Chapter 11
“Do you want me to go with you?” Dex asks right after I told him I needed to use the restroom.
“Nah, I’ll be fine,” I replied. I haven’t needed Dex to go with me for a little while now, but I love that he still offers. It really is funny how everything has changed for me since meeting Dex. I’m not scared anymore, I’m confident again, and I can even manage to walk alone in this large group of people. Giving his leg a squeeze to reassure him, I wait for him to let me out, because I’m sitting in the middle, between him and Cydney.
Thank God the line isn’t too long—only four ladies in front of me, which is nothing compared to the ten to fifteen normally there, most of them trying to get in with the baseball players and the few football and basketball guys that hang out here. They dress in as little as possible, but wear as much makeup as they can cake onto their faces.
Finally, I’m able to get into a stall, do my business, and wash my hands before opening the door to leave. As I get into the darkened hallway, there’s a guy standing there. I don’t recognize him, but with his build, I’d say he plays football.
“Hey there, sexy.” He drunkenly smiles and stands in front of me.
“I need to get by. I gotta get back to my group of friends,” I tell him as I try to get by him, but he doesn’t let me. If I move left, he moves with me; if I move right, so does he. Then, in the blink of an eye, he has my arms above my head with his leg between mine.
“You smell good too.” His hot, nasty breath hits my face and it makes me want to vomit. Turning my head, I can’t see Dex, the guys, or my sisters. Other people stand around looking, but they aren’t trying to help me. Fucking assholes!
“Let me fucking go!” I squirm, trying to break free, but it’s no use—his size overpowers me.
I see Dex coming into the hallway with a fury. “Let her go!” His voice drops octaves—it’s low, deep, and deadly. I’ve heard that voice one other time. Dex uses a strength I didn’t know he had to pull the guy off of me, who promptly scurries away as soon as he regains his balance.
I’m frozen in place, staring at the man I have fallen in love with. “It was you!” All this time and he never told me. “Did you know? Did you know it was me all this time?”
“Callie.” Dex stares at me.
“You did.” My lips purse and I nod my head. My feet finally able to move, I hightail it back to the table. “Let’s go!” I tell my sisters as tears threaten to spill free.
“What happened?” Cayden and Cydney ask in unison, jumping up.
“Callie, please don’t go. Let me explain,” Dex begs as he comes up behind me and puts his hand on my shoulder.
Shrugging my shoulder to knock his hand off, I spit out, “Don’t fucking touch me!” I can’t bear to look at him, so my eyes stay trained on my sisters and I repeat, “Let’s go…now!”
“Callie, please. I love you!” Dex tries again as he grips my arm.
Spinning on him, I jerk my arm free. “You love me! You decide to tell me that now?” Pointing my finger in his face, I go on, “No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t decide to tell me you love me because you fucked up.”
One of my sisters drags me out of the bar and keeps hold of me until we get to the jeep, and then I’m pushed into the backseat. Cydney hops in the driver’s side and Cayden in the passenger seat, then we start to drive away from the man I thought I loved who was keeping a secret from me all this time.
“What the hell happened?” Cayden turns in her seat to face me.
“He’s a liar, a big fat fucking liar!” The tears start falling now.
“Why? Everything was fine until you went to the bathroom.” Her brows pull down in confusion.
“A guy had me up against the wall and Dex pulled him off, but it was him that night, Cayden. He’s the one that saved me on the Fourth of July. He knew who I was all this time and he kept it from me.”
“Shit!” both of my sisters respond, and Cayden turns back around, putting her seatbelt back in place.
Shit is right!
Opening the condo door, we see Momma sitting on the couch, holding a sleeping Raine. The tears come harder. Walking over to them, I kiss Raine’s head and Momma asks, “Why are you crying? What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now. When Dex comes to get her, please don’t let him come to my room.” I don’t bother saying goodnight.
Throwing myself on my bed, I bury my face in my pillow and cry. I cry hard and for I don’t know how long, but I know Dex had come and gotten his daughter when I heard him pleading with my mom and sisters to let him see me. They told him to let me calm down and for him to go home for the night. I cried harder when he left, knowing he wasn’t going to be sleeping next to me to keep the nightmares away.
I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest and stomped on. This is why my sisters and I had that fucking pact to never be in a relationship and to not let feelings get involved. If I would have stuck to that, then I wouldn’t be hurting so bad now.
I can’t believe he kept it from me; why couldn’t he have just told me he was the one that saved me? Why let me fall in love with him, only for it to be a lie?
By the time the last tear has fallen, I have a headache and my eyes are puffy. The box of Kleenex I had on my nightstand is now gone, the soiled tissues covering my bed, but I don’t have the strength to clean up. Closing my eyes, I try and get some sleep. I was right—the nightmares returned.
It’s been two days since I showered, left my room, ate, or did anything. They all knock on my door, checking in on me, but I tell them to leave me alone. This time, though, Momma comes in, “Callie, It’s time for me to go home.” She sits on the bed beside me and rubs my arm.
“Do you have to?” Looking up at her with my puffy eyes, I try the puppy dog look.
“Yeah, I have to get back to work, but I want to talk to you before I go.” I sit up against my wooden headboard and hug my pillow to my chest. “Your sisters told me what happened at the bar.”
I look down at my pillow that’s become my best friend. “Yeah.”
“You should talk to him, Callie.” Momma runs her hand down my matted hair.
“I can’t. I don’t want to see him again. It was all a lie.” Blinking away the threatening tears, I stare at my beautiful mom.
“He’s a good boy, and I don’t think he did it maliciously. Just talk to him and let him explain.” Momma gives me a hug before she stands up from my bed. “I love you, and I’ll see you at Christmas.”
“I love you too.” Momma shuts the door and I cry once again, this time because I’m going to miss her.
Two weeks later
Dex has been calling and texting nonstop for the last two weeks, and I’m no longer looking at my phone because I know it’ll be him. I’ve become that recluse again, only this time I’m not even leaving my room to go to class. I told Professor Bryant and all of my other professors that I’ve been super sick, so they agreed to let me take my exams from home—plus it gives me more time to consider the TA position.
“We’re coming in whether you like it or not. Enough with the pity party!” Cydney calls through the closed door before my sisters bust in my room.
“Holy shit, Callie! It smells like a rhino’s ass in here.” Cayden and Cydney both plug their noses. Guess I got used to the smell.
“You are taking a shower right now! You can get up and walk in the bathroom or we will drag your stankin’ ass in there,” Cydney tells me with a look of disgust.
“Then, after you’re dressed, you’re going out with us tonight,” Cayden adds in.
“I’m not going anywhere!” I respond as I get off of my bed. So I may have become a slob in the last two weeks by not showering, staying in the same clothes, and leaving my empty takeout boxes and empty ice cream cartons thrown all over my room. Oh, and those used Kleenexes I had all over my bed—but I may have added another box or two to the used pile.
“It’s not up for debate. You’re going now—go shower while we clean this nasty mess up,” Cydney tells me as she picks up an old Chinese container and wrinkles up her nose at the smell wafting toward her face.
“Fine!” I stubbornly head to the bathroom. I know my sisters well enough to know that I won’t get anywhere arguing, so I guess I’ll be going out tonight.