Significance (Significance #1)(27)

“Reunification. And no, you won’t be a freak,” he soothed and swirled his thumb over my knuckles. “They’re just happy for us and hoping that the bonds are coming back. There are a lot of single people out there, but the other clans don’t have the no-dating rule like us. A bunch of them have married since this whole thing started, without imprints. Now, I think they’re afraid the imprints are coming back and they’ll bond with someone else. A lot of these people have kids and stuff.”
“Hmmm, wow.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“Yeah. But don’t worry about the reunification. Everybody’s great. You’ll see for yourself and I can’t wait to go. I hope this is the start of something for our kind. They’ve been worried for too long.”
The rest of the ride was cold, but I could feel his warmth through his shirt. I leaned my helmeted head on his back and held on as I tried to relax and not get worked up again about everything. It didn’t work a few times. Thoughts would creep in about how impossible it all seemed. I mean, I couldn’t go to sleep. What was I supposed to do? And what about this reunification thing? I didn’t like crowds and he was talking about a crowd of three hundred all staring at me like I was somehow the answer to all their problems.
But he would touch my hand, rubbing my knuckles with his, when these thoughts took over and I’d be instantly brought back down. Once he even brought his hand over his shoulder to caress my neck. I didn’t remember Chad ever being like this.
Chad kissed me, yeah, but not hungry kisses. We never used tongues, they were more like pecks. He touched me, but it was just hand holding. He never caressed my face, never tried to go up my shirt or under my skirt, never tried to have sex with me. He never even kissed my neck, ever. And I realize I should be grateful for those things, for him not pushing me too far, but he should have wanted to do those things, right? I mean he didn’t even try, he never talked about it, and I never saw passion in his eyes when he looked at me.
I hadn’t realized what it was I was missing until Caleb.
So when we pulled up in front of my house to see Chad sitting on my front steps, I was more than a little blown away.
Caleb tensed when he saw him, then he pushed down the kick stand. I climbed off and let him help me take off my helmet, but I kept the jacket.
“I have no idea what he’s doing here,” I whispered.
“I’m sure I have a pretty good idea,” he muttered as he took his helmet off. “You want me to go?”
“No,” I said quickly and then smiled at his smug smile.
“Well, at least there’s that.”
We walked up to the walkway. I grabbed Caleb’s hand as he was giving me space. He didn’t want to seem like he was claiming me or grandstanding that we were together now, though, in his thoughts, that’s exactly what he wanted to do.
“Chad.”
“Mags,” he said and glared at Caleb.
I was shocked. Chad was never aggressive. He was nice to everyone and he never thought twice when someone else looked at me before. Why now?“What’s up?” I asked and he looked at me, his expression softening a little. “What are you doing here?” I asked, not unkindly.
“I wanted to come see you before I left to set up my apartment in Gainesville,” he stated and glanced at Caleb nervously. Then he sighed. “I was hoping we could talk.”
“Well,” I said and didn’t know what else to say.
“My dad is letting me go alone for two weeks to get settled in and then I’ll come back to pack. I leave in a few days.” He clucked his tongue. “Maybe we can go get something to eat?”
“I already ate at Caleb’s house.”
He scoffed. “So, first Kyle, now this guy? What are you doing, Maggie?” he asked sweetly, like it was an intervention or something.
“Chad, this is Caleb. Caleb, Chad.”
“Hey,” Caleb said smoothly, but Chad ignored him.
“Caleb is Kyle’s cousin. I wasn’t on a date with Kyle that night.”
“It sure looked like one to me.”
“Well, it wasn’t. It’s always been Caleb.”
“Can we talk,” he said exasperated and glanced at Caleb again. “Alone.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Maggie,” Caleb said and pulled me a little bit away. “Maybe you should talk to him.”
“What?” I scoffed. “Why?”
“Because you need to fix whatever it is that’s wrong with you guys and this way he’ll go to school and not feel like he needs to apologize anymore. He feels guilty.”
“He should,” I insisted and felt my heart spike.
“I know,” he insisted and framed my face with his hands. I sighed. “I’m not saying you should forgive him and run away into the sunset.” He chuckled. “I’m saying it would be better for both of you if you have some—at the risk of sounding cheesy—closure.”
“I guess,” I conceded, “but I don’t want you to go.”
“I’ll just go wait at Kyle’s and let you guys talk for a while. Then I’ll come back as soon as he leaves. Give me your cell.”
I handed it over and he pulled his out, too. After a few seconds of pressing buttons he gave it back. “There, now I’m in yours and you’re in mine. I can’t believe I didn’t have my soulmate's phone number,” he said jokingly.
“Yeah, pretty crazy,” I said and wanted to feel happy and secure like he did, but I just couldn’t.
“Maggie,” he said softly and I looked up at his face. “Are you scared to be with him?”
“No. He wouldn’t hurt me.” 
“Then you’re scared of Marcus? I’ll be right back. You won’t have to worry about falling asleep without me—”
“No, it’s not that. I just don’t want to do this with him right now. He’s leaving and he doesn’t want to leave with me mad at him, but if not for that, he wouldn’t be apologizing to me right now.”
“Hmm. I’m sure it’s more than that,” he insisted. “I’ll be three minutes away. If it gets too bad, just call for me and I’ll come running.”
I cocked a brow at him. “Why do you think he’s here?”
He looked at me closely. “I think he saw you with Kyle and freaked. He’s never seen you with anyone else and it made him jealous. I think he’s coming to ask you to work it out with him, to give the long distance thing a shot or come to Florida with him for school.”
“Nuhuh. He wouldn’t ask that.”
“We’ll see,” he mused.
“You’re not worried?”
He shook his head. “Nah,” he said, but looked at me crookedly. “Should I be?”
I smiled and shook my head. “Nuhuh. No way.”
He smiled and pressed his face to mine. Once again, noses, foreheads and cheeks touching, lips so close, not even an inch between them. His hand came up to my cheek. I breathed him in and nuzzled his nose with mine.
“I want to. So bad,” he whispered.
“Then why don’t you?” I whispered back. I knew we were talking about the ever out-of-reach kiss.
“I told you I’d let you set the pace.”
“You’ve been waiting on me?” I realized that was exactly what he’d been doing. He never did anything I didn’t want to. He never pushed me to do more. Every time he’d pressed his face to mine, he had been waiting on me to close the distance.
“I never wanted it to be said that I pushed you into anything,” he said and leaned back a little to look at me.
“I wouldn’t think that,” I insisted.
“I know, but you already gave up so many choices. I wanted you to have the choice as to when and if we kissed or not.”
“If?”
“Yeah.”
“So if I never kiss you, you’ll be perfectly fine with that?” I teased.
“Well,” he grimaced, “not perfectly fine, but I’ll live.” He smiled. “I just want you to be happy, Maggie.”
This was it, I was going to kiss him. I got closer, licked my lips. He saw and I enjoyed his reaction as he sucked in a breath. I smiled and really liked the idea that I could cause him to be so shaken. He leaned down and put his lips against my ear, making me shiver.
“It wasn’t my pulse that just jumped from 70 to 120,” he said smugly in response to my thought.
I smiled wider and laughed softly, tipping my head to him in agreement. Then I put my hands on his upper arms and pushed myself up on my tiptoes, feeling his nose against mine and... remembered Chad sitting on my steps. I turned and saw him eying us with clear disdain and disgust.
I pulled back with a sigh and heard Caleb do the same. “I’m sorry, Caleb. I forgot all about him.”
“It’s ok. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
I reached up and kissed his cheek, almost the corner of his mouth really, right on his dimple. “See you in a little bit?”
“Yeah,” he said gruffly and nodded.
“I don’t plan on hashing this out for very long, so come back soon, ok?”
“You got it.”
I turned to go to Chad and heard Caleb behind me. “Uh, Maggie?”
“Yeah?”He looked a little embarrassed and smiled bashfully. “A little help here.”
“What—Oh, really?” He needed me to release him, to help him leave. “But why?”