Expecting her to grimace, her eyes instead searched the room to find him sitting in a chair next to his dad. “How are you, Caleb?”
His expression wary, he said, “Good. I’d ask how you are, but I already know.”
“Are you hungry?” I asked my mom.
“No, just tired,” she replied, closing her eyes.
I turned to Scott. “Is she allowed to sleep?”
“Yes, but the nurse will be back to wake her in an hour.”
My mom cursed, surprising a laugh out of me.
“Okay, go back to sleep, mom. Scott is spending the night with you and I’ll be back in the morning to see you and Chance.”
“Your dad?” she asked.
“He’s with Chance. I’m spending the night with Cece.”
“Bye, honey,” she mumbled.
I squeezed her limp hand. “Goodnight, mom.”
I wrapped up my leftovers and tossed the crumpled ball into the trash can by the door. Scott pulled me into a hug as I reached him. “I’ll watch over her.”
“Thanks, Scott.”
Caleb and I were in less of a hurry as we left the hospital. “Can you take me home so I can pack a bag and drive myself to Cece’s?”
“Sure,” he said, pointing his car toward the freeway.
“Can I have my phone back?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Jerk,” I snapped, making him chuckle.
I used a hair tie to pull my hair back in a low ponytail and rolled down my window as we winded around downtown on the freeway. The summer evening air was refreshing. Caleb turned it to an alternative rock station and an upbeat indie pop song came on. The drive to my dad’s house was short now that rush hour was over. The sun had set and the large buildings of the Denver Tech Center were aglow with what I figured were the night cleaning crews hard at work.
My dad’s house had cost a mint, being so near the Tech Center in Englewood. They’d tried to replicate the DTC up north in Broomfield, close to my mom’s house, but with the ups and downs of the economy it never took off. Living down here was much more chaotic.
Caleb pulled into our driveway, shutting off the engine. “I need my phone before you go.”
Instead of giving it up, he opened his door, getting out and coming around my side. I stepped out of the car, holding a palm up for my cell. Deliberately ignoring my silent request, he took my hand in his. “I texted Cece while we ate, told her I’d spend the night with you at your house.”
“What?”
He reached his free hand into my purse, pulling it out when he’d retrieved my keys. “There we go.”
“You’re not sleeping here.”
He shot me a look I pretended not to understand. “We don’t have to sleep.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“If you love something let it go free. If it doesn’t come back, you never had it. If it comes back, love it forever.”
-Doug Horton
CALEB
Gianna’s eyes were wild with what I identified as fear, but there was something else there, too. Excitement?
I ran a hand over the scruff on my jaw as I took a look around the bottom floor of Gianna’s new home. “I’ll have to borrow your dad’s razor in the morning.”
She followed me into the kitchen where I opened the fridge and took one of her dad’s beers. Keeping my eyes on her, I drank from the bottle. My beautiful girl was on the other side of the granite bar, gripping the back of a fancy barstool. “Can I have my keys back, Caleb?”
“Nope.” Like I’d be stupid enough to help along her escape plan.
She got bottled water from the fridge, gulping it down angrily. Some of it spilled out of the corner of her mouth, making me laugh. She slammed the half-empty plastic bottle on the counter. “I’m going to bed.”
“Aren’t you going to show me the guest room?” I asked, trailing her up the stairs. Her ass in those jean shorts was criminal.
She stopped at the top, turning halfway. “Sleep on the couch in the basement!”
My lips tipped up at her smart mouth. Fuck, I missed that. “Do you need me far away so you’ll keep your hands to yourself?”
Only Gianna sneering could be adorable. “You wish!” Her boldness disappeared as she ran to her room and slammed it shut, locking it.
I stared at the white door and began laughing. Who did she think she was dealing with? As if that flimsy lock on the doorknob could keep me out.
Whistling loudly enough for her to hear, I opened the first door after hers. It was a bedroom filled with boxes, so I closed it to try the next, a closet. Across the hall from it was an open door showing a bathroom. At the end of the hallway the door opened to a spacious master bedroom.