Unhinge Me (16 page)

He knew she was freaking out but he couldn’t figure out why. Her texts were too vague to give any clues and she refused to actually speak to him. He knew it had to do with Graham somehow but it didn’t make sense. It was killing him to give her the space she needed to work out whatever it was. He knew that if he pushed her, the little doe in her would run away and she might not come back. That thought cut him like a knife. He hadn’t even told her that he loved her yet.

Graham came around the corner, found Caleb standing there, and loudly sighed.

“For heaven’s sake. Still?”

Caleb opened his eyes and looked at his cousin, but said nothing.

“That’s it. You’re taking me to an actual club. We need a drink and I need female company. You’re depressing,” Graham half-joked.

Caleb didn’t even bother to argue. He tried to think of a place that Graham would enjoy and he knew that meant going out somewhere closer to the campus. He remembered hearing of a few good places where the students hung out. He just grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

“Finally!” Graham exclaimed and eagerly followed him out.

As soon as they walked into the club, Caleb wanted to turn back around and leave. It was definitely not his scene anymore. It was small and dark with neon lighting, but big enough for plenty of people, and the place was packed with them. The men headed to the bar and miraculously found two empty bar stools to sit on. Caleb looked around nervously to see if he saw any of his students. This obviously wasn’t the place to avoid them.

Graham handed him a shot and started talking to him, but the music was so loud Caleb couldn’t hear him. At first he was annoyed, but once the shot had burned down his throat he started to relax. He looked around. He’d forgotten how much he used to love going to the club. The loud music pounding through his body made him feel alive.

Something caught his eye across the bar. When he focused, he realized it was Paul Edmunton he was seeing. The fellow professor looked out of place sitting there. He was having a conversation with a young girl next to him. She had to be half his age. Even for Paul, it was just creepy looking.

Paul must have sensed he was being stared at because he looked up. When he saw Caleb, he looked almost shocked for a moment but quickly recovered and flashed him a big smile, waving frantically. The girl he was talking to used the opportunity to jump off her stool and run away. Paul looked over and frowned. He shrugged and walked around the bar toward Caleb. Caleb groaned and rolled his eyes, but plastered on a smile by the time Paul made his way around.

“Well, lookie who decided to finally go out!” Paul shouted, trying to be heard over the music. He looked over at Graham. Caleb did the introductions. Graham smiled politely and then turned to get more shots.

Paul looked at an empty stool that opened up like he was hoping Caleb would ask him to sit down. Caleb was not in the mood to spend the night playing nice with Paul, so instead he tried to distract him.

“So, you come here often?” he asked, looking around the dark club.

“Eh, I go here and there,” Paul answered nonchalantly. “What made you change your mind?”

Caleb pointed over to Graham. “It’s my cousin’s first time in the states, and this is more his scene than mine,” he weakly explained.

Paul looked like he didn’t buy it. Graham turned around to hand Caleb a new shot and when he didn’t have one for Paul too, he finally took the hint.

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you gentleman to it,” he told them. “But if you ever want to go out again, let me know! I have lots more places I can recommend.”

Caleb thanked him and watched him disappear into the crowd of people. Then he downed the second shot. He looked over at Graham, who was getting the number of another girl. He’d gotten almost a dozen since he’d walked in. Caleb just shook his head and smiled. It was just like the good old days.

Graham looked over at him. “There’s a smile,” he remarked. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten how!”

Caleb rolled his eyes and grunted, but Graham didn’t hear it over the noise. “I can’t believe you’ve gone completely arse over tit for this girl!” he accused.

“Don’t be vulgar,” Caleb absentmindedly rebuked. Graham noticed he didn’t deny it either, though.

It was Graham’s turn to grunt now. “What the hell is going on with you two anyway? She runs away right after I get here and now all you’ve been doing is texting her, leaving her messages, and sulking. It’s rubbish.” He shook his head.

Caleb knew his cousin was right, and yet he didn’t know how to explain what was going on when he didn’t even understand it himself. He wasn’t sure how much he wanted to tell Graham anyway, even if they had been best friends since they were little. While trying to decide how to word it carefully, he suddenly gave up and blurted, “I love her, Graham.”

Graham’s eyes widened in shock. He was clearly not expecting to hear that. For a moment, he didn’t speak at all, so Caleb continued. “I don’t know what it is about her, but every time I am with her I feel like I can do anything. I’m enjoying life again. I forget all the pain and drama from back home and I just feel free. It’s unbelievable. I think it’s the first time I have ever felt that way in my life.”

Graham tried to think before he spoke. “But just to play devil’s advocate here, what if the freedom you feel is just from being away from all the responsibilities your life back home had on you?”

Caleb couldn’t help but get annoyed with Graham’s question, even if it was valid.

“It’s not just being here. If it was, then I would have started feeling better three years ago when I first arrived. It wasn’t until I met Alex that I felt alive again,” Caleb tried to make Graham understand.

“So what does that mean then, about your future? Will you never come home? You can’t leave the title of Earl behind, that’s not how it works. Will you return and make her your countess? Can you imagine what your mum would say?” Graham shook his head at the thought.

Caleb frowned at his cousin. “I don’t think you get it, mate. I
love
her. That means it doesn’t matter if we live here or if we live in London. It means that wherever we are, I am forever living for her now. Making her happy is all that matters to me now.”

Graham wanted to argue that Caleb had obligations at home and this “sabbatical” he was taking was never supposed to be permanent. However, Caleb seemed pretty serious about this woman. When he talked about her, he showed the most passion Graham had ever seen come from his favorite cousin. He decided to leave it alone… for now.

He suddenly got a mischievous look in his eyes. “Fine, I just want to enjoy my time here, then.” He smiled. “So tell me, which flavor of American shall I taste first? Hmm? Redhead? Blonde? Do they have as much fun here as they do back home?”

Caleb shook his head at him. He sure had missed him.

That Friday, Alex and Rachael got ready together for their evening with the men. Alex was a nervous wreck and Rachael was doing everything she could to lighten the mood by making funny faces at her in the mirror while she put on her mascara.

Alex laughed and marveled at how good her friend looked tonight. She had on a short, cream-colored, sleeveless silk jumper with a delicate braid at the collar. The top showed a decent amount of side boob, too. Alex was once again awed at her never having to wear a bra.
Lucky
. Rachael’s silky, dark brown hair cascaded down her back in big, fat curls. If Alex was the jealous type, Rachael would certainly be one to be jealous of.

Alex wore a sleeveless silk dress, but it was wine colored. Petite ruffles lined the sides of the sleeves and there was definitely no side boob. But the color went perfect with her hair and the big jewelry she wore with it gave it a romantic, sexy look.

Together, they looked more like sisters than just best friends. When they walked into Shenanigan’s, which was busier than usual, all heads turned to them. Alex blushed but Rachael just smiled easily, used to the attention.

They saw the two men standing by the bar talking and they looked to be the only two in the place not to notice their arrival. Rachael had seen Caleb from afar around campus, so it was obvious which one he was. That meant the other one was Graham. For a moment, Rachael’s mouth went dry and she couldn’t help get a shy smile on her face. Graham was definitely not fugly. In fact, it was possible that he was the most delicious man she had ever seen! Tall and broad shouldered, he had dark blond hair that he kept short and manicured, like his scruffy face. Under the fur, she could see a strong chin, and his eyes… oh my God, his eyes. They were the bluest she had ever seen and they sparkled even in the dim pub lights. Rachael realized for the first time in her life that she wanted to swoon.

She stopped and grabbed Alex’s arm.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was so good looking?” she frantically whispered.

“Is he?” Alex looked at him. She really hadn’t noticed. The only thing the two men had in common was their blue eyes, and Caleb’s looked stormy today. Since they changed depending on his mood, she wondered what that meant. Both were tall, but Graham was broader and scruffier, while Caleb, still muscular, was sleeker and sharper. No, she decided, Graham couldn’t hold a candle to Caleb. Seeing him again made her weak in the knees. She really had missed him.

“I guess I didn’t notice,” she absentmindedly answered her friend and walked toward the men as if pulled by Caleb’s presence.

When the two women walked up, the men stopped talking and looked over at them. One look in Graham’s eyes and Rachael could see his arrogance matched his looks. She inwardly sighed.
That’s too bad.
Graham looked at her in appreciation, but she just lifted an eyebrow up at him and smirked. This wasn’t her first rodeo.

Graham’s eyes widened a little in surprise.
What
is
it about these women?

Caleb only had eyes for Alex. He turned, took her hands in his, and scooped down to kiss her lightly on the lips.

“I’ve missed you,” he said softly.

She couldn’t help but smile, then closed her eyes and sighed. “I’ve really missed you too.”

That gave Caleb hope. The couple stood there for a moment just looking into each other’s eyes. It just felt good to be near each other again.

“Ehem,” Graham cleared his throat. Caleb finally looked up and noticed Rachael.

“I’m so sorry,” his rich voice rushed.

Whatever doubts Rachael had about Caleb before were gone after seeing the look he had just been giving her best friend. She smiled at him, immediately at ease.

“It’s not a problem,” she promised and stuck out her hand to properly introduce herself.

Instead of shaking it, he took it into his hands and bowed to give it a kiss.

Rachael wanted to roll her eyes but remembered Alex had said Caleb had some old fashion habits. Plus, she had to admit it made her feel like a real woman to have a man do that. So much so, she found herself blushing instead.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Caleb smiled.

Rachael genuinely smiled back. She was liking him more and more by the minute.

“This is Graham, my cousin.” Caleb turned to introduce him.

Graham, feeling like a he had no choice now, also took her hand to kiss it.

When Graham’s hand touched hers, it felt like a jolt of electricity ran through her. She pulled her hand away in shock and saw by the look on Graham’s face that he’d felt it too.
What the hell?

Graham cleared his throat.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said quietly, just as confused by the interaction as she was.

Caleb looked at his cousin curiously, wondering what the problem was. Graham just shrugged his shoulders.

“Why don’t we get a table and sit,” Caleb offered and herded the group over to a table in the back.

Once they were all sitting, Caleb and Alex taking the back corner, he looked over at her to try to read her eyes and found himself at a loss for words.

Alex read the look of pain in his face and decided he deserved an explanation.

“I’m sorry…” she started, looking for the right words. “I don’t know what to say about how I’ve been acting this week. I know it’s crazy.” She looked down, ashamed.