Pretty sure she’d be down for anything involving Caleb.
“Are you almost off, Caleb?” she asks as she follows him along the dock. That’s one of her annoying habits. She constantly says his name, as if she enjoys the way the two syllables fall from her lips. It’s Caleb this and Caleb that, and I myself find it particularly irritating. So do the rest of the guys who work on the dock.
But they’re also extremely grateful she’s not chasing after them, so they tolerate it.
Caleb is struggling to find something to do, I can tell. He glances around at the mostly empty dock—we had a busy morning, pretty much every single boat and jet ski has been rented—and that little crease is forming between his eyebrows that I can’t help but find cute.
I shouldn’t find anything he does cute, but come on. There’s a reason women flock to him. Caleb is gorgeous.
Noelle goes right up on him, practically standing on top of his feet, she’s so close. He takes a step back as if he needs the distance, coming perilously close to stepping right off the dock and into the water.
I will burst out laughing if that happens.
“We should take out a boat someday, Caleb,” she tells him, her voice ever so hopeful.
The expression on his face clearly states hell no, but he smiles. It’s pitifully fake. “Probably not.”
“Oh, I know! We could take a jet ski! That would be fun, don’t you think, Caleb?” She’s bouncing up and down, all excited at the idea of sharing a jet ski with him, her arms wrapped around his middle as she clings to him while he speeds across the water. I’m sure she’s envisioning it right now.
I am too, until I tell myself to snap out of it.
“Don’t you have to get back to work?” he asks, sounding pained. I love how he doesn’t answer her questions. I love watching him visibly squirm. She makes him so uncomfortable.
“I just clocked out,” she says. “What time are you off?”
“Ah, I close tonight,” he says, like that’s going to scare her away. Plus, it’s a lie. We’re about to clock out ourselves.
“We should get together after you’re off. What do you think? Go for a swim in the lake under the moonlight?” Her brows shoot up, her smile encouraging.
So hopeful.
“Ah, yeah I can’t make it,” he says, stalling.
“Why not, Caleb?”
I love that she won’t back down. Only because it’s bringing me joy, witnessing this.
“Because. I already have a girlfriend.” Caleb’s gaze finds mine and his eyes light up. It’s the craziest thing. Those baby blues of his just magically sparkle and shine, right as he says, “And there she is.”
He points straight at me.
I glance over my shoulder, like there will be another woman standing in the office behind me, but of course there’s not. He actually means me.
What the hell?
Noelle turns to look at me, a frown forming on her face. “Who are you again?”
“Gracie,” I answer, unsure of what else I should say. I certainly can’t call Caleb out for lying, and the fucker knows it.
The smirk on his face right now is annoying—and undeniably adorable.
Noelle continues to watch me, tilting her head to the side. “I didn’t know Caleb had a girlfriend.”
“We don’t like to brag about it,” Caleb says as he moseys his way toward me, putting all the swagger he can muster into his walk.
I watch him with narrowed eyes, ready for what he might do next. He strides right into my office and comes to stand next to me, slinging his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side. “Don’t we make a great couple, Noelle?”
She frowns, and I can tell she doesn’t think we make a great couple at all. “This sucks,” she tells Caleb, completely ignoring me. “I thought for sure you were single.”
“Why did you think that?” Caleb asks, his arm tightening around my shoulders. Damn, he’s strong. I can feel the muscles flexing in his arm, and he’s so hot. All that heat is currently seeping into me, and I wish I could shrug him off.
But I don’t want to blow his cover either. Why, I’m not sure.
“I asked around about you, Caleb. I heard you were the biggest player at this place,” Noelle says, sounding disappointed that he might not be after all.
A smile curls my lips and I rest my hand lightly on the center of Caleb’s chest as I say, “I tamed the beast.”
He laughs, and I can feel the sound vibrating against my palm. I can also feel his heart rate ratchet up.
Interesting.
One of the other guys walks by and Noelle chases after him, not even bothering to say goodbye. Once she’s out of earshot, I duck under Caleb’s arm, relieved when I can’t feel him surrounding me anymore.
“What the hell, Caleb?”
“I had to tell her something to get away from her,” he says, a pleading look on his face. “I’m sorry to put you through all that, but it got her off my back.”
“Right, and now she’s going to go tell everyone we’re together, when we’re not,” I point out, irritated at having to deal with a bunch of gossipy people talking about us behind our backs.
Because I know that’s what’s going to happen. People will talk. They’ll gossip. It’ll spread like wildfire that Caleb and I are dating, and some of them will resent me. They already do, so why not add one more thing to the mix, am I right?
Caleb shrugs. “Who cares? I doubt anyone listens to her anyway.”
“I don’t know about that,” I say, hating how unsure I sound, but I can’t help it.
And I’m sure more people listen to her than he thinks.
We spend what’s left of our shift avoiding each other, which isn’t difficult. A few of the other guys who work on the dock cluster together, whispering amongst themselves, and I get the sense that they’re talking about us. Maybe it’s the way they turn and stare at me every few minutes that gives them away.
I’m not sure.
Once the second shift shows up, Caleb and I head up to the restaurant together, where we have to clock out. I can tell he wants to say something the entire walk, but I remain silent, frustration rippling through me. Doesn’t help that when we enter the building, all heads swivel in our direction, curiosity in their gazes.
Looks like Noelle has already started spreading the rumor that Caleb and I are together. We probably shouldn’t have walked in at the same time to clock out, but too late to worry about that now.
Caleb lingers to talk to a few of them while I go back outside, standing on the front porch and staring out at the lake. A bunch of little kids sit on the bench that’s right by the entrance, all of them licking furiously at their melting ice cream cones. Their faces are messy and they smell like sunscreen, which isn’t a bad thing. Their skin gleams pink from the sun and I watch them, smiling faintly.
I like kids a lot. This is why I’m excited to be a teacher. I think they’re funny and smart and I love how honest they are, especially the younger ones. I’ll be student teaching in a third-grade classroom for the upcoming school year, though I really want to teach kindergarten or first graders once I find an actual job. Hayden and I both prefer the younger grades. They’re sweeter. More innocent. They’re also more dependent and not always as focused, but I can deal with that.