Chapter Fifteen

Save It for Later

Tuesday, September 27

Caleb avoided Mandy the rest of the day because he wasn’t sure what he’d say if he saw her. His gut churned, thinking about J.T.’s intel about Gus, and about the way Mandy had sashayed away from him after their kiss like he hadn’t just rocked her world.

Whatever. So maybe she’d been faking the kissing. He still didn’t want her ending up with Gus on homecoming. Mandy was the perfect “easy target” for Gus because of her stupid crush, and her Pollyanna worldview that blinded her to big-time douchiness masquerading as dorkiness.

He stalked down the hall, debating whether or not to confront Gus, when Elle emerged from the shadows, blocking his path.

“Caleb, we need to talk.” Her voice sounded anxious as her gaze darted nervously up and down the hall.

He didn’t have time for this. “Uh, sorry. Can’t right now.”

She put a hand on his jacket, and he flinched. “Please Caleb. It’s important. It won’t take long.”

He huffed out a sigh, but tilted his head toward the parking lot. “Talk fast,” he said, jerking his arm out of her grip and pushing through the door.

“Fine, make it difficult,” she muttered, stalking next to him in her thigh-high boots that were, yeah, smoking hot, but he didn’t care about that. Not anymore.

He surveyed the parking lot, hoping like hell Mandy wasn’t around to see this.

“So, it’s like this,” Elle said, keeping pace with him as he moved toward his car. “I wanted to apologize. For, um, stalking you.”

He stopped, turning sharply to face her. “What?”

She lowered her eyes, and he was shocked to see she was embarrassed. “Stalking you,” she muttered. “I was being a total freak.” She glanced up. “But I’m, um, seeing someone. Working on getting closure.”

Holy shit. Wait ’til he told Mandy…but damn, he couldn’t tell Mandy! This couldn’t happen.

“That’s…good. I mean, really good. But, uh…” He ran a hand through his hair, not believing what he was about to say. “Do you think you could, uh, keep doing it? Just for a couple more days?”

Her mouth dropped open, and she took a step back. “Are you kidding me, Caleb? Do you have any idea how hard I’ve had to work at getting over you?”

He frowned. They’d dated for like, three weeks. She clearly needed help if she wasn’t over him already. And it was good she was getting help, but damn it, he wished she’d waited another week.

Okay, that was a selfish wish. But damn…if she stopped stalking them, and Gus kept moving in on Mandy…

“It’s not just you,” she snapped. “I’m having trouble with a lot of…closure stuff.” She sniffed and he panicked, because now she was about to cry. “My therapist says it’s because my parents are divorcing. My sister’s away at college. And my dog ran away. I mean, he came back after a day, but still, why would he leave in the first place?” She sighed dramatically. “So I guess I have, like…abandonment issues or whatever.”

What he should really do is put Mandy and Elle in a room together. They’d be BFFs once they bonded over all this stuff. Plus Mandy would have a closure mantra for her. And they’d probably both decide he was a jerk and vow never to speak to him again.

“So for you to…to”—she was ramping up to a full-on meltdown now—“even suggest that I pretend to stalk you? Force myself to watch you and that weird hippie girl have eye sex in the caf every day and…” Her voice trailed away as tears spilled out of her eyes.

Eye sex? Were he and Mandy doing that? Hmm…maybe she hadn’t been faking that kiss, after all. He sighed and looked around the parking lot. He needed a wingman to save the day, but since he basically had no friends he was stuck with dealing with this on his own.

He stared into her mascara-smeared eyes. “I’m really sorry, Elle. I didn’t mean for our breakup to be so, uh, hard on you.” He was baffled. They’d only gone out maybe three or four times. No sex. Not even eye sex.

She wiped her eyes and hiccupped. “I know. It’s just that, I really give so much of myself, you know? To everyone.” She sighed heavily. “I’m a total giver, but no one cares.” She fluttered her smeared eyelashes at him. “I made a scrapbook about us, did you know that?”

Okay—that was creepy. He took a step back.

“I kept the movie tickets and even the candy wrappers you threw in the trash.”

He swallowed, desperately regretting that he’d suggested she fake stalk him.

“I was going to get your name tattooed on my thigh. In a heart, with a thorn stake for the l in Caleb.”

He took another step back, looking around frantically for help. “I…uh…wow. Look, I’ve gotta go—”

“Torrs!”

They both turned to see J.T. heading toward them, a weird smirk on his face. “Where’d you go, man?” J.T. said. “We were supposed to meet at your car.” He glanced at Elle. “Hi.”

Relief zoomed through him. Maybe he did have a wingman, after all.

Elle nodded dismissively and wiped her nose. “Anyway. As for your request? No. I refuse.”

J.T. shot him a suspicious glare.

“It’s not what you think,” Caleb said to J.T.

“Caleb wants me to keep stalking him,” Elle announced. “Even though my therapist tells me I need to move on.”

J.T. cocked an eyebrow.

“All because of that redhead he’s trying to hook up with.”

“You mean Mandy,” J.T. said. “She has a name.”

Elle tossed her raggedly cut black hair over her shoulder. “Whatever.”

“Not whatever,” Caleb said. “Her name is Mandy.”

Elle bit her lip, looking ready to cry again.

“Look, I’m sorry, Elle, but uh, I’ve…moved on. You should, too.”

“He sucks at this,” J.T. said. “I can see why you broke up with him.”

Elle nodded furiously. “He totally sucks.”

“Train wreck,” J.T. mouthed to Caleb, wide-eyed, then he turned back to Elle, who was staring at her black boots. “You’re better off without him,” J.T. said. “Really. Plus I hear he’s a lousy kisser.” J.T. shot Caleb a smirk, and Caleb couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh or slug him.

Elle raised her head. “Oh, that’s not true,” she protested. “His kisses are so hot.” She glared at him. “Or they were. Until he lost interest.”

Guilty as charged. Once he’d figured out Elle was crazy, Caleb had lost interest in the physical stuff. Though he hadn’t realized just how crazy she was until today.

J.T. took a step back, and Caleb shot him a questioning look.

“We’ve gotta go,” J.T. said, staring hard at him. “Caleb’s giving me a ride…and I can’t be late.”

“Yeah,” Caleb agreed, stepping backward with J.T. “Forget about what I asked. It was crappy of me. You just…keep on doing that closure thing. And the therapy—definitely keep doing that.”

He spun around and headed for his car, J.T. keeping pace. As soon as they got in his car, they collapsed into laughter.

“Keep on doing that closure thing?” J.T. said between gasps of laugher. “Dude, that was cold.”

“I know, I know. But damn. You saw how crazy she is!”

“Yeah. Wow. She makes Mandy look boring.”

Caleb stopped laughing. “You did not just slam your friend and my girlfriend.”

J.T. grinned. “You mean fake girlfriend.”

Caleb turned away and scowled out the windshield.

“Kidding,” J.T. said. “I know you like her. For real.”

Caleb glanced at him. “You do?”

J.T. rolled his eyes. “Benefits of a gay friend. I don’t miss much when it comes to that stuff.”

Friend? Caleb turned to stare out the windshield again.

“Anyway, you don’t need a stalker. That was just getting in the way.”

Caleb turned back to him. “But it was my excuse for the whole idea. How I got Mandy to agree to be my fake girlfriend.”

J.T. leaned back to study him. “Excuse? So you’re saying you were into Mandy from the start? This didn’t just happen because you guys started the fake thing and you accidentally fell for her?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Yes. Damn it. I’m so confused.” Caleb blew out a long breath.

“Well, then. It’s a good thing the Blue Ranger is here to save your ass and help you get the girl.”

Caleb locked eyes with him, and then he grinned, daring to hope that maybe it was true. “Yeah. Maybe it is.”