Beware of Bad Boy(70)

“Uh-huh, sure,” I agreed unconvincingly. “Can I see the picture of me again?”

“No.” He reached over to drop it in his nightstand drawer. I laughed inwardly. Like I couldn’t find it there when he wasn’t around.

Actually, I’d just get it now. I quickly opened the drawer, dug it out and rolled to the other side of the bed onto my stomach. I stared down at the still opened page. There was a picture of an angel that bore a remarkable resemblance to me. The angel wore a long flowing white dress and had thick white feathered wings. “I think it’s beautiful.”

He grunted, taking it away from me again to put it back in the drawer. “It’s nothing.”

That was the thing, though. It wasn’t nothing. It was everything. Being told you’re beautiful your whole life was one thing. Actually feeling like you were, inside and out, was something else. Until I met Caleb, I wasn’t sure beauty existed on my inside. With him in my life, I not only saw that beauty to my core, but also in my world around me. This drawing proved he saw that beauty in me.

I could tell he wasn’t comfortable with me finding the sketch, so I sort of changed the subject. “You’re a really good artist, Caleb. Why don’t you take art class at school?”

“High school art class is for pansies.” He laid on his side next to me with one elbow propping up his head.

I rolled my eyes at his assessment. “Art class is for artists and you should be in it.”

He gave me a look like I didn’t know what I was talking about. “I’m not taking art.”

“Fine, don’t take art at school, but how about a class outside of school? Come on, you might even get to do a nude drawing. Of a woman,” I hastily added.

He raised one eyebrow. “Really, naked chicks? Sign me up.”

Realizing he was only teasing me, I smacked him on the chest playfully. “Yeah, well won’t you be surprised when I volunteer to be the nude model.”

The chest my hand still rested on shook as he laughed. “It won’t be much of a surprise now since you’ve already told me.” He gave me a stern glare. “I’d drag you right out of there before you had the chance to drop your robe.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” I teased.

“No, I’d never pretend to be that. But, I’m your boyfriend and I say who can and can’t see you naked.” He kissed me on the tip of my nose. “And I say only I can.”

Typical boy, not willing to share his toys, not that this particular toy wanted to be shared. “Well, boyfriend, I have homework due tomorrow. I suggest you do the same. I’ll be in my room and you’re not welcome.” I was so glad tomorrow was Friday.

“That reminds me. Don’t make any plans for tomorrow night. We’re going to do number twelve on your list.”

“Number twelve?” I repeated, trying to remember which one that was.

“Yep, I’m taking you out clubbing and you, young lady, are allowed to get as drunk as you want but not so drunk you throw up in my Camaro.”

“I’ll say it again, Caleb. You have a way with words. You have to be the most romantic boyfriend ever.”

“I’m romantic,” he pouted.

Thinking of the drawing, I conceded, “I guess the drawing was pretty freaking romantic.”

“Damn straight, girl. Now tell me why you’ve never gotten drunk while you were out clubbing.”

“The only times I’ve gone to a club have been with the crew and I can’t get drunk if I need to perform. Afterwards, we always go to someone’s house to drink.” I shrugged. “I sometimes get tipsy then.”

“Is that the only reason?” he asked.

I don’t want to think about the most important reason I don’t drink at clubs. It was a year ago and I’m over it now, but not inclined to share. However, this was Caleb and I was beginning to believe I could tell him anything.

“Not the only reason. About a year ago, I went with some of the cheerleaders and football players to a club downtown. Some older guy I danced with bought me a drink and I was too dumb back then to realize what a mistake that was.”

Caleb’s unhappy expression made to want to stop the story there. “What happened after that?” he prompted.

“Don’t worry. Someone stopped him before anything bad happened. My drink was obviously drugged and he almost got me out of the club, but one of the football players stopped him.”

“Josh?” he guessed.

“Yeah, how’d you know? You have to understand Josh wasn’t so bad back then. He was a really nice guy. He’d been asking me out for awhile and after he saved me from being raped by that creep, I finally gave him a chance.”