Again, Kevin hesitated before answering, but when he did, I felt like he’d thrown down the proverbial gauntlet.
“I’m going to answer the phone when she calls. And I’m hoping when she does call, she’ll be open to hearing what I have to say. I don’t intend to ‘fuck with her,’ as you so eloquently put it. But I do intend to straighten some things out.”
“Your call, man. But know I’ll be there every step of the way. You say one word to her I don’t like and I’ll find a way to end it. I promise you that.”
There was another pause on the line, then he spoke again, sounding a little more resigned. “I can’t say I appreciate the early morning wake-up, but I can’t lie. I am glad that Kalli has someone like you looking out for her.”
“Yeah, well, it should’ve been you.”
“Everyone makes mistakes.”
“No, not everyone leaves their kid on her birthday, disappearing for twenty years.”
He let out a loud sigh. “I get what you’re saying. I hear you. I’m going to hang up now since I feel like we’ve both said all there is to say. I’ll be looking forward to Kalli’s call.”
“If she calls,” I said, pointedly.
Another sigh. “Have a good rest of your day.”
I ended the call without responding. Odds were, I wasn’t going to have a good day. I was going to spend the day at work, hoping Kalli wasn’t having a panic attack on her set. I would be worried that she’d call her father while I wasn’t around, while I wasn’t there to make sure he couldn’t reach through the phone and crush her heart with his bare hands again. She’d lived so long without him, but I knew if he disappointed her again, it would take a miracle to not send her spiraling back down into the black hole I’d already managed to pull her out of.
I tossed my phone on her coffee table as I passed by it on my way back to her. Outside her bedroom door, I paused. I scrubbed my hands down my face, trying to calm myself down. I knew if I went in there with nothing but tension radiating off me, she’d feel it. So I took in a deep breath, pushed it out again, and imagined my sleeping girl on the other side of the door, waiting for me.
Calm washed over me.
I pushed the door open, walked back to the bed, crawled in, and wrapped my arms around her. She didn’t wake, but she did stir, pressing her body into mine, finding a comfortable position, then melted back into me. I pressed my face into her hair, which lay splayed across my pillow, and I tried to fall back asleep.
Sleep wouldn’t come back to me that morning, but being with my girl who was safe and warm in my arms, well, that was better than an extra few minutes of rest anyway.
“You’re done with your night shoots, right?”
Kalli was standing at her counter, spreading cream cheese on a bagel. I’d been watching her all morning, trying to figure out where her head was at. For the most part, she was acting normal, not at all as though she’d gotten letters from her absentee father the day before which had left her reeling and crushed. I figured she was either doing okay, or she was tamping down everything and trying to act okay for my benefit.
“Yeah, babe,” I said, stepping up behind her. I pulled her blonde hair over her shoulder and pressed my lips right below her ear, loving the way she shivered against me. “I’ll be home tonight.” My hands ran down to her waist and then I gripped her hips, pulling her ass right against me.
“If I didn’t love everything you were doing to my body right now, I’d call you a jerk.” Her voice was breathy and light, obviously turned on. I left one hand on her hip, but smoothed one over her belly, then used my mouth on her neck. She shuddered again, and as much as I wanted to distract her with making her body feel good, I knew it was only a bandage. So I eased my mouth off her skin and brought both my hands to the safer location of her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze. “Okay, officially a jerk,” she said with a laugh as I retreated.
“We’ve both got to get to work,” I said, regret saturating my voice. I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to keep her in that apartment, inside that bubble, where I knew I could help her if she needed me. If we went to work, well, I wouldn’t be around and that bothered me. “Will you make me a promise? Two, actually?”
She turned in my arms, leaving her bagel on the counter where she’d stopped preparing it once I put my hands on her. “Sure. Anything.”
God, I loved her.
“I need you to promise me that if you need me today, if you’re feeling anxious, that you’ll call. I can’t promise I’ll be able to come immediately, but I’ll come. If you call, I’ll be there.”
Her head tilted and her eyes went softer, then her hand came up to press against my cheek.
“I’ll call,” she whispered, then stretched up to kiss me lightly on the lips. “And the second promise?”