Toxic Bad Boy (28 page)

Pushing away, she called out over her shoulder. “There’s
leftover pizza in the fridge!”

“
The heart is forever
making the head its fool.”

-Francois de la
Rochefoucauld

GIANNA

“
I’m not making you tacos,
lazy boy!” Cece exclaimed. “I’m the one who’s pregnant, you should
be cooking for me!”

Caleb held up both hands,
a grin tugging at the corners of his lips. “I’m not the one who
knocked you up!”

“
No, that was your
jerkface best friend!” she shouted.

Caleb pulled out his
phone, his fingers moving over the keys. “Jerkface, that’s a new
one.”

Cece tried to grab his
phone away but he lifted it in the air out of her limited reach. My
best friend jumped for it and failed. “Quit texting Dante all the
names I call him!” She spun around on sock covered feet. “Gigi, do
something about your jerkface boyfriend!”

Eating out of the ice
cream container Cece had abandoned, I told her, “He’s not my
boyfriend anymore and I can’t even kick him out of my life, how am
I supposed to control his sense of humor?”

Caleb laughed, returning
to text messaging Dante. “If you aren’t going to cook for me, Cece,
then get your shoes on because I’m hungry.”

This was the second day of
Caleb’s bodyguard duty. My dad was at work and the instant he
walked in the door, Caleb would be sent packing. He’d pretended to
be hurt as I’d kicked him out last night, but I knew he was pleased
with maneuvering his way into the position.

I loved him, but how do
you forgive someone for memorializing the worst moment of your
life?

Cece sat on the stairs and
pushed her small feet into a pair of purple Converse that matched
the tank top she wore. Casually dress in jean shorts and a white
t-shirt, I slipped my feet into a pair of sandals by the front
door.

“
I want KFC,” Cece
declared, regarding Caleb as if gearing up for another
argument.

“
Aw, Cece, it’s so
greasy!” I complained.

“
It’s a pregnancy
craving!” she argued, stomping a little purple shoe. “You have to
give in to it.”

“
Why are you here?” Caleb
asked rudely.

“
To make sure you don’t
seduce Gianna into getting back together with you.”

“
Cece!” I shouted,
embarrassed she’d blabbed to him what I’d told her in
confidence.

“
Well, now I
really
don’t want you
here,” he muttered. “I’ll get you your greasy chicken and stop by
someplace else for Gianna and me.”

Making sure to lock the
front door, we went out to Caleb’s car and Cece climbed into the
back. I was pretty sure Cece wasn’t only hanging out with me to
help me keep Caleb at arm’s length. She was also hiding out from
Dante. He loved her as much as she did him, but his abortion
suggestion had really hurt my best friend.

If Caleb and I were in the
same situation, I’d be heartbroken if he didn’t want to keep the
baby. Dante needed to think about the repercussions of abortion and
what it would mean to their future as a couple. Caleb might have
made a few mistakes over the course of our relationship, but I was
sure he’d never want me to abort his baby.

At a stoplight, Caleb’s
eyes strayed to my bare legs. “Eyes on the road,” I teased
him.

Those hot eyes lifted to
mine. “Then stop wearing stuff that turns me on.” His head tilted
to the side as he put the car in gear when the light turned green.
“Scratch that, don’t ever stop turning me on.”

“
Ah,
hello
?” Cece called from the
backseat. “You have an audience.”

“
I’m sure you heard a lot
worse when Dante was knocking you up,” Caleb told her.

“
Jerkface!”

“
Leave her alone, Caleb.
She’s hormonal,” I scolded.

He shrugged, unrepentant.
“What do you feel like eating, princess?”

After the ice cream, I
wasn’t very hungry. “Maybe a burrito from somewhere.”

“
We could just go to the
restaurant,” Cece offered.
The
restaurant
always
referred to her parents’ place.

“
Sounds good,” Caleb said,
making a right turn toward the freeway. It’d take about twenty or
so minutes to get there.

I spotted Jared coming out
of the kitchen as we were led to a booth by the hostess. The
restaurant had been newly remodeled last March and closed down
during that time. Even the kitchen had gotten a rehaul. The place
made a good profit, but Jared and Cece’s parents were hoping to
bring in more customers with the new look.

Jared didn’t appear
surprised to see Caleb with us. I hadn’t spoken with him much
lately since he’d been busy with graduation and a new girlfriend.
The crew had taken a few weekends off with summer starting and
members taking vacations or getting jobs. We were set to meet up
two weekends from now.

We’d be losing a couple of
the guys when they went to college, but Jared was still going to be
around. He didn’t know yet that Cece was quitting. A replacement
would have to be found for her along with the members who were
leaving.

After the server brought
our drinks, Jared wandered over, his stare on Caleb. “Hey, man, so
they let you out?”

Despite my earlier
discouragement, Caleb’s arm was around my shoulders. He slouched
further back into his seat, letting off an unconcerned vibe. “Got
out early last month. Ian is still stuck there for a few more
weeks.”

Jared and Caleb would
never be best buddies, but at least they could be civil now. Caleb
had bonded with Ian over shared confinement, but miracles didn’t
happen twice.

“
There’s blood,” Cece said
out of nowhere.

“
What?” I asked, thinking
she was making an odd joke.

Her face twisted in pain.
“It hurts.”

Jared gazed down at her
with a confused expression. “Your stomach?”

Her hands were pressed
against her lower abdomen. “Gianna, I think something is wrong with
the baby! I’m bleeding!” Head tilted down, she gazed at her lap in
horror.

“
Caleb, let me out!” I
yelled, pushing at him.

He jumped out of the booth
and got between a dumbstruck Jared and his sister. He kneeled down
in front of a whimpering Cece. “I’m going to pick you up and carry
you out to my car.”

“
We have to get her to the
hospital, Caleb!” I urged him, hovering as he spoke gently to
her.

Cece nodded, sobbing,
“Okay.”

“
What’s happening?” Jared
asked, his tone panicked and confused.

While Caleb carefully
lifted Cece off her seat, I turned to Jared and spoke softly so the
other diners and his sister wouldn’t overhear, “Cece might be
having a miscarriage.”

“
What?”
he shouted.

“
Shh!” I told him. “We’ll
drive her to the hospital, but can you please find your parents and
ask them to meet us there?”

He shook his head slowly
in a daze. “They’re in the back office doing paperwork.”

“
And call Dante,” I added,
following Caleb as he carried Cece out of the
restaurant.

At one final look back at
Jared, I caught his face hardening at the mention of
Dante.

*****

“
I’ll be right outside,” I
assured Cece as Dante lingered in the doorway of her hospital
room

She nodded, her brown eyes
incredibly sad. “Tell Caleb I said thank you.” Dante’s eyes held
equal sorrow as he brushed past me on his way to Cece.

“
Okay.”

Caleb waited in the
hallway with Jared and Cece’s parents. My dad had offered to come
down when I’d called to let him know why I wouldn’t be home until
late. Jared leaned against a wall looking agitated and her parents
were having a hushed argument not far away. They were disappointed
and angry, but overshadowing those emotions was sympathy for their
daughter.

My mom and dad had gotten
pregnant with me while they were still in high school and it had
caused a permanent rift with my mom’s parents. I’d rarely seen them
growing up. My other grandparents were sweethearts, but they’d
retired early and moved away.

Taking a seat next to
Caleb, I let him take my hand. “Cece said thank you.”

“
I wish we’d known
something was wrong. We could have got her here sooner.”

Squeezing his hand, I told
him, “The doctor said there was nothing they could have
done.”

“
Dante is feeling the
loss,” he murmured. “He was just freaked out before.”

Biting my bottom lip, I
watched as Cece’s doctor approached her parents. “I don’t think
she’ll forgive him.”

“
If they love each other
enough, there’s always the hope for forgiveness.”

I tore my eyes away from
the adults to meet his hazel ones. “Not always.”

Bringing up our joined
hands, he kissed mine. “Do you forgive me?”

“
For the
paintings?”

He nodded, his eyes
begging me for understanding.

“
I don’t know,
Caleb.”

Dante exited Cece’s
hospital room, tears streaking down his face. Without a word to any
of us, he rushed down the hallway.

“
You should go with him,”
I told Caleb.

“
I know,” he said, lifting
himself out of the plastic chair. “Jared, will you take Gianna
home?”

The question pulled Cece’s
brother out of his thoughts. “Sure.”

Caleb leaned down,
brushing his lips against mine. “I’ll be over early tomorrow
morning.”

“
I’m going to stay here
awhile with Cece.”

“
Call me when you get
home.”

“
Okay.”

I hesitantly entered
Cece’s hospital room a half hour later after her mom left it. She
was curled up on her side. “You okay?”

Sniffling, she croaked,
“No.”

Taking her hand in both of
mine, I rubbed it. “What happened with Dante?”

Her face distorted in a
wave of pain. “I broke up with him for good.”

Grabbing tissue from her
bedside, I wiped her face with it. “You’re hurting, but so is
he.”

“
He’s probably happy the
baby is dead. It’s what he wanted.”

“
I don’t think so. He
looked really upset when he left earlier.”

“
Good,” she said
viciously.

I’d never seen Cece like
this. The friend I knew normally had a kind heart. “I’m sorry about
your baby,” I whispered. “It’ll get better.”

“
I was scared at first,”
she stuttered through sobs. “But then I was happy about it. Even
though I knew my parents would be upset, I wanted the baby. I think
I would’ve been a good mom.”

Brushing the curls away
from her face, I said, “You’re still going to be a good mom
someday.”

“
What if this happens
again?”

“
It probably
won’t.”

“
Caleb is really awesome,”
she said, surprising me. “He would be happy if he got you pregnant,
he’d be excited.”

“
Maybe, but I’d be the one
who was scared,” I confessed. “And Caleb would forgive me for
it.”

“
I can’t ever forgive
Dante,” Cece asserted stubbornly. “Are you going to forgive Caleb
for the paintings?”

I smiled for the first
time since the restaurant. “Do you think Caleb will give me the
option to
not
forgive him?”

“
No, he has stalker
tendencies,” she joked, taking the tissue out of my hand and wiping
her nose.

My best friend was
beautiful, smart and talented. I liked Dante and hoped he could win
her back, but she was also stubborn and held a mean grudge. But
she’d always be loved because she gave an abundance of it in
return.

“
I’m sorry I’ll miss my
shift as a bodyguard tomorrow,” she said.

“
That’s okay. I’ll have
Caleb bring me to your house to visit you.”

“
You should make him take
you to a chick flick as payback for hurting you.”

“
He’d probably try to get
frisky in the theater.”

Cece’s attempt at a smile
fell. “I’m tired. Will you tell my parents I’m going to
sleep?”

Caressing her face, I
said, “Yes, see you tomorrow.”

“
Bye, Gianna.”

Jared and I went through a
fast food drive-thru on our way to my house and sat eating our food
in the parking lot. I finally got my burrito, but barely tasted
it.

“
I’m going to kick his
ass,” he said, tossing his half-eaten food into the paper
bag.

“
I think he’s beating up
himself enough over it, Jared. He doesn’t need you pounding on
him."