The Choice (a Painful Past)

174

"Did you practice safe sex, Callie?" My mom asked me.

"Momma! I can't believe you just said that! Stop!"

She let out a joyful laugh. Enjoying embarrassing the shit out of me apparently. I snuck a glance at Colby, knowing that my face looked like a fucking tomato.

My mind flashed back to just a few moments ago, when I realized that his hand was resting on my naked side. I could practically still feel his fingertips caressing me.

He just smirked at me. Cocky fucker. Somehow, he knew that whatever was said was in reference to him. Probably my tomato face.

Why did he have to sleep shirtless? He had definitely filled out since we were kids. The tattoo on his chest kind of reminded me of Kingdom Hearts, a video game that was our favorite when we were kids, but there was something that wasn't quite right about it.

"Take your time, sweetie. I'm doing fine. Love you." She replied, giggling like a 12 year old.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. Damn it, I loved this woman with my entire heart.

"Okay. Love you too. Bye." I said, before disconnecting the call.

I looked at Colby again, praying that my tomato face had, at least, lessened to the inside of a mild red grapefruit.

"One more call. Gotta call Denise and check on Ben. He's probably still asleep, since he likes to stay up all night, when he spends the night with Xan. I'm going to take it outside though, so I can smoke a cigarette." I said, as I tossed the blanket back.

He sent me a disapproving look, which put me on guard.

"Don't start with me, Brock. When you put your vape down, I'll put the cigarettes down." I said, haughtily.

He laughed and held his hand out, like he wanted me to shake it.

"Deal." He replied.

"Wait, what?" I asked, blinking. "No, not yet! The fuck? Let a girl prepare for it first!"

I really felt a sense of panic at the thought of having to quit smoking. I had done it before. A few times, but it never stuck.

Something in my life would always happen that caused me high stress, which always called for a cigarette, or two, or ten. He started to laugh at me, so I just rolled my eyes and grabbed my phone.

What was that look?

Was it fear in his eyes?

"Are you okay?" I asked, scrutinizing him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Why?" He asked, with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"I don't know. You almost looked...scared, for a minute there." I murmured.

There was definitely something that he wasn't telling me. I guess he didn't really have to, though. We were just friends, and he was, in no way, entitled to share his thoughts with me.

"Scared? Me?" He scoffed, as he puffed out his bare chest. "Never."

"You're such a dork." I laughed, as I grabbed my pack of cigarettes. "Good morning, guys." I said, when I saw that Sam and Nate were awake.

"Morning." They replied, glancing up at me.

Sam was sitting back against the headboard, with his laptop in his lap, while Nate was at the sink brushing his teeth. I hurried out the door and went to sit at the top of the stairs. I found Denise's contact and pressed it, before I lit a cigarette and let it dangle from my lips.

"Hey, Cal! What's up?" Denise answered.

"Hey! I was just doing the usual check in on Ben." I replied, with a smile.

"Yeah, you're a little late. I was beginning to worry about you." She laughed. "You didn't even bug me last night, or him, so I take it you had fun with Sam and Colby."

I blushed, even though there was no one around me. "Yeah, I had a good time. It was nice, reconnecting with Colby. It felt like we were kids again, in a way. To be honest, some of it is hazy, because I got drunk as shit." I replied.

"No, really? Not my Callie!" She exclaimed, in an overexaggerated way.

"Oh, shut up." I muttered.

"Damn, I would've left both of the kids with Bryon and came to party, if I had known." She kept egging it on.

"No, you wouldn't have." I sighed. "And you know you wouldn't have, because you're like me. You don't trust anyone else with those kids, not even Bryon. Yet anyway. I see wedding bells in your future and then, you'll have to let him watch the boys." I teased. "You might as well tell him to move in, because he's always there anyway." There was a sudden silence on the other end that surprised me. "Denise?"

"Hmm?" She hummed.

"Are you KIDDING ME?!" I shrieked. "HE MOVED IN! WHEN?"

"How do you do that?" She laughed. "Before Ben's party. I didn't want to tell you until things on your end calmed down. So, after the party, but then I heard from Colby, so I decided to wait until they left. We can talk about that later though! Run down, Bryon played the game with Xan and Ben till 4am, so they're all still sleeping. Bryon has night shift tonight. Tell me everything about last night! I could see the attraction you had to him. I can't say I blame you, either. Mans is hot with a capital H. Is he still in love with you?"

I rolled my eyes. "He was never in love with me, Necee. He had a crush, for some strange reason. We were kids. We've always been just friends...it was a little tense at times last night though." I replied, as I pulled at a thread on his sweatpants and smiled. "I did kiss him." I murmured, quietly.

The girl had super hearing.

"YOU WHAT? OH MY GOD! HOW WAS IT? STILL AMAZING?" She practically screamed.

I winced against the harshness.

"He got better with age." I giggled.

I really did feel like a teenager again, as I sat and talked with her about it. I gave her all the little details, including how he made my stomach flutter, my heartbeat faster, and just how soft and talented those lips were.

"Oh, but to dampen the mood, I got like a million texts from Will." I muttered. "He always has to ruin everything."

"Oh." She said, flatly, then fell silent.

"Oh no, Necee, what? What did he do?" I whined.

"Um, well, I wasn't going to tell you, but I don't want you to pop onto Facebook and see it, or have someone else mention it to you." She replied, hesitantly.

"What?" I demanded, already feeling sick from the dread that was filling my stomach.

"He made a post really early this morning. Just saying some nasty things about you and Colby. Mainly you though. I commented on it, because I'm sick of his shit, Cal. He can't talk that way about you, when he's the total fuck up." She exclaimed.

I could hear the anger creeping into her voice.

"Ugh, I really can't stand him sometimes." I muttered.

"I don't know why you're still so damn nice to him. He's a piece of shit. He said something about Colby cussing him out though. When did Colby talk to him?" She asked.

"Oh, we ran into him and Kelly at the liquor store yesterday. They had a few words. It wasn't serious though." I replied.