Catch 22

22

AN: This is a double update read 21 first!

I accidently deleted this & Sprinting_Ginger saved my ass like always. I don't deserve her friendship.

I am hurt and I am mad. That's all I can distinguish from the array of emotions that are flooding through my body right now as I rip open the door of the club.

The beat of the music pulses through me giving rhythm to my steps as I move towards the center of the establishment and scan the crowd for her or anyone I recognize from our crew.

"Cal!" Ash yells to me and my head snaps back to look at his face. He gestures to my left and I follow his extended hand until I see the unmistakable mess of black hair and arms full of tattoos.

When I'd walked through the door I'd been hellbent on coming in here, confronting her and dragging her back to the hotel with me. Now though, as I see her eyes sparkling from across the room and her grin wide as she laughs and dances among the crew, finally finding a place amongst her peers, something she has craved for weeks. I can't seem to force myself across the room to her.

"What are you thinking, mate?" Ashton asks, slinging his arm around my shoulder and following my gaze to Rowen and our crew.

"I'm thinking that I'm a jealous fuck and I want to walk over there and snatch her away and demand her attention, but, I mean, look how happy she looks." I say, cringing when I hear myself. I sound like a bitch.

"So what's the plan?" Ash questions.

I sigh as I contemplate my actions and their consequences for a moment before giving a heavy sigh.

"Let's just go to the bar and get a drink." I decide, already turning and moving towards the wooden high top counter. I lean my forearms against the surface and tap my toe to relieve some of my nervous energy as I wait for the bartender's attention.

The bartender's eyes finally settle on me and I ask her for a vodka soda.

"You from around here?" She smiles at me, a strand of her blonde hair hangs down in front of her face and she blows it out of the way as she grabs the top shelf Vodka from the rack.

"Just passing through." I say back, my gaze drifting over the crowd at the bar and throughout the club.

"Too bad. It's on the house." She says with a wink as she slides my drink across the counter.

It hits me in this moment that she's flirting with me and I start to formulate a sentence to tell her I have a girlfriend when I feel arms snake around my waist and warm, wet lips, press against my neck. I tense for a moment before I see the unmistakable spider web designs on each wrist meshing into a sea of ink that covers the arms that wind around me tightly.

"Hi." I smile as I turn around to face her, her arms staying in their position protectively.

"Hi! I did't know you were here!" Rowen says excitedly, her words slightly slurred. Ashton taps my shoulder and motions that he is headed to the dance floor, his drink in hand as I wave him off.

"We just got here." I tell her. "Apparently I need to catch up, this is my first drink." I say noting the one in her hand and her clumsy movements.

"It's only my second!" She defends a little too loud, a sign the alcohol is hitting her.

"Lightweight." I joke and she pushes my shoulder lightly as her eyes drift behind me.

I follow her gaze and my eyes rest on the blonde bartender.

Oh.

"And here I thought you were just happy to see me." I breathe into Rowen's ear as she drops her vision back to me.

"What do you mean?" She asks innocently, her eyes wide like Bambi for a moment.

"Are you jealous?" I ask, humor in my words as she shifts her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"No, I'm not jealous." She says defensively, dropping her gaze and giving herself away.

"It's okay." I say pulling her close to me and speaking directly into her ear. Her breath is hot against the space on my chest that is exposed by my open shirt buttons. "I was jealous too."

"Oh yeah?" She asks looking up at me.

"Mhhmm. That pic on Insta really got to me." I admit, wanting to be completely honest with her instead of allowing my annoyance to grow. If there is one thing I've learned from my previous failed relationships it's that if you aren't honest, you can't communicate and nothing can be fixed.

"What picture?" She asks, stepping back to stand an arms length apart from me, a questioning look on her face.

"The...the one you posted like a hour ago?" I say, already grabbing my phone from my back pocket and pulling it up.

"What the fuck?" She says, clearly surprised. "I-I didn't post this." She says, her face confused and mad as she spins back to look at the area where the crew is loosely assembled. She's clearly caught off guard and frazzled and I believe her completely when she says she didn't do this.

"I went to the bathroom around then. My phone was on the table in that area we had , you think Caleb did it?" She asks turning to me. "It's not even the kind of picture I post, look at all my others, I have an aesthetic!" She defends and my heart is pulled in two different emotional directions at once.

On one hand I'm really fucking ridiculously happy she hadn't posted that picture. On the other I am furious, back to seeing red and seething angrily that Caleb had the audacity to do this. The girl really can't just catch a damn break.

She deletes the picture quickly and I hope that she has still kept her anonymity enough for no one to think twice about the posted and then deleted picture once the truth about our relationship comes out.

"I can't believe this, he seemed so genuinely apologetic. I'm sorry, Cal. I should have listened to you." She mumbled as she slips her hand in mine. "Can we just go to the hotel?" She asks and I nod, looking for Ashton over the sea of people. I fail to spot him so I shoot him a quick text to let him know I'm leaving with Rowen before rejoining our hands and heading for the exit.

I laugh when I catch her giving the bartender an evil look again.

"Down tiger." I laugh pulling her out the door.

"Had to make sure she knew who's boss." She giggles and I can't help the way my heart skips a beat in my chest. I've never had someone so possessive of me. So willing and proud to say I was theirs. I find it incredibly flattering and insanely sexy.

"I'm yours, Row. What do you say we return to our previously scheduled plans?"

Her teeth pull back her bottom lip and she nods, standing on her tippy toes, wobbly to say the least, and kissing me with great fervor.

"Think I'd like that." She says, licking her lips as she pulls away, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

AN: tomorrow there shall be smut

this is a stress update caused by me avoiding my responsibilities, you're welcome

You think Caleb will get off without consequence?

WHat will Cal do? What will Rowen do?

Any guesses on what happens next?

Shameless promotion for @Sprinting_Ginger because I love her and her stories! Check out her story Coda and the currently updating sequel Lost in Translation if you haven't!

ILY

Sav