Page 1 of Changing Caleb
1
Caleb
AWeek Ago...
I stare up at the ceiling, the fan making a soft humming noise. No matter how hard I try, and believe me, I have tried, this place just isn’t home for me. I grew up in Hollis, Texas. It’s a small town near Dallas. Everyone knows everyone, and you can’t keep any fucking thing a secret.
But Hollis was ruined. Everywhere I went, she was there. My ex. Casey Wells. The fucking love of my life. There isn’t a single place in that town that doesn’t hold a memory of the two of us.
The high school, where we met. The football field, where we kissed beneath the bleachers. My parent’s house, where we fucked for the first time.
I thought leaving would make me forget her. Help me move on. It helped me, but Casey is still a permanent fixture in my mind. At least that fixture is no longer blurry or haunted by drunken rages. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out I did permanent damage to my liver with all the alcohol I consumed. I was a total drunken mess and my best friend, Brady, recognizedthat. He called the one person he thought could fix me — my sister. I suppose she did.
“What are you thinking, babe?” Hillary asks, tracing her fingertip over my nipple ring.
Leaving wouldn’t be fair to her, but then again, neither would staying. Not when my heart isn’t in this. She’s been good to me since I arrived in L.A. And I’m not saying that because she’s lying in my bed right now.
“I think it’s time I go home.”
“To Hollis?”
“Yeah.”
Her body doesn’t stiffen at my words. She doesn’t beg me to stay or argue that I should. It’s why we’ve gotten along so well. Not the typical screaming and yelling I had with Casey. Just a comfortable relationship. Comfortable. No thrills. No excitement.
Call me crazy, but I miss the drama. Miss the thrills. Miss the excitement. And I’ve only had that with one person. That sassy as fuck redheaded ex of mine.
Yes. It’s time to go home.
Present Day...
I sit outsideof the small-town bar, unsure if I should go inside. I’ve frequented this damn bar since I was twelve years old. Of course, I wasn’t allowed to drink or anything back then, but Jack, the owner, taught my best friend and me how to shoot pool. Brady and I both cleaned the bar for free burgers, but we came mainly for the pool lessons. We both knew even at that age that girls liked guys who could play pool. You would be surprised how many chicks will play strip pool after hours.
Still, as I sit outside Jack’s Bar, I feel like an outsider. Even though I was ready to return, Hollis no longer feels like my home like it always did before. I haven’t even spoken to my friends. Didn’t let them know I was coming back. Fuck, I pushed them so far away before I left for Los Angeles that they barely felt like my friends then.Except for Brady.
Brady Thompson and I have been through so much shit together, and somehow, we’ve managed to remain friends through all of it. From his dad dying of cancer, to my sister and the tragedy she wreaked on our small town, to the knock-down drag-out fights I had with Casey.
At least thinking about her now doesn’t make me want to drown myself in whiskey…or bury myself in another woman’s pussy. I missed her though, and want to prove I’ve changed. We can get back what we lost. It won’t be the same. It can be better.
I fucked up. I know that. My actions played a big role in the demise of our relationship. But she fucked up too. I wonder if she’s able to admit that.
“You getting out, or are you just going to hide all night?” My sister, Avery, asks as she taps on my window. I open my door as an answer to her. “Shit, Caleb, you practically made me return to this shithole town to visit Mom and Dad, and the first thing you do is want to come to Jack’s? Don’t be a pussy hiding out in your truck all damn night.”
That’s my Avery. If you have feelings, get over them. She’ll trample all over those motherfuckers.
“You were practically drooling to come back to Hollis,” I tease.
“I wanted to come back to Hollis like I want a damn bullet to the brain,” she scoffs. “I better not lose the lease on my apartment fucking around this shithole town with you.”
“It’s not that nice of an apartment.”
She punches my arm. “Get your ass inside. I need to make a phone call.”
“Tell Conner I said hi,” I grin, and she flips me the bird as she walks off.
Looking toward the entrance of Jack’s, I run a hand through my slightly longer, dark, brown hair. One by one, I resolutely put one foot in front of the other. One thing I learned from Hillary is that I’m responsible for my own happiness.
I blamed everyone else for the shit I was going through. I’d lost Casey, and I couldn’t figure out how to get her back. All the times we argued and made up, but we couldn’t make up that time. If she had told me the truth, things would be different.
