The Choice (a Painful Past)

164 Colby's POV

I saw the light in her eyes dim and it sent a fissure through my heart. That asshole had broken her.

"You're not an idiot, Callie." I sighed, as I tried to flatten my hair with my fingers.I didn't know what was going on with it, but it didn't seem to want to stay the fuck down.

She looked at me like I was the idiot for believing that.

"Okay, so maybe you were an idiot. But it's only because you loved him so much. This isn't on you. It's on him. You saw the good in him. He just never showed you that part. He never gave you what you deserved. And you deserve way better than him, Callie." I insisted.

Tears pricked her eyes, but she sniffed and wiped them away.

"Maybe." She replied, but I knew she was just placating me. "I guess only time will tell."

"That's right." I said, nudging her so that she would look at me. "One day, you're going to be married to a man who shows you every day how special you are. He'll make you breakfast in bed, and plan special Friday night dates. He'll bring you a heating pad and chocolate, when the cramps start. He'll love you more than himself. You'll have a kid or two and be the MILF that all your son's friends fall in lust with. I can guarantee it."

Just like I planned, the MILF thing got her to laughing. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen." She giggled. "I already have a teenage son and none of his friends are in lust with me. Thank God. I don't even know how I would react to such a thing."

I thought back to the party and remembered how some of the boys' eyes would follow her ass when she walked. Hell, they almost popped out of their sockets, when she bent over. I could understand how they felt though.

She had a really nice ass.

"I promise you, they were looking and enjoying what they saw." I replied, smirking at her.

Her eyes went wide as they met my own.

"No, they did not! Stop it! Ew, no, Colby!" She sounded so shocked that I couldn't help but laugh.

"Total MILF, I swear!" I exclaimed, with a shrug. "When you're a 16-year-old boy, there's always an older woman that you think you've fallen in love with."

"Yeah?" She asked, with a giggle. "Who was your older woman?"

"Oh." I replied, feeling my face heat up. "Well, see, my older woman wasn't that much older than me. Just a couple of years older."

I knew that she realized that I was talking about her, because more color flooded her already red cheeks. "Stop iiiit." She groaned. "You're embarrassing me. I don't even know how you liked me so much. I got used to the attention though. When you brought that girl, what was her name? Anyway, I got so jealous. I was used to all of your attention being on me, and then suddenly, it wasn't. Sorry about acting like such a bitch that night, by the way." She replied, sheepishly.

I remembered that night all too well. That was the night of the real kiss.

I called it that because the first one was because of a game. A great kiss, but not one that we had caused. The second one was when she was heartbroken and drunk. The one she initiated.

God, I wanted to be with her so badly that night, but I knew that I couldn't take advantage of her like that. She had been a total mess.

The night in question was the one where I made the move. I didn't know if she would shove me away, or not, but I took the risk. I had seen that she was jealous of Jade and that just fueled me on.

The moment my lips met hers, she froze. I almost backed away, but then something amazing happened. She started kissing me back.

When she wound her fingers in my hair and her body seemed to melt against me, I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. That was still the best kiss that I had ever had. That was when I got the idea in my head that she liked me back but was too afraid to say it.

I tried. I had tried so hard to be with her, without disrespecting her relationship. I wanted nothing more than to disrespect Will, but I couldn't do that to her.

Not when she had asked me not to. I hated that mother fucker with a passion. Listening to her talk about everything that he had put her through just made it stronger.

"Don't worry about it. You made up for it with that kiss." I said, wryly.

"I didn't kiss you! You kissed me!" She exclaimed, as she pushed my shoulder.

I laughed and nodded.

"I did, but you definitely kissed me back. Even pulled my hair. I remember that being the first time a girl had ever done that to me. So, thanks for letting me know that I like that sort of thing."

"Oh my God." She whispered in mortification.

I laughed again and put my arm around her.

"You wanna finish telling me about this stuff, or do you want to take a break?" I asked.

She settled back into my side and sighed.

"No, if I'm going to tell you, then it needs to be now. I won't be able to if I'm sober, so I might as well get it over with. I need another drink though."

"Damn, really? Shit, Callie, you're not gonna be able to walk. Think you might wanna slow down? Didn't you tell me that you rarely drink nowadays?"

She nodded. "I don't, but tonight, I do. Will you please get me another drink? Pretty please?" She looked up at me and poked out her full bottom lip in a cute little pout.

"That's not fair." I replied, huskily, as I stared at her lips.

She smiled and nestled her head into the crook of my arm.

"Never said I fight fair." She murmured.

I sighed and moved to get up. She moved out of my arms so that I could. I immediately missed her being there.

"Don't move. I mean it, Callie. Sit your ass right there and don't fucking move." I said, sternly.

"Okay, DAD." She replied, rolling her eyes.

I almost said something about being her daddy, but I refrained from doing so. Those little retorts came easily to me, when I was comfortable, but this wasn't really the time, so I let it go.

I hurried back into the motel room and immediately went to the drink table. I was in the middle of mixing the pink lemonade in, when Sherri popped up next to me.

"How is she?" She asked me.

I glanced at her and smiled. She still looked the same, just a little older. She kept her hair platinum blonde now, and a lot shorter than it used to be, but still long.

I saw Shawn watching us out of the corner of my eye, so I kept my distance. Lord knows that I didn't need any drama there.

"She's okay. She's talking to me about what Will put her through, so she's going through these drinks like its water." I replied, with a sigh.

"Damn, really? She hasn't even talked to me about all of that, yet...just be careful with her, okay? I'd hate to have to hurt you, Colby." She responded.

I saw the glint in her eyes, so I knew that she wasn't kidding. She loved her cousin.

"I promise. I'm not trying anything. I'm just being a listening ear, Sherri. I promise." I replied, softly.