Forgiven (16 page)

When I slowly woke the next morning, it took me a moment to remember where I was. I looked down and there was Angie’s head resting on my chest—she was still asleep. She looked so beautiful, and so peaceful. I leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead, and it was then that I realized that I’d slept the entire night. Here with Angie in my arms, my mind hadn’t wandered back to that night.

This was the place I needed to be. Angie meant more to me than anyone had, even before that night. I was afraid to put my heart out there—I couldn’t take the pain of losing someone I cared about again—but she made me feel at home.

I wanted to keep my promise to her and make up for all the times I was an ass. I just wasn’t sure where to start. Lying there watching her sleep, I tried to figure out how to show her what she meant to me. I still couldn’t believe how quickly I’d fallen for her. I’d really fucked up the last two weeks, and I still had a lot of groveling to do.

Just as I decided I was going to take her to dinner, I felt her stir in my arms. I looked down and watched her eyes flutter open.

I brushed her hair out of her face. “Good Morning, beautiful.”

She smiled at me, “Good Morning. How did you sleep?”

“Better than I’ve slept in a long time,” I laughed. Her smile was infectious. I rolled so we were face to face.

I leaned over and pressed my lips to hers. I would never get tired of kissing her—she had the softest lips. Pulling away, I brushed my knuckles across her cheek. I wanted to keep touching her.

“Do you have class today?” she asked.

I sighed. “Yeah, I have to head back to my apartment soon to get ready. Your class is done at one-thirty right?

“Yep,” she replied.

I pulled her tighter to me. “I want you to come to my place tonight. I’m going to make you dinner.”

She laughed. “You know how to cook?”

“I do. So will you come over?” I asked hopefully.

“I would love to. Besides, I want you to sweep me off my feet with your mad cooking skills.”

“Let the feet sweeping commence.” I leaned over and once again took her lips with mine. She sucked on my bottom lip, so I deepened the kiss. Kissing her was the most amazing feeling and I was starting to realize that I would never get enough. Slowly I pulled away, I knew I needed to get to class.

“Pick you up at six?” I asked as I pulled my jeans and t-shirt on.

She smiled looking extremely seductive laying there in bed, “I’ll be ready, and I promise Em won’t attack you this time.”

She was fucking sexy as hell, and all I wanted to do was lie in bed and caress her soft curves. I bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. I needed to get my ass out of there before I couldn’t stop myself from lying back down with her. “Bye baby, I’ll see you later.”

No one was in the living room when I left, and I thanked god. I didn’t think I could deal with Emily again—she scared the hell out of me. I left quickly and went to my car before anyone got up.

I got back to my apartment to get ready for class. Josh must have heard me come in—that or he was actually going to be on time for class for a change.

“So I guess things went well last night, ‘cause you don’t look like you spent the night drinking away your sorrows at a bar,” Josh laughed.

I went and sat on the couch. “No asshole, I did not spend my night in a bar. Angie let me stay with her,” I smiled. I was thrilled things had gone as well as they did last night.

“So, I guess she was ecstatic to see you, immediately jumped into your arms, and told you how much she loves you?” he said, fake-ass sappy look on his face.

I shook my head, “Not exactly dude. The shit hit the fan first.”

He walked over to sit in the recliner. “What shit hit the fan?” he asked.

I cringed knowing he was going to give me shit. “Well Nick and I got into it again.”

He leaned his head back on the chair. “Fuck. Coach is going to kick both of your asses.”

I sighed, “I know, especially since he already talked to both of us about what happened Friday night. But I’ll deal with that tomorrow.”

He looked up again almost like he was afraid to ask. “How bad was it?”

“Well, I think I broke his nose.”

He stood up and started pacing. “You’re fucking kidding, right?” He ran his hands down his face without stopping his movements.

I just shook my head and put it in my hands.

He moved back over to the chair and sank back down. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Shit, this is bad.”

I looked back up at him. “Trust me I know, but all that matters is that I convinced Angie that I’m not a raging asshole.”

“I’m sure she wasn’t real thrilled when you slugged Nick,” he laughed.

“Well yes and no—she was pissed off at both of us. He was being a real douche bag. But she wanted nothing to do with me even before I hit him.”

“Well then how in the hell did you get her to listen to you?” he asked with a smirk.

I gave him a disgusted look. “Get your mind out of the gutter bastard. But if you really wanna know, I carried her to her room against her will and locked her in there with me.”

He put his fingers in his ears and shook them around before he lowered his hands. “Are you fucking kidding me? I can’t believe I heard that right?”

I laughed. “No, you heard me right.”

He shook his head. “And you thought that was a good idea?”

“Well no, but I was out of ideas at that point and I needed her to hear me out. Shit, that sounded worse than it was.”

“Umm, ya think?” he asked incredulously.

“Shut the fuck up asshole. Either you want to know what happened or you don’t.”

He waved his hand, urging me to continue.

“Anyway,” I said giving him a look of annoyance. “She agreed to listen if I promised to leave her alone when I was done talking.” Taking a deep breath, I continued. “I told her about my feelings for her, and after that she didn’t want me to leave. If only her roommates were as forgiving as she was,” I grimaced

“Shit, please don’t tell me Emily was home when you dragged Angie to her room?” He shivered.

I groaned just remembering Emily standing there ready to rip me a new asshole. “Unfortunately, she was. That chick scares the living shit out of me. I can’t fuck up with Angie or that spitfire will end up kicking my ass from here to fucking California.”

“I don’t doubt it—that girl is hot as hell but she’s vicious when she wants to be. So now what?”

I smiled, “Well Angie has class until one-thirty, but I’m going to pick her up at six and bring her here for dinner.”

He got all excited, jumping up and down like a fucking cheerleader. “Dude, you’re gonna cook again? I miss your cooking.”

“Don’t act like such a girl. Yeah, I’m cooking—but this is a dinner for two.” I hinted.

He huffed. “Fine I get it, you want some alone time.”

“Don’t pout, I’ll owe you.” I laughed.

“You already owe me! Lucky for you I have plans tonight anyway,” he replied.

I looked at the clock. “Shit, I have to get ready for class.”

Have fun tonight,” he said winking at me, “if you know what I mean.”

“Don’t be a dick,” I said as I walked down the hall to my room. The only thing Josh ever thought about was getting laid.

I got showered and dressed in record time and just made it to class. Calculus III was not my favorite class, but it was a requirement for the engineering program. It felt like the longest hour and a half of my life. I still had to plan the perfect evening—she deserved that and more. Finally the Professor dismissed the class and I went right to work.

Dinner had to be special. I needed to sweep her off her feet so she wouldn’t change her mind about forgiving me. I owed her so much more than one perfect date, but it was a start.

Stopping by the grocery store on my way home, I picked up the things I needed for dinner. By the time I got back to the apartment, Josh was back from class.

When I walked in the door with the bags, he looked up from the TV. “Please tell me you bought enough for leftovers?”

I shook my head and laughed at him, heading for the kitchen. I had started to unpack the bags and put everything away, when Josh walked in to grab a beer out of the fridge.

“Man, it’s only two o’clock. Are you really going to start drinking now, when you have a date tonight?” I stopped what I was doing and turned to look at him. “Wait…why do you have a date tonight? You said you were never doing that again.”

“Fuck off. It’s been a long day,” he scowled.

“Like it’s my fault you finally decided to start showing up on time and actually go to class?” I asked sarcastically.

“Shut the fuck up,” he muttered.

“Stop pouting like a baby. Man up and get your shit done,” I suggested.

“Right, this coming from the guy who’s been a total ass the last few weeks?” he grumbled.

“Yeah, but I’m going to start making up for it tonight,” I said with a smile. “Right now I need to get this place cleaned up. And stop being a crabby bastard, you’re just going to piss your date off.”

“Fine. I’m going to take a nap before I have to pick Julia up,” he said with a yawn.

“Julia, huh?” I went back to unloading the grocery bags.

“Yeah, she kept hinting so I thought I may as well take advantage. Not to mention that she is fucking hot,” he said with a wink.

“Don’t be a dumbass. I have no idea why you’re even bothering to take her out at all. All you’re gonna do is fuck her and leave. Shit the last time you went on a ‘date’ you whined for a full twenty-four hours afterwards,” I reminded him. I wasn’t the best example, because I’d had my share of one-night stands. But not nearly as many as Josh, and I never ran out the door the minute I pulled the condom off. Also, I never asked them out on a date—usually preferring to pick them up at the bar or a party. That way they knew what they were getting into when they left with me.

“Don’t judge, man. Maybe if I take a girl out every once in a while, I might find one worth staying with longer than a night,” he told me, before walking down the hall to his room.

I spent the next few hours cleaning. Our apartment wasn’t disgusting, but it definitely wasn’t clean enough to impress Angie. I loaded the dishwasher and vacuumed the carpet. Before long, it was time for me to jump in the shower and get ready. Everything had to be perfect before I went to pick Angie up—including me. I decided to wear jeans and a button-down white shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. I made sure to set up my iPod before I left so that when we got back it could be turned on with the push of a button.

The table was set for two, with a vase of roses specifically bought for Angie as the centerpiece. When I looked around, everything was ready. Just as I was about to leave, Josh left his room to head for the shower.

“Hey, man, I’ll be outta here by the time you get back. Have fun,” he called over his shoulder.

“Thanks, man,” I called back and left to go pick up Angie.

I was excited to see her again. I hadn’t let myself feel like this for a very long time and it felt good—it felt like I could finally breathe. And sleeping without nightmares? That was a miracle. Angie was changing me. She was starting to fix what had broken two years ago. On my way to the car my phone started to ring.

Without looking at it, I answered the call. I expected it be Angie, but when I said hello the person hung up. I didn’t recognize the number. Whoever it was didn’t leave a message, so it must have been a wrong number. I got in my car and headed to Angie’s.

I pulled up to her building and walked up to the door. Buzzing the door, I prayed that Emily wasn’t home this time. I pushed the button on the intercom and spoke. “It’s Caleb.”

“Hold on lover-boy, I’ll open it up,” the voice said. I wasn’t sure if it was Heather or Jillian—I just thanked God it wasn’t Emily. The door buzzed and I went up the stairs. Heather was sitting on the couch waiting for me.

“Where is she?” I asked.

“She’s in her room getting ready. So lover-boy, what’s your plan to treat my girl like a princess?” she asked.

I almost started to laugh, that was until I took a good look at her face.
Shit
! She was dead serious. It’s not that I wasn’t going to do my best to treat Angie like a princess, but I didn’t want to answer the question wrong. It was bad enough Emily wanted to cause me physical pain—I didn’t want to add Heather to that list. She was tiny, but I had feeling that cute little figure was hiding a raging temper.

“Well…um…” I stuttered.

“Spit it out Romeo, I haven’t got all day,” she demanded.

Damn, were all of Angie’s roommates this feisty? I couldn’t blame them for wanting to protect Angie, but this one scared me almost as much as Emily. I needed to prove to them that I was going to show Angie that she was everything to me. My fucking palms were getting all sweaty, like I was a virgin on prom night. What the hell?

“I’m making her dinner at my place,” I answered.

She looked over at me, “Well that’s a start, but what about after tonight? It’s not exactly like you have a great track record.”

I moved closer, and looked into her eyes. “I’m not gonna fuck this up again.”

She stood up and I stepped back—she was definitely scary! “You’d better not, or your boys will never play horizontal pool again. You catch my drift?”

Did she seriously just threaten to cut my balls off? Luckily I had no plans to hurt Angie ever again. “Heather, that girl means the world to me and I’ll do everything in my power to show her that every day. No matter what, she will always feel special with me.”

I heard a gasp come from the hallway and I turned to see Angie standing there listening. I walked towards her and cupped her face in my hands. Bending down I touched her lips with mine. She looked beautiful in her red top, skinny jeans, and knee high black boots.

I pulled away sooner than I would have liked, but I could feel Heather staring at us. “Hey baby, are you ready to go?”

She smiled at me. “Most definitely.”

I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stairs. She giggled as we made our way out to the car. I just couldn’t wait to have her to myself. Wanting to start off on the right foot, I walked over and opened her door. She got in and I shut the door, before moving back to my side. I climbed into the car, but before I started the engine I turned to her.