Beyond Broken(81)

Maddie held his eyes until the light turned green and then he was speeding towards the freeway, hand clenched on the wheel. She didn't know what made her do it, but she reached over to clasp his hand. "You did the right thing, Caleb."

"Did I? Because he's been enduring that for a year and no one did anything about it."

"How could you have known unless he told you?" she argued.

"He told me he had problems at home."

"Anyone could see that he did," she said. "But who could have known they were that bad?"

"The signs were there," Caleb insisted.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened to him. It wasn't your fault. And now, you're doing the best you can to help him. It can't be easy taking in a teenager."

"He's a good kid. He'll be moving in with us," he said, like he was distracted, and then his eyes strayed to the speedometer and he cursed, letting off the gas when he saw he was going almost 90 miles per hour. "Jesus, you're fucking pregnant," he murmured to himself. "I don't know what the fuck I'm doing anymore. Fuck!"

"Caleb, it's okay," she said, trying to calm him down. The news was finally hitting him. And it was hitting him hard. He was beginning to fully realize the extent of their situation.

His hands were shaking when he pulled off at the next exit and into an empty parking lot close to the freeway. And when he stumbled out of the car for fresh air, Maddie watched him helplessly as he paced back and forth near the hood, hands raking through his hair. It was cold out, but Caleb only had on a thin cotton t-shirt. 

She unbuckled her belt and got out of the car, wrapping her arms around herself and slowly approaching him.

"Caleb," she said softly.

"Get back in the car," he grated, not pausing in his pacing.

"Caleb, come on," she said, shivering. "Let's go."

"I said get back in the goddamn car!"

Maddie liked to think that she had pretty good intuition when it came to Caleb. She knew when to back off and when to push. And right now was a time to push. He wasn't angry at her. He was angry at their situation, as expected, and she knew that he blamed himself, that he somehow thought this was his fault. He was probably a little scared, like her, and when he was scared, he lashed out.

So, Maddie went right up to him and put her arms around him. He stiffened in her embrace for a moment, but then blew out a breath and crushed her to him.

"Why don't you ever do what I tell you?" he rasped in her ear.

"Because I think you like to be kept on your toes," she responded, echoing words that he had once told her.

His gaze told her that he remembered those words well and Maddie's breath caught in her throat at the expression on his face. If she ever thought that he hadn't had feelings for her, all those doubts could be completely erased in that moment.

"Fuck, I missed you, princess," he murmured, threading a hand through her hair.

Even though she knew that she shouldn't say it, she found the words slipping from her mouth. "I missed you too."

And then his mouth was on hers and they were kissing like mad. It was the most intimate, intense, vulnerable thing she'd ever experienced, even more so than being tied naked to a desk. She started crying halfway through, but it didn't stop them. All their fears, frustrations, and hurt came out in that kiss until nothing was left of either of them but their feelings for one another. Completely exposed.

When Maddie finally broke away, she wasn't cold anymore and Caleb's skin was unbearably warm.

"This keeps happening," she whispered, pressing her forehead into his chest. "Why do I keep letting this happen?"

"Why fight it?" he whispered in her ear, pressing a kiss just below it before inhaling her scent. "I'm done fighting it."

"We're bad for each other," she answered honestly.

He tipped her face up. His dark eyes glowed.

"Then let me prove how good we can be too."





TWENTY-NINE





Maddie woke up sprawled on her stomach, with her cheek pressed against something very hard and her legs pinned to the mattress by something heavy. She blinked her eyes a few times and found that she'd been using Caleb's chest as a pillow. He was still sleeping soundly next to her, his dark eyelashes fanning out over the tops of his cheeks. One arm, which had to be numb by now, was tucked underneath her and the other was looped over his head, knuckles brushing the headboard.

Maddie watched him for a moment, feeling more rested than she had all week. The nausea, however, crept up on her. The morning sickness had started a few days ago, the same time as her doctors appointment. If throwing up in the bathroom, mid-appointment, wasn't an indicator of pregnancy, she didn't know what was.