From My Heart (8 page)

Edy’s Cookie Dough Ice Cream= Pure Deliciousness.

“So he actually went through with that shot with her?” Bethany asked as she, Gina and I were piled onto their couch watching
27 Dresses
. As soon as the girls picked me up from where the band’s photo shoot was, we stopped at a local store that carried Ice Cream. I hadn’t had it in so long, so I was prepared to gain ten pounds from eating the whole container in one sitting.

At this point I really didn’t care.

Was I jealous of what happened earlier? Uhh yeah, of course I was. If Kallie would have had at
least
a shirt on, I would’ve been cool with the idea because yeah they’re the lead singers of the head lining groups. I get that.

But Kallie Cooper was topless, and my boyfriend was covering up her boobs with his bare hands. I felt like that whole situation was her idea somehow, but I was trying to think more positive about this girl. It was hard, though. Seeing the smirk on her face the entire time the photographer was shooting,

I wasn’t completely mad at Cale. I didn’t want to be some overly-jealous overbearing girlfriend who got pissed every time he was near another girl. But he seemed a little too into it, regardless of whether he was told to smile, frown…whatever.

“Yeah. But if it makes the magazine sell, then I guess have at it.” I sighed, scooping out a huge chunk of cookie dough and putting it into my mouth. It wasn’t even like Cale and I had been dating for that long so he could pretty much do whatever he pleased. I shouldn’t have cared that much about such a stupid photo shoot.

But the naïve part of me took hold and sure enough, my carton of cookie dough was gone by halfway through the movie.

“Really though, Bryn,” Gina said. “If he
loves
you like he says he does then he would’ve asked you about doing that shot with Kallie. He could’ve said no.” She was right, but what was done was done. I had to deal with him almost every day for the next couple of months so I didn’t want to pick a huge fight with him. “That’s honestly why I wanted to come back home. This magazine asked me to do a nude shot and I turned them down. I remembered what my mom told me before Bethany and I left: ‘Remember where you come from, Gina. Don’t let anyone steer you away from who you really are.’ I wasn’t ready for myself to be on display like that. Shit we’re only 18.”

“What are you even trying to say?” Bethany had a confused look on her face.

“I’m just looking out for our best friend here,” Gina replied, scooting closer to me. “All I was really trying to say was don’t succumb to all this crap I hear
some
rock stars like to do…you know, like the drugs and taking pain killers for no reason…”

“Yeah okay,” I scoffed. “Nooo thank you.” We all started giggling and set down our empty ice cream bowls so we could finish the end of
27 Dresses.

I ended up falling asleep on their couch after we watched another chick flick, sleeping straight through the night. I checked my phone the next morning to see if I had any new messages from the guys and there were none. I was pretty surprised. Usually I would get some kind of good morning text from one of them.

I stretched my arms over my head as I watched Gina come out of the bathroom in a tank top and bikini cut underwear.

“Hear from them yet?” She asked, twisting her newly cut dark brown hair into a short ponytail as she made her way into the kitchen.

“Not yet!” I yelled back. “I’m in no rush to get back home anyways. We’re not practicing until late tonight.”

“Well then, we can totally have a girls’ day out and go get our nails and toes done,” Gina suggested. She walked over to Bethany’s bedroom door and pounded on it. “Hey, bitch get up! We’re going out to breakfast and getting a manicure, pedicure!” she yelled loudly into Bethany’s door. I heard Bethany say something incoherently, and within seconds the door was open.

“You’re so lucky our friend is here or else I would kick your butt for that.” Bethany smiled. “Nothing comes between me and sleep.”

“You might have some trouble on the tour bus then,” I told her. “Luke and Raptor have been chomping at the bit to spend time with you again. You’ll probably end up sharing beds first night in.”

Gina and Bethany looked at each other and then to me. Their expressions gave it away that this was what they were hoping for. If that was the case, I’d be taking the farthest bunk from that crazy madness and sleeping with headphones in.

“Before I can say what I wanted to say,” Gina said, “why don’t we hurry up and get ready? Beth and I found a really yummy diner about fifteen minutes from here.” Thank goodness for having two bathrooms. If we all had to share, it would’ve taken us over an hour to get ready, but with Bethany and I sharing a bathroom and Gina in her own, we were fully clothed with makeup in a half hour. We piled into Gina’s brand new Hummer and turned up the music as we drove alongside Detroit morning traffic.

We arrived at The Hudson Café, a place on Woodward Avenue, and I could hear my stomach growl in anticipation.

“You
have
to try the red velvet pancakes, B. “Seriously, they’re so amazing,” Bethany said as we were seated at one of the tables in the center of the room.

I laughed as the waitress came up and handed us menus. I didn’t really care what I ate…I was just plain hungry. Sipping on our orange juices, I settled on what Bethany’s suggestion and got the red velvet pancakes. They ordered stuffed French toast.

“So are you excited that we’re leaving in like a week?” Gina asked me as we waited for our food.

“Yeah. I’m ready to play music for the people again, especially after only practicing in the warehouse and that show on New Year’s.” I replied honestly. “But with that whole photo shoot snag I have to watch Kallie like a hawk. I don’t trust her.”

“Oh for sure,” Bethany said. “But you have us with you and I’m not afraid to kick her ass.” She smiled. “We’ll have to keep those boys in line though. When we hung out with them in Cali they were pretty crazy.”

“Well with Cale’s mood swings, it scares the crap out of me if he’s going to drink too much,” I said truthfully. “I just get too worried he’s going to end up doing something stupid.”

“Like what…fall off stage?” Bethany teased, putting a smile to my face. “He’s a grown man, don’t be such a worry wart. Maybe he’s like, depressed or bi-polar…that might explain the mood swings…”

I had never thought about that before. I didn’t want to be some overbearing girlfriend who worries about their boyfriend, but I also didn’t want to have to wonder if one day Cale would be happy go lucky, then the next day pissed off. If he was either one of those things, he sure hadn’t told me. 

Our food arrived and I dug into it immediately.

“Holy moley, why didn’t you told me about this place sooner?” I muffled in between bites. “I need to come live with you guys. Seriously!”

“You could, you know…” Bethany said, and Gina agreed.

“It’s a three bedroom apartment, B. You’re always welcome whenever you decide not to stay in the loft anymore.”

I decided just recently that I wasn’t going to stay in the loft much longer. I knew Louisa and Alberto—the ones who let me stay in it—would be upset to see me go, but it was time I found something closer to the guys, or like Gina and Bethany mentioned, lived with them. Even though that wouldn’t solve the distance problem.

“I was kidding,” I said. “But I’m probably going to start looking for another place after the tour gets over with.”

“Well, my offer still stands, B.F.F.” Bethany grinned, finishing up what was on her plate.

Afterwards, we found a nail salon that the waitress recommended, so we decided to give it a try. We spent the next few hours relaxing while we had our manicures and pedicures, talking about how excited they were to see all the different cities we would see on tour.

When we were leaving the salon, I had a missed call and voicemail from Cale. As we headed onto the expressway north I listened:

“Hey, Bryn, it’s me. Cale. Your devilishly handsome boyfriend. I really, really hope you’re not mad at me. Please tell me you’re not. I never wanted to pose with her for that picture in the first place, but I felt like I had no choice, ya know? I just don’t want you upset or pissed with me. But anyways, I have a surprise for you back at your loft. Just something to show how much I love you and I’m so lucky you’ve put up with my shit. But yeah…”

Before he could finish his message, my phone lost reception. I was a little hesitant to go home and see what he had in store for me. I still wasn’t happy with him for what happened, whether it was good publicity or not.

We slid, literally, along the downtown road as Gina and Bethany pulled up to Lozano’s, my loft next door.

“Thanks for the amazing day,” I said to them. “Now my fingers and toes are just going to get dirty again in no time, but I needed the relaxation.”

We squeezed into a group hug, and went our separate ways. “I’ll see you guys in a couple of days bright and early!” I shouted, before opening the door to walk upstairs.

“Oh, we’ll be ready!” Gina shouted, blowing air kisses and scurrying off to the car.

I stomped the extra snow off of my boots as I entered my loft, not knowing what I was going to find.

Everything was completely dark. Like I couldn’t even see across the room. That was strange, because I usually kept a small night light plugged in so I didn’t bump into things in the night.

“Hello?” I called out, the thought of someone breaking into my place in the back of my mind. “Is someone in here?”

I flipped the switch next to the door and strings of lights instantly turned on around me, leaving a lighted trail to my bed. I slipped off my boots and socks, feeling the soft cushion of red rose petals beneath my feet as I took the steps to my bed, where yet again, there was a heart made out of white rose petals on the blanket.

I had to do a double take. Did Cale really go through all of this trouble to show me how sorry he was for that picture with Kallie? I sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to mess up the heart he created just for me.

Seconds later, I could hear a faint noise coming from downstairs, inching closer to my door. It sounded like a guitar and sure enough Cale kicked the door open with his boot clad foot, playing chords to “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls as he softly sang the words.

My eyes were glued to his as he walked directly in the same path I did, singing every word
to
me. His eyes trailed from mine down to my lips, and suddenly I wished I had put on lip gloss or something because they were cracked from the cold.

When he finished the song he set the guitar down beside my bed and got down on his knees in front of me so we were both at eye level.

“You didn’t need to do all of this.” I started to get choked up as Cale linked his fingers with mine, giving my hand a squeeze. “Just to say you were sorry…”

“Yes I did, Bryn. I know it bothered you, and I didn’t want you to think I was happy with doing it either,” He replied firmly, pressing his forehead against mine. “If you liked this, just wait until I propose…”

Propose? Was he crazy?

“You better be joking about that, Pelton. We haven’t even known each other for a year,” I scolded him, and he smirked, not showing off his perfect teeth.

“Oh really. I’m hurt.” He pretended to sound sad. “But in all seriousness, when the timing is just right, I am going over the top, and I mean like crazy over the top, calling in the reinforcements, that kind of crazy.”

My mouth then gravitated to his. I had to kiss him. Part of me just wanted him to stop rambling about ‘crazy’ and marriage proposals. His lips met mine softly at first, but soon we both had a hunger inside of us we needed to satisfy. I opened my mouth further so he could slip his tongue in, meeting mine in the middle. His touch on my hands was cold, but I let go of his fingers, slipping my hands under his long sleeve Henley, feeling the warm ridges of his stomach muscles. I scooted my butt back onto the bed mid-kiss, letting Cale lay me down so my head was in the center of his homemade heart.

“I dreamt about this last night,” Cale said, breaking off our passionate kiss. He sat up on his knees, watching me as I squirmed underneath him. “You look so perfect lying there that way. You’re beautiful anyways, but I need to tell you that more because it seems like I’ve been so caught up and…”

I put a finger up to his lips to hush him. “You crack me up when you start to ramble like that…” I teased him, leaning up to quickly kiss him on the lips.

Both of us scooted all the way against the headboard, where we laid down together. He was behind me, wrapping his arms around me so his hands were settled on my stomach.

“So did you have a good day with the girls?” Cale whispered as we were pressed against each other in silence.

“Mhmm. Besides eating way too much ice cream last night. I wish I could go run or something because I feel like I gained five pounds.” I laughed, and Cale squeezed me tighter.

“How come I’ve never seen you that relaxed before?” Cale whispered. “I never knew you liked to do stuff like that.”

“Because I never did that much until last night,” I admitted. “Living at home, I never really had a chance to sit on the couch and watch a movie while eating ice cream. My parents would let me sleep over at Gina’s or Bethany’s sometimes if I had made up the excuse we were studying, and then we would dive into a tub of ice cream, splitting it three ways.”