Take it All (Blinded by Love) (12 page)

Lennox, sitting back on the couch, looked over at her dad as she laughed, “Dad!”

“Serious Chuck, if he’s not a sports guy then that’s okay, but if he is– all the better, just as long as it’s hockey,” he looked at her and winked, a grin pulling on the top of his lips. “I’ll even settle for baseball.”

Lennox shook her head laughing as she turned back to the television. She focused on the screen as her team of copper and blue took the ice and got set for the national anthems. Watching the team skate around their end and then take their spots on the bench and ice, her mind wandered to Caleb, and if he was a hockey fan. Growing up, and when she was old enough to think about it, she always said she wanted to be with a guy who shared the same love of hockey. Not only because it would give them something to have in common, something fun and important to her, but also because her dad would like him too.

“Dinner will be ready in about half an hour,” her mom said coming into the room, “so around five, or just after.” She sat down next to Jason, and his arm instantly wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into him.

“I’m going to put a load of laundry in then,” Lennox announced, tossing the blanket to the side and standing up.

“Now? But the game,” Jason said, his head whipping in her direction as his hand shot out, pointing at the television.

“I know, I’ll be quick,” she assured him, “mom will watch with you.”

“Yeah, honey, I’ll watch with you.” She reared back and looked up at him with a grin, “Did your team get a touchdown yet?” she asked, trying to keep a straight face as she watched his expression fall and turn blank before catching on.

“You’re lucky you’re so damn beautiful,” he chuckled, as he dipped his head and kissed her forehead before turning his attention back to the game.

Lennox chuckled to herself as she left the room and made her way up the stairs. There were times she couldn’t believe who her parents were. She couldn’t wrap her head around them and how in love they were with one another after all their years together and how young they were when it all began. Granted, over the years she witnessed a few fights that ended with her dad sleeping on the couch for the night but that was all it ever turned out to be, no more than a night apart, at least when they were arguing. The odd fight aside, her parents were very affectionate and aware of one another when they were around. It was the little things she noticed, the things most people may miss, or not think anything of, but Lennox saw and watched it firsthand. Whether it was when they were driving and her dad would hold out his hand then instantly her mom’s hand joined his, their fingers locking. Or if they were sitting down for a meal and her mom or dad forgot something, the other always knew, as if they could read one another’s thoughts. They knew when something was up with the other with only a single word spoken; they were connected.

Walking into her room, Lennox heard her cell phone ringing on her bed. Rushing in and jumping on her bed, stomach first, she grabbed her cell phone, and without looking to see who it was she answered with a cheerful, “Hello.”

She waited for the person on the other line to answer but they didn’t. Giving it another second, in an almost sing song voice she again said, “Hello, anyone there?”

“Hey Lox.”

Her heart pounded at the sound of his voice, and then started racing quickly in her chest. Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she sat in the middle of her bed, nervous and not sure what to say. “Lox, you there?

Swallowing hard, she cleared her throat and prayed her voice didn’t crack, when she said, “Caleb, hi.”

“Hey, thought I maybe lost the connection or something,” he said with a nervous laugh.

He was the last person she expected to be answering her phone to, even when his voice was the one she’d been waiting to hear. “Oh, sorry, I uh... dropped the phone,” she said, slapping her hand to her forehead, “I mean, it slipped from my hands because I didn’t have a grip on it.”

Caleb’s laugh floated through the phone and into her ear, sending tiny waves of warmth through her body. “I know what you meant.”

Sitting in the middle of her bed, her phone glued to her ear, with the one person she’d been hoping to hear from, and she had no idea what to say. It was as if his voice stunned her, making her mind forget how to make conversation. “What’s up?” she blurted out, her voice higher than she liked.

She listened to him exhale, a breath she assumed was full of smoke, before he said, “I’m sorry I haven’t called you or anything the last couple days, I wanted to but... I lost my phone and haven’t been able to find it, so I bought a new one.”

Lennox didn’t realize how much tension she had in her shoulders until she felt herself relax as Caleb spoke. He hadn’t changed his mind or anything, it was all just a mishap with a missing cell phone. “Oh, that’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

“Hope you’re not mad or anything, and that I can still take you out tomorrow night,” he asked, and Lennox couldn’t help it as she smiled to herself upon hearing the nervousness in his voice.

“I’m not mad, Caleb,” she told him truthfully, “and yes, you can still take me out tomorrow night.”

“Good, I was worried I fucked up and someone else came along, swept you off your feet, and that I lost my shot.”

Lennox right away thought about Raine and felt a pang of guilt. Not because she wasn’t going to tell Caleb about him then, there was nothing to tell, and she knew the moment their lips touched there was nothing there, nothing but friendship. She felt guilty over the call she was going to have to make to Raine, the call where she was going to explain to him about Caleb and how she felt, and hope he understood where she was coming from and that they could be friends.

“You didn’t,” she reassured him, a smile pulling widely across her face, as excitement for their date bubbled up inside her.

She thought she heard him breathe a sigh of relief before he spoke, “Good, ‘cause I’d have to kick my own ass if I had.”

Lennox laughed as she fell back into her pillows and made herself comfortable, “Wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

“Not unless you dig a guy with a black eye or something.”

“Well... it would up your whole bad boy image a bit.”

His laugh echoed out through the phone, “My bad boy image?”

“Yeah, you know, the whole ‘I’m Caleb, I’m hot, I know how to wear a hot leather jacket and look good, I haven’t shaved in weeks and I have a totally hot, bad ass, tattoo that covers my entire arm’. The only thing missing was a pair of aviators or something,” she said, finishing with a laugh.

“So you think I’m hot ‘eh?”

Lennox’s laugh died as her words came back to her, “Wha– no, I didn’t–”

“You did,” he laughed, cutting her off. “I’ll make sure to shave for our date.”

“No,” she blurted out, not thinking. “I mean, no, don’t shave for me,” she tried covering, not wanting to admit just how much she liked it on him.

“You like it.”

Lennox rolled her eyes, “You’re full of yourself,” she lied.

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t change what I said. You... like it,” his words ending on a whisper, a whisper that caused the butterflies to flutter in her stomach.

“Maybe,” she admitted, her cheeks burning and she was glad he wasn’t in front of her to see it.

“Am I to assume that was a yes?” he asked softly.

There was a change in their conversation, and she could feel it. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it was there, lingering between them. It wasn’t a bad change; it was a defining change, like a crackle, a good crackle. “Always,” she spoke just as soft and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

There was silence between them but it wasn’t an awkward one. She could hear him breathing and she knew he could hear her. Her head was swimming with thoughts about what was happening between them right then; it was almost like they were flirting, but she wasn’t sure, she could just be reading it all wrong.

“Lennox?” he finally spoke.

Releasing her lip, she answered, “Yeah, Caleb?”

“I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty, tomorrow night.”

“Sure, I’ll text you the address.”

“I remember where you live, Lox,” he said, amused and she could hear the smile in his voice.

“I was thinking…,” she started, nervously playing with the loose string belonging to her pillow case.

“You were thinking...” Caleb dragged out, waiting for her to continue on.

“That, maybe, you wouldn’t mind picking me up at my friend Londyn’s house.”

“For you... I wouldn’t mind doing anything you needed,” he said, meaning every word.

“Thanks, Caleb,” her low, whispered voice said.

“Like I said, anything for you,” he paused and, as a nervous habit, she pulled the bottom right corner of her lip up and between her teeth. “I should let you go, and I’ll see you tomorrow at seven-thirty.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Definitely.”

They hung up at the same time, and at that exact moment Lennox heard her mom call up the stairs telling her dinner was ready. She laid there for a moment, gathering herself and sorting her excitement, not wanting to be so obvious to her parents, because they would be able to pick up on something in an instant. Placing her cell phone on her side table, she rolled off her bed and decided to call Raine later. She then headed down to the kitchen to have dinner with her parents.

Lennox paced back and forth in her room, pushing her nerves away so she could finally make the call she should have made the night before. But instead, she spent it watching the game with her folks and avoiding her cell phone, knowing Raine was most likely trying to reach her to set up a date. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say to him or how she was going to let him down gently but having guys interested and wanting to go out with her was all new territory.

Taking a deep breath and blowing it out, Lennox scrolled through her phone looking for his number, as she muttered to herself, “Just dial his number and be straight up with him.”

“Hey,” Raine’s voice greeted after two rings.

“Hey, it’s Lennox,” she blurted out quickly, her eyes fluttering shut as she listened to her voice crack at the end.

Raine laughed through the phone, “I know, caller ID.”

“Oh,” was all she said, as silence lingered between them, making her even more nervous.

“So, what’s up, Lennox, everything alright?”

“I need to talk to you about something,” she said, biting her bottom lip nervously.

“Why don’t I have a good feeling about this,” he said with an uneasy laugh.

Releasing her lip, she sat on the edge of her bed, “Raine,” she started softly, unsure of how to go about telling him, wishing she could just blurt it out and be done with it.

She listened as he pulled in a breath and exhaled before reading her mind, “Caleb called.” It wasn’t a question, but more of a statement, as if he heard something in the way she spoke his name.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, “he called last night, explaining what happened.”

“Hopefully it was a good one.”

“Simple case of a lost cell phone.”

“Yeah,” he said with a tightness in his tone that surprised her, “I bet he did.”

“Raine…”

She heard shuffling on his end before he said something, something she couldn’t understand, under his breath. “It’s okay, Lennox, I understand- I get it.”

“Raine, I’m sorry. Believe me when I say you seem like a great guy, and I feel awful for doing this, but I hope we can–”

“Be friends,” he finished, cutting her off already knowing where the conversation was headed. “You’re breaking my heart cupcake, friend zoning me without a first date.”

Lennox, caught off guard, didn’t know what to say, “I’m–”

His laugh filtered over the line, “Lennox, its fine, I promise,” he said, his tone reassuring, “I just hope this Caleb is a good guy.”

Lennox breathed a small sigh of relief, “I think so, but I mean it, I really hope we can be friends and get to know one another a little more.”

“I think we can do that.”

She pictured him, sitting on his couch, bobbing his head up and down as he answered and she couldn’t help but smile to herself as what he said came back to her and she said, “Good, and Raine?”

“Still here.”

“Cupcake? Really?” she burst out laughing. No one had ever called her anything like that before and coming from someone like Raine, didn’t seem right at all.

“What, you don’t like my special name I came up with, just for you?”

“
You
didn’t come up with it, it’s been around for awhile and I’m not a pastry.”

“This is true,” he chuckled, “How about…buttercup?”

“No.”

“Sweet cheeks?”

“Not a chance.”

“Cookie?”

“Nope.”

“Sugar pie, honey bunch?”

“Raine…”

“Okay, okay,” he said, giving up, “I got it, it’s perfect too.”

“Oh, I hope it’s not food related,” she mumbled.

“Ha, you wish; my food pet names are now reserved for someone else,” he said, faking an insult, “you shall now just be Lennox.”

She burst out laughing and fell back on to her bed, facing the ceiling. “You’re so weird, but also right, it’s perfect,” she rolled her eyes.