CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Shame, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder.”
-Julie Burchill
GIANNA
Did that really just happen? I made a complete fool of myself over that cheating jerk! Obviously I wasn’t the only girl Caleb liked to have sleepovers with at his mom’s place. Why was I even crying? He wasn’t worth it and I should’ve known this would happen. Hell, everyone else knew it would. Caleb couldn’t change who he was. I was stupid falling for a guy like him. Had the whole thing been a game to him?
No wonder he hadn’t wanted to go camping. He’d had a whole different recreational activity in mind for this weekend. He must’ve been so happy to get rid of me so he could screw around with that slut!
He’d better just stay away from me at home, because I knew where that motherfucker lived. I could do all sorts of bad things to him in his sleep. Better sleep with one eye open, dirty dog. I shouldn’t have run away like that. I totally spazzed out and ran away instead of bitching him and her out. How pathetic! I should have stayed there and kicked his ass then yanked out both his nipple piercings.
It was smart to let the anger come. It was much better than the pain. Dammit, now they were just angry tears. I pulled my Jeep over to the side of the road because my vision was getting blurry and I didn’t want to cause a crash. That would really top off an astoundingly bad day.
I’d never cried over any of the other guys I’d dated. That was probably because they’d never made me feel as much as Caleb had. I really thought he cared about me. He was so attentive to me and protective about the whole Josh thing.
What started out as him being my annoying new stepbrother blackmailing me, seemed to turn into something more. He acted like he actually gave a damn about my happiness. He claimed to be bothered that my home and school life made me miserable. I thought he saw past my looks to the person I really was. Obviously, I was just another conquest to him. One of god knows how many stupid girls who fell for his handsome face and bad boy charm.
What an idiot he was, saying he hung out with Dante last night. I wouldn’t have even known it for the lie it was if Dante hadn’t gone camping with us and that skanky girl hadn’t come out of his room when she did. At least I found out now instead of later when I’d look like a bigger fool. Clearly, a player couldn’t change his manwhore stripes.
Where was I even going? Definitely not home. The asshole could show up and if he did, I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t kill him. But I couldn’t sit on the side of the road in my jeep all day.
CALEB
When I got back to the apartment, Hailey was dressed in what she wore last night waiting for me. “Caleb, why didn’t you tell me that you had a girlfriend?”
“I didn’t know I needed to. You and I are just friends, Hailey,” I reminded her.
“Whatever happened to players for life?” she argued.
“Things change.” Not feeling like I needed to defend myself to Hailey, I tried calling Gianna but there was no answer. Even if it was pointless, I sent her a text to call me back.
“Why her?” she asked, sounding hurt again.
“Why do you care?” I countered, getting annoyed with her.
Her shoulders jerked in a shrug. “It’s just that, I always thought if you were ever going to pick one girl to be with, it’d be me.”
Wow, she was so far off the mark. “I’m sorry, Hailey. I don’t see us that way,” I told her softly. Usually I didn’t feel bad about hurting girls’ feelings. Now I was feeling bad about hurting two girls in one day.
“You saw me that way once,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, like two years ago and that was just a fling. I didn’t realize it meant more to you. I mean, you never acted like it did. You haven’t exactly been the relationship-type yourself.”
Her face scrunched up and I couldn’t tell if it was anger or hurt now. “You know what? Never mind, I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe I’m still drunk.” She didn’t meet my gaze when she spoke, though.
But I wasn’t one to argue when I given an easy out. “Okay, good to get that cleared up. Now, can I ask you for a favor?”
She gave me a dirty look. “As long as it involves me going home to shower and change first.”
Two hours later, when we’d both showered and changed, I drove us to Broomfield. I had it all worked out. Hailey grudgingly agreed to explain everything to Gianna. She would tell her nothing happened and that we were only friends. Then Gianna would forgive me.
At my dad’s house, Julie said Gianna hadn’t been home. Where could she have gone? She still wasn’t answering my calls or texts.
Three more hours later, I was driving around the campgrounds Julie said Gianna was at with her cheerleader friends. Little did Julie know, Gianna was with her crew. With Jared. Okay, maybe she hadn’t come up back up here, but I didn’t know where else to look.
“What’s so special about this girl anyways, Caleb? Why don’t you just forget about her and find another like you always do?” Hailey asked combatively.
“Are you really that jaded, Hailey? That you think any girl will do? I only want this girl. Gianna is special.”
“Her name is Gianna? Sounds prissy. I didn’t get a good look at her before she went running off like a baby. Is she pretty?”
“More than pretty, she’s beautiful. And she went running off because I opened the door half-naked and you came out of my room half-naked. It looked like we’d been bumping uglies.”
“Classy, Caleb,” Hailey commented snidely.
Ignoring her bad mood, I continued, “Plus, I lied to her about hanging out with Dante last night.” Which was a moronic. But even if I’d told her the truth about hanging out with Hailey last night, would Gianna have believed I’d slept on the couch?
“You’re an idiot.” Hailey laughed obnoxiously as if my being an idiot was the funniest thing she’d ever heard.
“You’re reading my mind,” I said through clenched teeth. “Finally!” I shouted, seeing Gianna’s Jeep parked behind a few other vehicles. “Fuck, I thought we’d never find them!”
I parked and got out the car but Hailey wasn’t getting out. Going around the back, I opened the door for her. She didn’t budge. “This is stupid, Caleb. Just forget about her!”
Grabbing her arm, I yanked her out of the car. “Just be a good friend and tell Gianna what really happened. Most of all, what didn’t happen. Quit being difficult, Hailey. After all the times I’ve taken care of your drunk-ass and gotten in fights when you’ve pissed people off, it’s the least you can do.”
Weaving through the trees, Hailey complained, “I can’t believe you have me marching through the woods at night. It’s like a bad horror film where the promiscuous girl gets killed first.”
“Don’t worry. If you’re scared of the dark, I’m sure they have a campfire going.” I could give a fuck how Hailey felt at the moment. I was anxious to set everything straight with Gianna.
“Well, I can hear music. Hopefully they’ll have a good party going to. I could use a beer,” she said, sounding chipper at the thought.
“They have a program for that, Hailey. It involves twelve steps. Bad news, though, one of them requires you apologizing to all the people you’ve wronged. It might take you awhile.”
She slugged me on the arm. “Hey, you better be nice to me. You need me right now.”
Along with hearing the music, we could see light up ahead through the trees. When we entered the campsite, I saw Cece dancing closely with Dante to the Shakira song playing.
I didn’t see Gianna. Spotting me and Hailey, Dante shot us a strange look. Cece glared at me took a step in my direction but Dante held her back from confronting me. I didn’t have the patience to listen to Cece right now. A few guys were doing their b-boy thing and couple others were sitting. Hailey and I circled around them.
Hailey’s laugh brought my attention to the direction of her gaze. “Please don’t tell me that’s your girlfriend, Caleb. I take th
at back. Please tell me she is because she isn’t acting like it.”
“Shut up, Hailey.” Clenching my fists, I was preparing to use them.
Jared sat in a lawn chair while Gianna stood in front of him, giving him a private dance to the Shakira song playing. I don’t think I’d ever want to watch another sexy Shakira video again after watching my girlfriend do a good impersonation of her for another guy.
We had a side view of them as Jared looked up at Gianna with lust in his eyes, while Gianna looked down at him flirtatiously. I started towards them just as Jared grabbed Gianna by the waist and pulled her in between his legs. They still hadn’t noticed us, lost as they were in each other.
I approached them as Jared was about to pull her head down for a kiss. Reaching an arm between them, I put a hand on Jared’s face, pushing it away from Gianna’s. “You do not want to do that.”
Gianna’s head tilted my way. “Actually, we do want to.”
Putting an arm around Gianna’s waist, I moved her away from Jared. While I did that, Jared had gotten out of the chair. “Stay away from my girlfriend.”
Jared didn’t appear worried. “From what I hear, she isn’t your girlfriend anymore.”
By this time, everyone was watching the scene unfold. Taye put a hand on both of our chests, but addressed me first, “Hey, man, maybe you should go.”
“I’m not leaving without Gianna.”
Gianna angrily pushed me from the side. I didn’t budge from where I stood which seemed to make her angrier. “I’m not going anywhere with you ever again! And, I’m not staying here if you are!”
“I can explain, Gianna. I even brought Hailey with me so she could tell you nothing happened between us.” I pulled Hailey forward from where she’d been quietly watching the drama. “Tell her, Hailey.”
Hailey crossed her arms over her chest, emphasizing her low cut shirt. “What do you want me to tell her, Caleb?” Her sly tone implied she’d say whatever I wanted.
“The truth,” I snapped.
Hailey unhappily looked Gianna up and down before saying, “We went out clubbing last night and one thing led to another. . . .”
“What the fuck, Hailey? Tell the truth,” I demanded.
Hailey sighed dramatically. “Listen, Gianna, Caleb and I haven’t fucked for a really long time.”
“What the fuck, Hailey? Did you have to say it to her like that?” I roared. This was not going the way I’d planned.
Tears formed in Gianna’s eyes and she turned around, heading into the trees, probably planning on escaping me in her Jeep again. Cece immediately followed after her. Hell, now I was hurting for my girl.
Before I could reach the trees, Jared stepped in front of me. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”
“That’s the thing. I haven’t done anything.” I shouted, ready to lose it. “Now get out of my way!” I snarled, pushing him to the ground.
Gianna came back and I thought I’d have to catch her when she almost ran into me. Instead she pushed me in the chest and yelled, “You know what? I’m not running away this time! You need to take your slut and leave!”
As proud of her as I was in that moment, she was frustrating the shit out of me. “Not until you listen!”
“I’ve heard enough already! Hell, I’ve seen enough already!” she shouted, pushing me again.
Fed up, I picked her up and carried her to where Hailey stood with an amused look on her face. I set Gianna down and held onto her. “Now, Hailey, could you please do the right thing and tell Gianna everything that happened last night?”
Hailey scowled, staring at Gianna’s face. “I can see why you want her so bad, it fucking figures.”
“Just tell her,” I barked at Hailey impatiently.
Hailey rolled her eyes then told Gianna in a rush, “Fine! Nothing happened last night! We went clubbing and I got really drunk. Caleb let me crash on his bed and he slept on the couch.” She then looked at me with big eyes. “Happy?”
Gianna crossed her arms. “And I’m supposed to believe that?”
Everyone around us seemed disbelieving too. The only thing probably keeping Cece from jumping me was Dante’s arm around her waist. Jared glared at me from the other side of Gianna. Taye whispered something to him, likely to keep him from trying to hit me.
“As much as I’d love to tell you that Caleb and I fucked last night, it didn’t happen,” Hailey admitted crudely.
“But you guys have slept together before?” Gianna questioned her.
“Yes,” I cut in, trying to think of the best way to put this, “but it’s been two years and it wasn’t anything serious.”
Jared muttered something rude that I chose to pretend I didn’t hear.
“There, I told her, Caleb. Can you take me back to civilization now?” Hailey asked.
“I need to talk to Gianna first.” I glared at Jared. “In private.”
“Maybe I don’t want to talk to you, Caleb,” Gianna said stubbornly.
“I’m not leaving until you do.” I could be just as stubborn. I’d sleep in my car tonight if I had to.
She was silent for a long moment. “Ugh! Let’s get this over with so you can leave!” Gianna headed for the trees again.