The Quarterback, Outcast and Me ✔

Chapter Twenty - A Date With the Outcast

I had barely gotten into Jace's truck after school before he could tell something was up.

"What's with you?" He asked as he fired up the engine.

"Why? Why do you ask?" I said, trying my best to keep a straight face. It was a pretty well known fact that Jace did not like Caleb, not one little bit, so I was nervous how he would react if I told him I had made plans with Caleb.

"You look different; a whole lot happier actually. What happened after lunch?" Guess I had to let the cat out of the bag.

"Caleb and I are meeting up in the dog park this afternoon."

Silence.

I glanced towards Jace, chewing on my bottom lip. He was starring straight ahead, but I noticed his grip on the steering wheel was tightening, his knuckles turning white.

"Jace?" I asked tentatively. No answer. He pulled out of the school parking lot and continued down the road that led out of the city.

"Jace?" I asked again.

"Why do you do this to yourself, Chloe?" He suddenly blurted out. Voice raised and everything. "He has hurt you over and over and over again and yet you're willingly crawling right back into his lap!" He sounded hurt. I continued to stare at him, but he didn't look my way. He seemed rather preoccupied with driving. That was probably also for the best.

"You don't have to lecture me on what I should or shouldn't do, Jace. I'm big enough to make my own decisions and live with the consequences." My voice had raised itself, like Jace's had done. I couldn't really help it. It was so easy for him to push me towards the edge, not to mention completely over it.

"Fine. Just don't come running to me with tears streaming down your face because that dick blew you off again."

"Fine."

Neither of us spoke for the remainder of the drive.

Jace had barely pulled the truck to a stop in the driveway before I wrenched open the car door and made a beeline for the house. He didn't come after me. I was okay with that. I went straight to my room, changed into some warmer clothes for the North Carolina November weather and found Zeus' leash. When the little guy noticed the leash dangling from my hand, he went nuts. Yap yap, run in circles, yap yap.

I picked him up and carried him down the stairs. Jace was nowhere to be seen, which suited me just fine.

Walking outside, I headed for the large double door garage, in which Minnie the Bubble had been parked, or rather stowed away for no one to see. Neither my mom nor me had been able to part ways with her yet, so I was glad to be able to drive myself to the dog park than having to ask Jace for a ride. There's no way that would have gone down well.

I entered the parking lot outside the dog park with two minutes to spare. Zeus was eager to get out there - he could probably smell the other dogs already, and I looked around, but realised that Caleb probably hadn't driven here on his motorcycle with his dog on his lap.

Getting out, I scanned the rest of the parking lot, but since I didn't know how he'd gotten here, I had really no clue what I was looking for.

When Zeus was on his leash I put him down and he immediately went on to sniff a tire of the nearest parked car.

"You're punctual."

I turned at the sound of his voice and smiled when I saw Caleb standing there, Jack by his side, with his tongue hanging out. The dog's not Caleb's.

"And so are you," I said. "Which is a first," I added. I couldn't help myself. Caleb grinned and came closer. The dogs seemed busy greeting each other hello, so we just stood there for a bit, looking at one another, not really knowing what to do, or say.

He had also changed from what he was wearing at school earlier; now sporting a white t-shirt with a black leather jacket and dark jeans. In other words, hot damn!

"Let's go inside and release the hounds," Caleb said, tugging on the leash to get Jack's attention. I nodded and followed him inside the fenced park. A few other dogs were running around freely, by the scattered trees towards the back, a guy was playing frisbee with his German Shepherd.

Caleb led us over to an empty bench and after releasing the beasts we sat down and watched them frolic around in the grass.

We both just sat there for a bit, not speaking, both of us appearing to be focused on the dogs rather than on the silence building up between us.

"So, about the dance," Caleb began, but he stopped and I glanced over to see him thinking hard about what he was about to say next. He looked really conflicted; his brows furrowed and chewing on his bottom lip. I waited for him to continue, not wanting to pressure him any further now that it looked like he was about to open up.

"I really feel awful for not calling you that night. Things got pretty hectic."

"What happened Caleb? You said you had to go to the hospital. Are you alright?" I gave him a once-over, properly checking for any bruises or scars that looked recent, but I found nothing.

"I'm fine, Chloe," he said, smiling slightly when he noticed me looking. He turned towards me on the bench, resting one leg on the wooden surface.

"I really want to make it up to you," he said sincere.

"I thought you were," I replied, gesturing towards our surroundings.

He smiled again; seemingly more relaxed now.

"I meant a proper make up."

Oh.

"I'm open to suggestions," I grinned, not really knowing why.

How was this guy able to hurt my feelings so much, but one single smile, a few words and a doggy date had my stomach fluttering in delight? Damn you teenage hormones.

"Can I ask why you had to go to the hospital?"

"You can, but I'm not sure I can give you a straight answer."

Silence again.

Why didn't Caleb trust me enough to tell me the truth? I had forgiven him over and over and over again, so wasn't that enough to have a little faith in me? I'd stuck around even though there were definitely other roads for me to take. The Jace road for example, though I still wasn't sure if it was an actual road or just a made up one.

"Don't you trust me?" I blurted out. Caleb looked at me, the pain evident in his eyes.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Chloe," he started. "It's more that I don't trust myself."

Oh man. It suddenly occurred to me that there could be a lot more going on underneath the surface of this guy's life. It certainly seemed that way. What this guy needed, was time and lots of it, possibly even space. All I could do was provide him with it. He might feel more at ease if he knew I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The next move I made surprised me as much as it did him. In the warm light of the sunset, I reached over and took hold of his hand, cradling it in mine.

"I trust you," I whispered softly.

It was like a small invisible bubble had emerged and cocooned us, shielding us from the prying eyes of others. There was just he and I and the moment slowly building between us.

"You shouldn't."

"I beg the differ."

We both started grinning like morons. I felt Zeus brush past my legs, but I had a hard time looking away from those chestnut colored eyes staring at me from only 2 feet away. The smiles faded and was replaced by a much more serious aura.

I could feel my heart galloping in my chest, my palms turning clammy; worried Caleb would feel it in the hand that still held his.

"I really shouldn't," he muttered, but right now, with how I was feeling, I was having none of his excuses.

"Shut up and kiss me," I said and before I could change my mind I leaned in towards him. Astoundingly, he didn't protest and just as my eyes fluttered close, I felt his lips brush mine.