Beyond Broken (The Bay Boys #3) (18 page)

Maddie cocked her head to the side and realized something.
 
“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m—” he cut himself off.
 
“
Jesus
, you’re irritating.”

“So you’ve told me before,” she murmured, staring at him.
 
They looked at each other for a few moments, silently.
 
Then, she said, “I need to go now, Caleb.”

It took him another minute before he released his hold on the door.
 
“Fine.”
 
He backed away and returned to his desk.
 
“But I expect you to make up for it tomorrow.
 
I want to have this project done by next weekend.”

“I’ll be done by Wednesday,” she said, feeling both disappointed and determined.
 
After Wednesday, would she ever see him again?

He nodded, but wouldn’t look at her, so she did the only thing she could do and left.

*
   
*
   
*

Wednesday
.

Suddenly, Caleb had an end date for whatever was going on between him and Maddie.
 
The question was…what was he going to do about it?

His phone rang and Caleb glanced at it, seeing Luke’s name pop up on the screen.
 
He was already pissed off that Maddie was probably home by now, getting ready for her fucking prick of a date.
 
But he accepted the call anyway, even though Luke, out of all of his friends, was the one that knew how to push his buttons the most.

“Just wanted to make sure you’re not going to bail tonight,” his friend said when he picked it up.

“I already said I was going to come.”

“Did you convince your girlfriend to come along?”

“Luke,” Caleb grated.
 
Even the word ‘girlfriend’ set Caleb’s teeth on edge.

“No worries.
 
I’m sure we can swing by her date and commandeer her anyway,” Luke said.

He was joking, completely joking, but Caleb’s mind latched onto the idea more quickly than he thought possible.
 
Jesus, he was losing his fucking mind.

“Caleb?” Luke asked when there was a long, lengthy pause over the line.

What would she think if he showed up at Hemlock Tavern?
 
More importantly, did he care what she would think?
 
It was innocent.
 
He just wanted to see who her date was…and to make sure he didn’t take advantage of her.
 
Maddie was too trusting anyway.
 
It wasn’t like he was going to interrupt the date or anything.

Yes, his intentions were practically angelic when he thought about it.

When he replied to Luke, his tone was slow and even, “I think there’s been a little change in plans.”

SEVENTEEN

Hemlock Tavern was packed, which wasn’t surprising on a Saturday night on Polk Street.
 
Caleb pushed his way through the crowded bar area, earning glares and frowns, but he paid them no mind.
 
He didn’t particularly like Hemlock Tavern.
 
It catered to too many hipsters for his liking, but at least the lighting was dim and there was a live band.

His friends trailed after him, no doubt surprised by his sudden initiative when he’d told them they were all heading to Hemlock after a round of drinks at McTeague’s.
 
Only Luke smirked, the bastard, and Kate knew better than to say anything.

Caleb spotted Maddie at the other end of the room and he stopped in his tracks, making Adam, another good friend of his, run into his back.
 
But Caleb couldn’t take his eyes off Maddie.
 
She’d curled her hair, the soft waves tumbling around her shoulders in abandon, and was wearing a thin-strapped floral dress that managed to be both demure and sexy as hell.
 
The man next to her, a blonde with a scruffy jawline, leaned in close and said something that make her laugh.

And Caleb actually felt his heart fucking
stutter
.

Jesus Christ.

That put him in an even worse mood than he actually was.
 
But he didn’t know if it was his reaction to her or the man next to her that made his mood darken.

“Move your ass, Caleb,” Luke hollered over the loud music, his words slurring a bit.
 
For his size, Luke was somewhat of a lightweight.
 
“We’re getting crushed back here.”

Shaking his head, Caleb managed to snag a table just around the corner from the main bar—but in sight of Maddie—beating out another large group who’d been hovering nearby, waiting for their chance.

“Hey man, we’ve been waiting for this table forever,” complained one of the aforementioned hipsters.
 
All Caleb had to do was give him a look and the man was slowly backing away.
 
“Never mind, all yours, pal.”

“Caleb, maybe we should let them have it,” Adam, always the nice one, commented.

“Sit down,” was all he replied, taking his own seat, which, naturally, had an unhindered view of the woman driving him out of his fucking mind.

“Yeah, sit down, you sexy beast,” Christie, Adam’s girlfriend, chimed in, grabbing her boyfriend’s ass.
 
“Do you know how long we’d be waiting for a table?
 
It’s a goddamn miracle.”
 
She craned her neck around to look at Caleb and winked.
 
“I approve of your methods.”

Adam pushed his glasses up his nose, his cheeks going a little pink.

“I’m surrounded by immorality,” he grumbled, even as he took a seat next to Caleb, Christie following closely behind.

“Just wait until later,” Christie purred.
 
“I can show you just how
immoral
I can be when it comes to you.”

Alex coughed into his fist, trying to hide a grin, as he took a seat on the other side of Caleb, Olivia in tow.
 
“Sometimes, I still can’t believe Adam’s getting laid at all.”

“Thanks,” Adam deadpanned, scrunching up his nose when he pushed away a sticky, half-empty pint.

“Our little virgin is all grown up,” Luke declared, wiping away an invisible tear.
 
“I’m so proud.”

“Remind me why I even like you guys,” Adam said.

“So, Caleb,” Luke started and Caleb mentally braced himself.
 
“See anything in here you particularly
like
?”

He rolled his eyes when Luke started looking around, but he failed to spot Maddie, tucked away in a corner with her douche of a date and who Caleb assumed was the friend she’d spoken of with her date.
 
Caleb’s eyes briefly paused on the friend, frowning when he thought she looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t place her in his mind.

“Yeah, why
are
we here?” Alex asked, eyeing him.
 
“You hate this place.”

“Caleb’s brushing up on his stalking skills,” Luke replied, a wide grin on his face.

Olivia jolted in her seat.
 
“Is she here?”

“Who’s she?” Christie asked, confused.
 
But then realization struck her.
 
“Is this the one Luke and Kate met last week?”

“Yes,” Kate replied, from her place beside Luke.
 
“Maddie.
 
She’s really sweet.
 
I’m getting coffee with her on Monday.”

“That’s enough,” Caleb grated through a clenched jaw.
 
Obviously, he’d underestimated how many gossips he had for friends.

Like he hadn’t even spoken, Alex asked, “Where is she?”

Like he would point her out to them…and just for good measure, he gave Luke and Kate a warning look that said
don’t you dare point her out either.

“Let’s guess,” Christie said, bouncing up and down a little in her seat.
 
“The one by the bar in the purple dress?”

“No, too flashy for his tastes,” Alex speculated.

“The one with the headband right over there?”

“The one with the pink heels?”

“The one with the harem pants?”

“The one with the—”

“First round’s on me,” Caleb said, standing from his seat, and escaping to the bar.
 
He liked his friends, he really did.
 
They’d been there for him for the past few years.
 
They’d helped him when his uncle had gotten sick and when he’d eventually passed away.
 
When the weight of his uncle’s business fell on his shoulders.
 
When he’d told them about his aunt one drunken night.
 
When he told them about his parents one drunken night.
 
And they’d never judged him.

But fuck, sometimes they were too intrusive.
 
He knew they just worried about him.
 
They wanted him to have what they had…a good woman and a loving, supportive relationship.
 
But they didn’t understand that he wasn’t wired for that.
 
Not anymore.
 
Caleb knew that even if he did have another relationship, it would be a little fucked up.
 
It wouldn’t be normal.
 
Sometimes, he would need to shut down.
 
Sometimes, he’d say things he didn’t mean because he had a temper.

Yes, maybe he had fantasized about what something more would be like with Maddie.
 
Would he actually go through with it?
 
He didn’t think so.

So what the fuck are you doing here?
he asked himself as he pushed his way to the front of the bar.
 
After he ordered the first round of drinks and waited for the bartender, he cast another glance at her.
 
Suddenly, his reasons for wanting to make sure her date treated her right fell like lead.
 
He knew he came here for purely selfish reasons.
 
A part of him wanted to bolt out of the bar.
 
A part of him wished they’d stay at McTeague’s.
 
It was too late for that now.

When it came to Maddie, he thought that it was only a matter of time until they did something they couldn’t come back from.
 
A part of him recognized the inevitability when it came to her.
 
A part of him wanted to give in, but somehow he knew that if he did, nothing would ever be the same.

On his way back to the table, Caleb snuck another glance at her.
 
He was proud when he didn’t drop his tray full of pints when he saw the bastard push a lock of that glorious hair away from her neck.
 
Fire lit his gut, making him burn with restlessness.

He wished he
had
kissed her today in the office.

He deposited the drinks with a little more force than necessary when he arrived back at the table.
 
His friends had wisely stopped speculating over who his mystery employee was, but they all eyed him curiously.
 
Caleb didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was watching Maddie and Luke swiveled in his seat to follow his gaze.

“Ah,” he said, smirking into his beer.
 
“I’d never thought I’d see the day come when Caleb Montgomery was jealous over a woman.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Luke just laughed as the rest of the group craned their necks to see the woman in question.

“The one in the blue?
 
Or the brunette in the dress?” Adam asked, pushing his glasses up his face for a better look, and Caleb shot him a dark look.
 
Out of all of his friends, he figured Adam would be on his side.
 
Adam simply shrugged.

“The brunette,” Luke supplied helpfully.

“Aw, she’s so pretty, Caleb” Olivia said, like it was all Caleb’s doing for how pretty Maddie was.
 
“Who’s that with her though?

“Her hot date,” Luke responded, throwing a smirk at him for good measure.

“Oh.”

“Let’s go over and say hi,” Luke suggested.

“Luke,” Kate said warningly, although she looked a little amused.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Caleb said, feeling a mild panic rise up in his chest.
 
Because Luke
would
do something like that.

And then, whether he was slightly drunk or just an obnoxious bastard, he turned in his seat and yelled, “Hey, Maddie!”

The world stopped for a brief moment.
 
His loud voice carried over the music and Caleb watched as Maddie swung her head, her eyes landing on Luke, who was waving, even as Kate tried to shove his arm down.
 
The woman must have the patience of a saint to be with Luke.

Caleb saw the moment recognition lit up her features and then her eyes scanned the table until they connected with his own.

And Caleb’s heart stuttered all over again.

*
   
*
   
*

He was here.
 
He was here.

Caleb Montgomery was
here
.
 
In Hemlock Tavern.
 
With his friends.
 
When she was on a double date with Kyra.

For a moment, Maddie’s mind didn’t compute any of this when her eyes found Caleb’s across the crowded bar.
 
But there he was, looking at her with that dark gaze, nursing a pint of beer in his large hands.

And suddenly, Maddie knew it wasn’t simply a coincidence that he was here.
 
This was another one of his games.
 
She’d told him—well, maybe not him directly, but she’d told Luke and Kate when they came to visit the garage while he’d been standing there—where she’d be tonight.

Instead of irritating her, the idea that he’d come for her made her flustered.

“Who is that?” Kyra asked, once she’d turned in her seat to see who’d called out her name.

For a moment, Maddie couldn’t answer.
 
And then, she managed, “Um, he’s a friend of Caleb’s.”