This is how it goes with Sonny and me. We banter around the same stuff.
“Wounded.” He slaps a hand to his chest. “I’ll show you what a big heart I have when I get up at the butt crack of dawn tomorrow and make my awesome pancakes for you.”
Sonny does make the most amazing pancakes.
I rest my chin on my hand. “So, does that mean you won’t be bringing tonight’s hookup back to our apartment?”
He flashes me a grin. “Well, I can’t make any promises, except I do promise to make those pancakes for you, whether the hookup is there or not.”
I shake my head, laughing.
“So, you two coming or not?” Van asks Cale and me, already halfway out the door.
“Sure.” I lift my butt from my seat.
Cale points a finger at me and says, “Stay put.”
I pause midair, my brow raised at him. “Um…what?”
“We need to talk,” is all he says. Then, he looks at Van, who seems amused at our exchange. “Text me where you are, and we’ll meet you there.”
The minute the door closes behind Sonny and Van, I’m on Cale. “Um, what the hell was that?”
“That was me knowing something is up with my best friend. You were fine before we left for the studio. Then, you took a call, and your mood went to shit. Who called, Ly? Was it him? I know he still calls you all the time—”
How does he know that? I haven’t told Cale that he calls me every day because I know it would piss him off.
“Hang on.” I lift a hand, stopping him. “He doesn’t call every day. And even when he does, I don’t answer.”
“Don’t bullshit me. He calls you every goddamn day. I know because you have that depressing ringtone set for him.”
Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” is his ringtone because, well, I want him to cry me a river.
“I know you, Ly. You’re bound to cave soon and answer his calls…because you still care about him.”
My eyes snap to his. “I don’t care about him, not anymore. I’m not that stupid, blind weak girl I used to be.”
He moves two chairs closer, so he’s sitting in front of me. He takes my hands. “You were never stupid, blind, or weak. You’re one of the strongest people I know, but you have a good heart, a kind heart. I know what he meant to you.”
I grit my teeth. “It wasn’t him who called.”
“Who was it then?”
I pull my hands free and cross my arms over my chest. “Does privacy count for nothing these days?”
I’m being a bitch, and Cale is the last person I should be a bitch to, but all my pent-up anger from before is desperate to spill out.
“Not when it takes the smile off your face that I’ve spent the last ten months trying to get back on there.”
That stings. I look away from him. “If you must know, it was Aunt Steph. She was calling to tell me that…Dex has joined a new band. He’s in LA. Moved here a few days back.”
I hear Cale’s sharp intake of breath.
“He’s here? In LA?”
“Yep.” Meeting his eyes, I nod.
His jaw is working angrily. I hate that he’s angry because of this, angry for me.
It’s my turn to take hold of his hand. Squeezing, I say, “Cale, I’m fine.”
“Yeah, sure you are.” He pulls his hand from mine as he leans back in his chair. His face all red with anger, he yells, “Motherfucker! He knows you’re here, Ly. He knows, and he should’ve stayed the hell away, like I warned him to.”
“It’s not a big deal.” It is so a big deal. “And we’re going on tour in a week.” Hopefully. “I probably won’t even see him between now and then.”
“He’d better stay away. I swear to God, if he comes near you, I’ll kick his ass, like I should’ve done the moment he broke your heart.”
Cale is overprotective of me. He’s always had that big-brother syndrome when it came to me. It increased tenfold when Dex betrayed me. And I know Cale is hurting over it, too. Dex was his oldest friend, his best friend. Cale misses him. He’ll never admit it to me, but I know he does.
“Cale…don’t get mad, but I was thinking maybe you should make contact with Dex.”
“What?” He rears back like I just slapped him.
“Just hear me out.”
“Sure, go on.” He gestures an angry hand at me. “Enlighten me with your wisdom.”
“Don’t be a bitch.”
That raises a small smile from him.
“Cale, Dex was your best friend before all of this, and I know you miss him. It wasn’t you he betrayed, and when I made you choose between him and me…with the band…I should have never done that.”