits.”

I turn my face away from him as I feel the blush creeping up

and try to restrain my smile. “Seth, stop,” I say and he giggles.

Kayden opens the door and the hinges squeak as he scoots

into the seat beside me, but he pauses halfway in, with one of his

feet still on the ground as he examines my reddened face. “Okay,

Seth, what did you say to her this time?” he jokes, and brushes the

pad of his thumb across my cheek. He grins at me as I stand up a

little so he can climb onto the seat.

“Nothing I haven’t said before,” Seth responds with a wicked

glint in his brown eyes. “She just reacts the same way each time,

which makes it so much fun.”

I swat his arm and then sit down onto Kayden’s lap,

immediately overwhelmed by the scent of his cologne. His slings

an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into him as he guides

the seat belt down from behind himself and fastens it over both of

us. It’s snowing outside and fluffy flakes are stuck in the brown

locks of his hair. I run my hand gently along the top of his head

and dust them out. Some of them melt from my body heat and his

hair ends up with this wet, sexy look.

“So where do we still have to go?” Luke asks as he tosses his

bag into the back of the truck that still has Kayden’s motorcycle in

it, and then he hops in and slams the door. The truck is already

running and he turns up the heater and hot air blasts out from the

vents.

“To my house,” I say. “And…” I look at Kayden. He hasn’t

been home since we took off to San Diego and I can tell he

doesn’t want to go back. But he has to go back and get his clothes

and stuff and I think deep down he might want to talk to his

brother Tyler. “And to Kayden’s, I think.”

The cab becomes silent and then Luke sighs and drives out

onto the main road, flipping on the wipers. The roads are a little

slushy and slick so he reaches to the small shifter in the center and shoves it into four-wheel drive. The truck makes a loud thud and

jerks as it slides into gear.

“Jesus.” Seth makes a face as he turns his legs to the side and

adjusts his seat belt, which has tightened. “It feels like it’s going to fall apart.”

Luke pats the dash. “It’s fine. It’s just old.”

Seth rolls his eyes and then crosses his arms. We all remain

quiet as he veers off roads and makes turns down the narrow

streets. The radio plays “Wonderwall,” by Oasis, and then “Hands

Down,” by Dashboard Confessionals. When he pulls into the