Page 123 of Fame & Chaos

How do I know he wouldn’t hurt me like that again?

How do I know he can even be faithful?

I shake my head hard.

No. This has gone too far already. I need to pull back before I completely lose myself in him again. Last night was a mistake, a beautiful, intoxicating mistake, but still a mistake.

The hospital calling when it did was probably the universe saving me from making things even worse, because if we’d actually slept together… Caleb would only become more emotionally invested, and I can’t give him what he wants.

I park outside my apartment and stretch stiffly after climbing from the car, trying to work some of the tension from my muscles.

I’m exhausted.

All I want is a shower and bed.

Digging my keys from my bag, I head toward the front door when a large green van suddenly pulls up at the curb beside me. Immediately, my stomach tightens. This neighborhood isn’t exactly comforting.

A man wearing a delivery uniform climbs from the driver’s seat and walks to the back of the van. My anxiety eases slightly until he opens the doors and pulls out the biggest bouquet of roses I’ve ever seen in my life.

My eyes widen so much they practically hurt.

The man walks toward me carefully while balancing the enormous arrangement.

“Hi, I have a delivery for Indica Malone.”

I blink at him stupidly before finally nodding. Unable to form an intelligent sentence, I accept the flowers while he smiles politely.

The bouquet is massive and heavy, almost too much for me to hold properly.

“How many are there?” I finally manage to ask.

“One hundred long-stemmed red roses.”

One hundred?

My stomach flips violently.

The delivery driver smiles again before heading back to his van, leaving me standing frozen on my doorstep, clutching this gigantic arrangement.

This is not friend behavior.

Not even close.

I unlock my front door and carry the roses inside awkwardly, shutting the door behind me with my foot before placing them carefully onto the buffet.

They’re breathtaking.

Absolutely breathtaking.

No one has ever given me something like this before, and somehow that only makes everything worse. Because Caleb is doing this because he thinks there’s hope for us.

Hope for something more.

And there can’t be.

My eyes catch on the small card tucked between the roses, and my chest tightens. Slowly, I pull it free. Little confetti love hearts tumble out when I open it, and I immediately sag against the buffet, guilt washing over me so hard it physically hurts.

I led him on.