Just Like Cinderella

Just Like Cinderella [22]

Sunday morning when he woke up, Caleb's first thoughts were of Josi. He was beyond worried, thinking back on all that happened yesterday. It was pure luck that he had been in the neighborhood with Chris when Megan called. He couldn't even think about what would have happened if he hadn't recognized the signs of a panic attack.

He cared so much about her, which was surprising but at the same time not. He didn't warm up to people so easily or quickly, but Josi Morales wasn't just anyone. Something about her pulled him to her, there was some connection between them.

Seeing her so vulnerable and different from the usual self-assured Josi made him feel like he'd taken a hit to the throat. Very swift and knocking the breath out of him. He hated it. But something good had come out of yesterday. He had been able to help her in return for all she had done for him already, for taking his shit. And he had been able to hold her. Fuck, he had been able to hold her. For hours on end.

Running a hand through his hair, he smiled drowsily. She was so cute, snuggling into his arms as she slept. It was so different from her usual behavior. Asleep, she had been less reserved, more trusting. She had finally looked like the teenager she was, all of that everyday stress absent from her face. He wanted to keep seeing her that way.

Which was why he didn't probe too deep with questions. Badgering her wouldn't help matters. When she was ready, she'd tell him. He wondered though. What had happened to make her so distressed? Megan had been of no help, refusing to break no matter how hard he questioned her.

Another thing, who did Chris remind her of? An ex? Unlikely, she hadn't dated anyone, and the only guy who had come close was Lucas Monroe.

Damn it, it was Lucas! That was it! Lucas could easily pass for Chris' twin with the same color of hair and almost identical eyes, even other facial features were similar. The only difference between them was their height-Chris was taller-and behavior-Lucas was an asshole.

Caleb's blood boiled just thinking about what he could have possibly done to Josi. He didn't want to consider it, but her reaction yesterday suggested she had been hurt pretty bad, maybe assaulted.

No. Shit no. He couldn't possibly see someone as sweet as Josi going through that. She didn't deserve it. No one deserved it, but especially not her. She went through enough hurt with losing her mom, not getting along with her stepfamily and with hurting herself from how clumsy she was. To add trauma from an assault to that...

He shook away the thought and tried distracting himself. His brain settled on whatever trick she had tried pulling yesterday. He was a hundred percent sure she had purposely pressed her chest against him, but the look in her eyes had been one of innocent curiosity, like she was trying to figure something out. If she was trying to figure out whether or not he was attracted to her, there was no doubt about it. He was definitely attracted to her, more than he had ever been to anyone else. Kehlani hadn't nor the other girls he had fooled around with made him feel even a quarter of what Josi made him feel. She was in a league of her own. Everything about her appealed to him.

Her bottle green eyes. Her silky black hair he hadn't been able to keep his hands of; he had played with her hair for sometime while she slept, it fascinated him like everything else about her. There were her lips, those full, vibrant red lips that made him want to mark them with his own; he didn't think he had seen more perfect lips. As for her body... At 5'9, she was taller than most girls with beautiful curves on her that called out to him. Curves that made him want to sink into the mystery that was Josi Morales and never pull out. Curves made explicitly for sin, or more precisely for sinning with him. She was his dream girl personified.