Waiting For August

Part 16~Matters of miscommunication

I'd screwed up. As soon as Caleb ran out the door, without so much as a goodbye, I realized the extent of my screw-up. I dropped to the floor against the hotel door holding my head in my hands. Fuck.

Caleb had taken my refusal to accompany him as rejection. His usual warm smile had slipped from his face. He'd tried to mask his emotions, but I'd felt a flash of radiant heat; a burst of anger and discontent that was smothered as quickly as I'd felt it. Even as brief as it was, it'd been hard to stomach.

This bond that existed between us made it almost impossible to mask our true feelings and motivations. When he was happy to see me, there was never a doubt in my mind that it wasn't the case. He couldn't fake the nervous excitement I'd felt when he met me at the door last night nor the feelings of contentment when he'd curled up behind me before we fell asleep.

The other edge of that sword meant that my feelings were as evident to him in exactly the same manner. The idea of meeting his entire pack had been overwhelming and I'd immediately withdrawn. No doubt he'd felt my reluctance in the same way that I'd felt his disappointment. When it came to Caleb Bishop, I might as well have been an open book, and it was unnerving to have someone read me the way that he could. It was terrifying really. I needed to learn how to mask these feelings, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as simple as buying a pair of sunglasses.

I got up and hurried to the balcony. My hotel room overlooked the back parking lot, and I wondered if there was a chance that I could see Caleb pull away. I scanned the lot for his blue pick-up truck. He had parked close to the backdoor, and looking straight down, I spotted him just as he climbed into his vehicle.

I was suddenly overcome with the urge to go after him. To stop him from leaving. My chest was growing strangely tight. I gripped the balcony rail white knuckled. God. This was so messed up—so confusing. Get ahold of yourself. You didn't want to go with him, and he couldn't stay so there's no sense freaking out over it now. What's done is done.

I watched Caleb's truck drive off and when he pulled out of the lot and out of sight, I went inside, closed the balcony door, and climbed back into bed. I curled up in a ball of regret, wishing this morning had started pretty much any other way than it had.

At some point an uneasy sleep had overtaken me. I woke up a few hours later to the sound of a wolf howl. It made me sit up immediately. It was a ringtone on my phone that I had set up specifically for one person. Caleb Bishop was texting me.

My phone was charging on the night table, and I reached for it with a sigh of relief. He had texted me last night and it had resulted in us getting together. If he was texting me now, perhaps the same would happen again. It would give me the opportunity to man up and explain my reaction.

I frowned. Huh. What the fuck? This...was not what I was expecting. Was he drunk? Oh Crap. Yeah. I think he's drunk. At least he had better be drunk, cause if he was seriously suggesting breaking our pair bond over a fucking text, then he was as good as a dead man.

Do u regret last night
I get imnot what u had planned
imsorry
I kno u nevr asked 4this
Ok 2 walk b4 urhurt I ge

The next broken text was equally as strange:

Pls ignre and lts tlk tmorrw
Nt thnking str8 atm hbgjn
Oikm

I dialed, holding my breath. My chest felt tight, and I desperately needed to hear his voice. Hear that he had indeed been drinking and was a complete drunken mess. It was either that or he was having a psychotic break and was in desperate need of immediate medical attention, which I would arrange for, before I ended him.