One More Time - Ali Parker Page 0,68

sounded a lot like panic in her voice. I waited what felt like ten minutes before she finally opened the door.

It’d only been days since I’d seen her, but the sight of her took my breath away. Those forest green eyes were wide in surprise, gorgeous pools that I would’ve fall into if I could’ve. Her long blonde hair had been pulled back into a messy bun low in her neck, tendrils hanging loose over a black U2 shirt.

Seeing her back in one of her old band shirts made my heart swell and feel warm. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but it wasn’t one that I objected to. Her toned legs and that luscious ass were hidden beneath black tights, the shape of her body making mine come alive despite her modest clothing.

“Caleb.” She just about whispered as she looked at me, blinking like she thought she was imagining me there. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk. Do you have a second?” I had no intention of leaving here until we talked, even if it meant sitting my ass down on the carpet outside her room and waiting until she was ready to. Jared’s words had haunted me all night the previous night and had stuck with me all day.

He was right. I was a coward if I just walked away. I didn’t know what it was, but something had happened in between that perfect morning after Kelly and I had decided to give it a real try and that day that she came to see me after Elizabeth had been by.

I needed to know what it was that had changed. More specifically, what had changed her mind about being with me. Then I needed to try changing it back, to convince her to give me a chance.

Kelly gave me a long look, nodded once, and stepped aside. “Sure, I have a minute or so.”

Dizzying relief made my body feel lighter. Step one of the plan was complete. She’d agreed to talk to me. So far so good.

“Floor’s yours,” Kelly mumbled, not quite meeting my eyes. She went to sit on her bed as I stood just inside her door, shutting it behind me. “Have a seat if you’d like.”

I shoved my hands in my pockets and leaned against the door, not trusting myself to go any deeper into her room, not yet. Kelly was on a bed, looking like all the dreams I’d had about her since she’d left me.

Being near her and a bed at the same time wasn’t a good idea, not until I’d said what I came to say and, hopefully, got her to agree to give me a second, third—whatever—chance. I got straight to the point. Mincing my words would only waste more time.

“I’m not ready for things to end between us,” I admitted, my heart pounding as I said the words. “I was an idiot to let you walk out that day, but here I am. And I’m telling you the truth. I’m not ready to let you go just like that. Maybe it’s selfish, but I had to tell you.”

“You’re not selfish,” she mumbled, tucking her knees to her chest and looping her arms around them.

The way she was sitting made it look like she was trying to protect herself from something. It hit me with the force of a ton of bricks that it was me she was protecting herself from. “What happened, Kelly? Please tell me.”

“Caleb, it’s not...” She trailed off, gulped in a deep breath of air, and tried again. “It’s not anything that you’re thinking. It’s just for the best this way. You’ve only just gotten closure about Elizabeth. You’ve got a lot of stuff to work through from that.”

This was about Elizabeth? Kelly was the one who wanted me to talk to her, and thanks to that, I was finally ready to give relationships a chance again. I was confused as balls of thread that got all tangled in a washing machine. “Yeah, I have gotten closure from that now, but I’m not sure why that means we’ve gotta end.”

“It’s just for the best this way,” Kelly breathed, but I could see her fighting with herself. There was something she wasn’t telling me.

It was obviously something about Elizabeth or the talk I’d had with her. “I’ll admit that Elizabeth hurt me, and I’ll admit that I’m afraid of getting hurt like that again, but that doesn’t mean that I’m walking away from this. I’m done walking