Page 12 of Changing Caleb
“Probably not. How is it that chicks can work as long but not sweat as much?” he questions, and I laugh.
“They’re not working ashard,” I smirk.
“Shit, I don’t know if I can stomach lunch,” Brady grumbles as I pull into Jack’s parking lot.
“I never thought there would be a time when you wouldn’t eat a cheeseburger from Jack’s.”
“As bad as we smell, we may not get served!” he grins and hops out of my truck.
We trot across the parking lot, meeting Lilly and Avery at the door. Despite how shitty we smell, Lilly still gives Brady a peck on the lips. Damn, if there isn’t a part of me that wishes someone treated me like that.
Brady nudges my arm as we head to our usual table. “Told you.” He pulls Lilly against him and jokingly takes a big whiff of her.
“Oh my God, gross! You’re going to make me stink, Brady!” Lilly laughs. “You both need to go wash up!”
She pushes at Brady and shoves him hard enough that he backs into me, causing me to stumble. I wrap my arms around him, wrestling and jostling him about until he pushes me hard and I collide with someone behind me.
“Ugh!” The irritated woman I just slammed into yells, and I instantly apologize. Then I realize it’s Casey. “Grow the fuck up, you two!”
“Aww, Case, you know you love it!” Brady teases.
“I used to, about ten years ago,” she snaps.
“Sounds like someone needs the ‘D,’ and I mean bad,” Brady jokes, and Casey’s face flames about as red as her hair. She slams the empty tray she’s holding down on the table and storms off.
“She’s going to kill you one day,” I warn and then burst out laughing.
I resist the urge to go check on her, knowing she isn’t in the mood to hear from me right now. It doesn’t matter how distraught she looked. I can’t fix that for her. Not yet.
12
Casey
Once I’ve calmed down enough so that I don’t nut punch Brady, I head back out so I can take their orders. They’re at their usual table, getting ready to take a seat. Caleb takes the hem of his shirt and wipes his face with it…and have mercy…those washboard abs of his are an instant reminder that Brady is right. I do need the ‘D.’ More than that, I need the ‘O.’
Frustrated, I take their orders with barely a word to any of them. After turning it in to Marlene, I start refilling ketchup bottles. Marlene brought their food out for me, knowing I want to avoid Caleb. I’m halfway through when Lilly approaches.
“Brady can be an ass,” she comments.
“I’m well aware of that. He even smells like one today.”
“I’m afraid I do too. I didn’t realize cleaning could be such hard work and make you smell like rotten garbage.”
“Cleaning?”
She glances over at the table before continuing. “Avery and I are working on cleaning out this old house. Getting it ready for a renter. It’s like a charity thing.”
“Whose house is it?”
She shrugs. “Some old man Brady knows. Thought we’d help him out since he finally rented the place.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll help. Anything to stay busy.”
“That bad, huh?”
“I honestly thought it’d be easy being around him again. He’s a constant reminder of what happened between us, though. And he acts like nothing happened. That we weren’t even a couple.”
“That’s what you want, right? To move on?”
