Never Before | ✓

Chapter seventeen

Chapter seventeen:

"How are you, dad?" I ask tentatively. He looks up from his laptop and gives me a weak smile and begins typing something.

"I'm fine, honey. How are you doing?" He inquires me. I shrug and reply that I'm doing fine.

"Did you talk to mom?" He looks at me with a perplexed expression.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Ah, yeah." Should I ask him if he is with Danielle aka his assistant? Would it be correct if a intervene?

"What is it?"

"Umm, nothing. I'm going to help my friend's mom to bake. I'll see you later!" I rush out of his bedroom after kissing his forehead.

Forty minutes later, I am with Laura in her kitchen. I'm not sure if Caleb is at home or not. Laura didn't speak about him, thankfully. I don't want to see him at all. He hurt me. If he makes an effort, I'll think about it.

"Pass me some salt," Laura demands and I oblige. I place some cupcake moulds in the container while she mixed the batter.

"Um, Amber, please get some choco chips from Caleb's room," she pleads and I look at her with confusion.

I furrow my eyebrows. "Why are they in his room?"

She fumbles, "Oh...uh, he loves them and sometimes sneaks a packet or two." I hesitate. What if Caleb is in his room? I can't face him.

"Hurry up, Amber. We have to bake these," she says, gesturing the cupcake batter. I try to protest but she pushes me off. I sigh and slowly walk upstairs. I push the door open and it was surprisingly empty but, I could hear the flowing water from the bathroom. I walk inside, closing the door behind me. I search for the chocolate chips near his nightstand and find two packets hidden below a brown binding.

I turn around to leave when the bathroom door opens. My eyes pop out when I see him shirtless, wearing grey sweatpants. He ruffles his damp hair with a towel until he sees me. There is an electrifying sensation between us.

Look how close you've become. You call him by his name and what does he call you- Amber or some kinky name like a princess.

I let out a breath and begin to walk away when he clutches my wrist and pulls me towards him when our chests clash.

"Caleb, Let. Me. Go." I glare at him. Slowly, he shakes his head and throws his towel before sliding his strong arm around my waist.

"Let me-" I cut him off. "No, Caleb," I look straight into his icy blue piercing eyes, not showing any sign of weakness.

"I know you didn't mean it and you were probably upset about something else and that encounter for you was just like- enough. I would forgive you, Caleb, if you wouldn't think this cheap of me. Princess, really? I'm offering my soul to you and what am I getting a return? Names."

His gaze softens and for a flicker of a moment, I see hurt in them. "Two years ago, I lost my elder sister," he admits and I'm both bewildered and shocked at the same time.

I remain silent. "She didn't die because of a natural cause or in an accident. She was molested and they threw her in a garbage bin." His voice is rough and distant.

"I'm so sorry about it but, why are you telling this right now?" I question.

"I'm not admitting this because I want to win your sympathy. Hayley was raped by her very own married boyfriend or in other words....her daddy. Yesterday, when I saw you and him, it reminded me of her and the conversations about how pissed she used to be when I intruded her and him, flashed in my mind. For a split of a second, I saw her in you and I lost my shit." His grip on my wrist loosens. I run my fingers on his almost healed face.

"Caleb...I'm, I'm so so-" he cuts me off by placing his index finger on my lips. My stomach backflips at his touch.

"Don't be sorry. I am sorry, Amb-" He stops at the mid-sentence when I all of a sudden hug him. I barely make to his height. Darn, he is such a tower. My head is on his bare chest. I listen to his fast heartbeat, calming down at a consistent rate.

"Amber..." He is about to pull apart but I hug him tighter. He gives in. "Sloane," I say.

"What?" He asks and pulls me away.

"My actual name is not Amber. It is Sloane." He is perplexed and I'm about to tell him the reason when the door spurts open, revealing Laura. Her eyes widen as she chokes on her words.

"Oh..ah.. I. I think I should go.." Before anyone of us could reply, she shuts the door and I could hear her footsteps fading away. Shit. She must've thought something else.

Caleb's eyes meet mine. "I think I should dress up, Sloane." There is adoration filled in his voice with no hint of suspicion.

He raises his eyebrow at me. "A little privacy?" He mocks me and I giggle.

"It's not like I'm going to watch you, unless you want me to," I tease.

"I won't mind," he says with no mockery in his voice. His hand reach the knot of his sweatpants situated at the beltline. I cover my eyes after smacking hid the chest. "Ew, Caleb!" He quickly pulls me closer to him and places a tiny kiss on my jawline. I freeze. Goosebumps are spread throughout my body when a chuckle leaves his mouth.

An evil plan arises in my mind. I lean in after resting my hands around his neck. Our lips were a centimetre apart and he is about to lean in when I suddenly make a brisk move to reach toward his ear.

"I'd like to keep you hungry," I murmur in a husky voice and muster all my speed to run out of his room.

(How was it?)