Moonstruck at Midnight

Chapter 33 - Wrath of the Gods

DAVID SAT BEHIND THE WHEEL, and Aaron opened the door for us. William and I stepped into the car, and Caleb was already seated in the third row. I huffed air out of my mouth because really? Was he going to sit behind us for the next two hours? Awkward. I knew how observant he could be. As if he didn't manage to do so even when riding in the front seat, anyway.

Frustrating.

"You okay?" William whispered. I nodded.

"Thank you for letting us use your house for the shoot and letting me stay over. You kind of didn't have a choice, anyway." I chuckled.

"What did you think of my bed?" he asked casually. "Isn't it the best?"

William! He made it sound as if we had shared his bed.

Caleb's prying gaze felt like a wave of hazel crashing on my back. There was no way for him to know I slept there alone. He was probably thinking the worst. I hoped he knew to expect better from me.

Stop caring about Caleb's opinion!

"If me waking up at noon doesn't speak for itself, I don't know what will." Let Caleb believe whatever he wants to believe. "And the view is something else."

"Glad you enjoyed it. Do you need any help setting up your phone?"

Honestly, I did. Perhaps switching to tech talk would be a more suitable car conversation than William's innuendos.

I asked him if he could help me download the Blackberry Messenger app for iPhone. I needed it since I had different group chats there. So he helped me download the app, among others he swore I had to have. He was clearly a devout iPhone user.

"Now, there's one more thing left to do." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, typed something, and then my phone buzzed. An iMessage came through:

W.S.: New phone, who dis? Me: Ugh.
W.S.: Fresh start?
Me: Maybe.
W.S.: You're a tough nut to crack.
Me: You have no idea.
W.S.: I think I do.
Me: Thanks for the phone. I still feel weird accepting it.
W.S.: Relax. I'll find a way to make you pay for it.
Me: I'm sure you will.

I chuckled, which was weird since we weren't talking out loud. It was evident that William and I were having a conversation on our phones.

W.S.: You could start by taking your third and last guess.
Me: Nah, I'm good. I think I'm gonna have to REALLY think about it. It could take weeks or months for me to decide. There's a car at stake.
W.S.: You're funny.
Me: I didn't hear you laughing.

William turned to look at me, nudged my shoulder with his, and kept typing.

W.S.: I was being sarcastic. Months? Really?

William's phone rang as I typed my reply, but he sent it to voice mail. "Go on," he prompted, seemingly curious about what my next response was going to be. We were enjoying our texts; they were fun. But his phone interrupted us again.

The person trying to get a hold of him was very insistent, and William was not turning off his phone because I'm sure he wanted to keep texting me. So the fastest way to deal with that call was to answer it, and he did.

"What's up? ... I'm busy ... No ... I don't know anything about that ... You know that's almost three months away, right? ... Have, what's her name ... Ellie. Right. Have her talk to Alice about it in a couple of months ... Because I couldn't care less, that's why ... Erin, you need to relax, and you need to stop calling me ... No ... I need to go."