WANTED (The Runaways Series Book #2)

Chapter 2 (Part 2)

Caleb

I stole her lips back from Sawyer, a breath at a time, a touch at a time, until I took her back. She slid her hands up my shirt, around my neck and pulled me to her till I couldn’t breathe. She kissed me so hard it hurt, like her lips and tongue were hungrier than they’d been before, desperate, angry, starved like I couldn’t give her enough.

She went from weak to wild in my hands, and forced herself against me like she was forcing herself to be someone she wasn’t anymore. I stopped her, and reached out and held her face in my hands so I could find her again. She was miles away.

            “Look at me,” I said.

She wouldn’t keep her eyes on mine for more than a few seconds, and the same pressure I’d fought so hard to keep in check all night boiled up to a breaking point.

            “Where are you, Hailey?”

She blinked black tears out of her eyelashes, and finally forced herself to look at me straight. I wish she hadn’t. God, I wish she hadn’t.

            “I don’t know. I’ve been wanting to talk to you I just—“

          “What do we need to talk about? Whatever happened with Sawyer doesn’t matter ‘cause it was a mistake, wasn’t it? He pushed you into doing something you didn’t want to, right?"

She stayed quiet and disappeared into her thoughts long enough for me to hold my breath waiting on her words.

        “It’s not really that simple, Caleb—

        “You made a mistake. Tell me it was a mistake and I’ll forget this happened. Just say something, Hailey!”

Her whole body shook when I shouted at her, just slightly, but enough for me to know that I’d scared her. She’d never been afraid of me before. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth.  

She took a second to steady herself, and trained her eyes on mine again, but the seriousness behind them cut apart whatever hope I had in hearing a better version of the truth.

         “I need you to listen to me,” she said.

She didn’t sound like herself—not at all. The Hailey I knew never needed to brace me for anything, ‘cause she never did anything worth worrying about. But the girl in front of me now was starting to feel like a stranger wearing her shell.

          “I’m listening.”

          “I’ve been talking to Dr. Greer about us. She doesn’t know who you are, but she knows I’m with someone and—she thinks that whatever we have isn’t healthy for me—”

That’s why I hated doctors like Greer. They’re licensed to spout bullshit.

             “Do you buy that, Hailey?”

             “I’m on twice the meds I used to be, Caleb. I’m worried about you and me all the time. I can’t even tell Dr. Greer about you, I can’t tell my mom about you, and we hardly see each other because of work these days—“

            “I’m home every night, Hailey. I’ve stayed up waiting for you to come back late the last couple weeks and you were with Sawyer? Did Dr. Greer tell you to cheat on me? Is that healthy?”

            “It’s not like that, Caleb.”

            “Then what is it? Do you like this guy? He sure as hell likes you.”