Cal was back, and he looked like he’d been through hell.
I glanced up at Naomi and Ryan and held up both hands in a‘stay here’motion.
Ryan frowned. “What? What’s happening? Was that Cal? Did he text you?”
Ignoring him, I repeated the‘stay here’motion and turned on my heel to go to my friend, shoving Ryan’s gun into the waistband of my jeans.
I didn’t think Ryan would listen to me; he never did. But fucking whatever. I had done my job and kept him alive up until this point. If he followed me, I wasn’t going to stop him.
From the look on Cal’s face, I had a feeling Ryan was going to get a fucking reality check, anyway.
Alexa, play: Atlantis - Seafret
Ya right. Like I was fucking staying back. I knew whatever Vox had seen on his phone had something to do with Cal. My heart was literally hammering in my chest as I followed Vox out of the house.
Sure enough, as soon as I stepped out the front door, relief rushed through me as I drank in the familiar sight of Cal.
My Cal.
I was so shocked and excited to see him that I didn’t notice when Vox stopped in his tracks on the porch.
Slamming into his back, I stumbled slightly before frowning up at him.
He was staring at Cal, who was looking right back with his mouth in a firm line.
“Cal!” I shouted over Vox’s shoulder, expecting to see his face light up at the sight of me.
But it didn’t; he didn’t even glance in my direction.
My whole body went cold.
“Cal?” His name was a question this time. Now that the initial shock and excitement were wearing off, I took the time to look at him more closely.
Something was fucking wrong.
He had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked like he’d lost weight. He hadn’t been gone long enough for him to look that much thinner, but sure enough, his cheekbones were sharper than they had been the last time I’d seen him.
“I’m assuming you have Naomi here?” Cal asked Vox, still refusing to look at me. His voice was rough and raw, like he had been screaming, and more anxiety coursed through me.
Vox nodded, and Cal slid his hands in his pockets.
“Go get her. Tell her it’s time to go home.”
I glanced back and forth between Vox and Cal, completely confused.
Vox gave him one slow head nod and went back into the house, leaving me out here alone with my clearly broken psycho.
“Cal… where have you been? Are you okay? Why don’t you come inside?” I asked, snapping out of my dazed state of shock and rushing toward him.
Finally, he looked at me, and his expression stopped me in my tracks. I was barely a foot away, but it felt like we were standing on different planets.
His eyes were empty, completely devoid of any of the humor I was used to seeing on his face.
He looked so broken I suddenly felt like I might cry.
Which was stupid.
What did I have to cry about?
