“Your emotions are never stupid. They’re always valid, remember?”
His words echoed off the corners of my mind. All throughout our teenage years, it was the one thing he always reminded me of, no matter what. Every time I wanted to hold things back and be a big girl like my parents asked of me, he’d hug me and tell me that however I felt was just fine.
I missed those hugs.
“I just—really need to talk to someone,” I said as I blinked back the rest of my tears.
He paused only briefly, but it was enough to tell me everything. “We haven’t spoken in years, Rose. I’m not sure what I can help with.”
I closed my eyes as regret filled my gut. All of the sleepless nights where I would’ve called him had been taken from me by Blake. In my husband’s eyes, he was the one I needed to go to, not Caleb. He was the one I needed to talk with when something was on my mind, not my best friend.
Not my best friend that was also a man, too.
Then again, when has your friendship ever been innocent with Caleb?
“Rose?” he asked.
I cleared my throat. “I know it’s random, and I know we haven’t spoken in so long. I just…”
“Didn’t know who else to call?”
I nodded softly before I realized he couldn’t see me. “Yeah, something like that.”
A silence as heavy as my guilt filled the space between our ears, and I had to look down at my cell phone in order to make sure Caleb hadn’t hung up on me. But when I put the phone back to my ear, my brain quickly convinced me that he wasn’t there.
“Ca—Caleb?” I asked.
And finally, he cleared his throat. “Text me a place and I’ll meet you there. I’m free.”
The biggest smile I’d ever smiled in years crossed my face. “Thank you so much.”
“You never have to thank me for something like this. I’m headed to my bike. Just text me, okay?”
I paused. “Please tell me it’s not the same bike you had.”
He chuckled. “A lot has changed after high school.”
“That thing was a piece of shit and you know it..”
“You shut your mouth,” he chuckled again. “Now, do what I’m asking.”
My eyebrows rose a bit. “I see you’ve found some of that confidence you felt you lacked all those years ago.”
He snorted. “Ah, I guess it just comes with time.”
“That snort, though. It’s still the cutest.”
He drew in a curt breath. “Text. See you soon.”
I pulled my phone away from my ear and immediately did as he asked. “See you soon, Caleb.”
After moving out of my very expensive prison, I had settled into a nice condo complex on the other side of town. Putting time and space between me and Blake always did me some good, and it helped that one of the city’s premier seafood restaurants existed right beside my new place.
I sent him the name and the address before I quickly headed into the bathroom.
“Jesus, you look like hell, Rose,” I said breathlessly.
I picked up my brush and watched as my strawberry blonde hair wafted with every rake through my tendrils. I drew in deep breaths, refusing to cry any other tears over my shitty soon-to-be-ex-husband. I had a plan. Something that I knew would work. My only problem was that I’d need help executing the plan.
