Beyond Broken(51)

Caleb was caught off guard for a moment, but then his features darkened. "You are just something that amuses me at the moment. A toy. A plaything. Don't think for a second that you're in any way special to me, especially something that I'll get jealous over."

"Tell me more," she said, propping her head on her fist.

That surprised him. Maddie watched him falter. "You-you … "

"You're so full of it, Caleb," she told him. She leaned closer to him until their faces were level with one another. "This is what you do. Your modus operandi. You try and say things that you think will hurt me to push me away. But I don't think for a second that you actually mean them. You told me yourself that you have a temper, that you say things you regret. Why would this be any different?"

Caleb went furiously silent.

"I know you feel something for me," she told him softly. "You asked to come home with me last night."

He interrupted. "Maybe because I just wanted an easy fuck."

Maddie tried not to flinch and clenched her jaw. Rolling her eyes in exasperation to cover it, she retorted, "Not so easy, after all, considering I told you no."

"For now."

"You're unbelievable."

Caleb smirked and pushed away, returning to his work. Maddie saw the way his shoulders were bunched, muscles so tight they bulged, and she knew she'd gotten to him. She'd hit a nerve.

"Why do you do it?" she asked. "Why do you try and push people away?"

"Not people," he corrected. "Women. And you know why? Because they've never given me anything but fucking problems."

"So that's it then?" she asked. "You've had bad relationships."

"That's it?" he repeated, incredulous, blazing eyes turning on her. "You have no fucking idea what I've gone through, princess, so don't try to compartmentalize my life so you can understand it."

"That's not what I meant, Caleb," she said, frowning. "You're right, I don't know what you've gone through. You won't tell me."

"And don't count on me ever telling you."

Maddie took in deep breaths, pausing, because she knew this conversation would go nowhere fast. She'd lied a little. She'd heard a rumor in high school. Perhaps she'd known a little of what he'd gone through and it made her both sad and angry.

Suddenly, she wondered if this was the right time to tell him. She was starting to feel like she was lying to him by not telling him. Would he be angry? Would he lash out at her? Probably. But they were already arguing. Why not get this out in the open while she had the courage?



       
         
       
        

Taking a deep breath, she asked quietly, "You don't remember me, do you?"

He stopped what he was doing. His brow furrowed as he stared at her. "What?"

She looked down at the floor of the garage briefly to avoid the intensity of his gaze and then met his eyes. "I'm Thomas Ashby's sister. We all went to the same high school together. I was two years younger, a freshman when you guys were juniors."

Caleb's lips parted but he didn't say anything. Maddie could see his mind working, trying to place her, but couldn't.

A small, bitter smile came over her lips. "I guess I was quite forgettable," she said, looking down at her palms. "But I didn't forget you. One time, I slipped in a puddle of water in the school cafeteria and face planted in front of hundreds of students. They all laughed and whispered, but you were the only one that helped me up. You told them all to 'fuck off,' I believe." Recognition finally dawned on his face. "But what I remember most," she began slowly, "was that you sat with me in an empty courtyard and let me cry when my father died."

Breath blew from his lips. "That was you?"

"I guess I was chubbier back then," she said, forcing an awkward smile, "and I had glasses, but yes, that was me."

Caleb went silent again as he ran a hand through his thick, dark hair, looking around the garage, trying to process it all. "Jesus."

"I've never forgotten you," she told him softly. "So, imagine my surprise when my car breaks down and it's your garage that I happen upon. I thought I was seeing a ghost. I hadn't seen you in years. Thomas hadn't heard from you since high school. For some reason, I never expected to see you again."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, not looking at her. He was looking out at the dark sky as the last streaks of the sunset were fading fast. "What are you playing at?"

"I'm not playing at anything, Caleb," she said, pushing herself off the bench to land on her feet. She approached him, warily, like he was a spooked animal who'd attack at any moment. "I just wanted you to know that … that … " she paused, wondering how to say what was on her mind. "That I may know more than you think."