THE BAD BOY AND THE CHEERLEADER

THE BAD BOY AND THE CHEERLEADER - CHAPTER 42

CHAPTER 42:

GIANNA’S  POV:

“Oh my god!  Stop!  Stop!  Caleb, behave!” I shout out and jump off the bed to race to the living room.  I can hear him laughing as he follows me.  I grab two pillows off the couch and whip around to face him.  I throw them, one after another.  The first totally misses him, but the second hits him in the face.  His way-too-handsome face.  

He just smiles and grabs a hold of me, wrapping his arms around mine so that I can’t get away.  I struggle anyways.  After all, number one rule for a girl?  Never make it too easy for the guy.  “You’re mine now.”

I duck my head against his bare chest to hide my smile, “For the moment, Caleb.”

“For always, princess.”  Damn gotta love a tamed bad boy.

Thinking of last night, how wonderful it was, how wonderful HE was, I sigh.  “Tell me again.”

He puts his hand under my chin to lift my face up to his.  Kissing me softly on the cheek, “I love you, Gianna.”

Ah hell!  This boy owns me.  Not that I’ll ever tell him that.  

I smile coyly at him, “Why?”

He looks a little confused at my question, “Why do girls always have to ask why?”

Exasperated, I say, “Cause I want to know!”

He laughs an shakes his head, “I don’t know why.  I just do.”

I struggle again and he lets me go, “Not good enough, but I’m a girl and after you denying loving me so long, forgive me, but I’m a little insecure about it.”

His body falls back onto the couch as he lazily sits down.  I glance at where the top button of his jeans is undone, then look quickly back up at his face.  The grin he’s sporting lets me know that he saw where my eyes wandered.  “Why?” I demand again.  

“Cause you look so sexy in your little cheerleader uniform?”  He looks me up and down, as if picturing it in his head.  

I shrug, “I can accept that, since I love you because of your cool car.”

“Brat,” he laughs and reaches out to grab the waistband of my sweats, pulling me onto his lap.  

“Okay, okay,” I laugh, “It’s cause you got a cute butt.”

He grips my own bottom and squeezes, “You too, baby.”

I push his chest, “Caleb, you’re supposed to be offended.”

He starts kissing my neck, “Why should I be offended?  I know how fine I am.”

“Hmm,” I hum, “You’re alright looking.”

“You too, Gianna.  You’ll do.”  Then he pulls and looks at me seriously, “Why do you love me?”

Caleb needing reassurance?  Interesting.  Until I feel a little on-the-spot.  Uncomfortable.  So, this is what a guy feels like when girls act all needy.  “Um,” I begin.  

He raises his eyebrows, “Um?”

“Because,” I begin again, at a loss for words and feeling a blush come on, “because,” I say slowly.”

“Because?” he says, clearly amused.  

I scowl at him, “Because you care about me.”  Then it becomes easier to say, “Because you understand me.  Because you’re so good to me.”  I punch him lightly on his chest, “When you aren’t lying about loving me and ignoring me at school.”

He scoffs, “Believe me, I was never ignoring you.”  He brushes a strand of hair behind my ear, “I am always aware of you.”

I smile, “And because you love me.”  I jump up and down a little on his lap, “Okay, my turn.  Why do you love me?”

He chuckles, “Alright, alright.”  With a serious face, “Because you look so hot in your cheerleader uniform.”

“Caleb!” I whine in annoyance, “Be serious!”

Placing both of his warm hands on either side of my face, he says with a light smile on his lips, “I love you because you’re you.  Because underneath all that attractiveness is a vulnerable, beautiful soul who needs me and loves me back.  Who sees the good in me.”

“You are good,” I say sincerely.  And vulnerable too, I think to myself.

He visibly shakes, “Enough of all this mushiness.  Let’s have sex!”

I laugh hysterically as he picks me up off the couch, intent, I suspect, on carrying back to his bed.  My intentions are otherwise, not that my hormones aren’t raging as much as his.  Okay well, almost as much.  I jump out of his arms before he makes it to the hallway.  

“Wait.  We need to talk seriously,” I hold up a hand to ward him off.  

He gives me an impatient look.  “What’s there to talk about?  I love you, you love me, now let’s have sex.”

Hands on my hips, I glide around him and sit down on the couch, by myself this time.  “There’s plenty to talk about, Caleb.”

“Like?” he pouts.  

I just stare at him thoughtfully.  Where to begin?  Everything is such a mess and, unlike him, I can’t just live in the moment and jump into bed, forgetting about all of our problems.  Last night WAS wonderful.  Dream come true in so many ways.  Caleb made love to me, kind of in a frenzy and in his car, but still romantic because he told me that he loves me.  

But even when something is a dream come true, it doesn’t mean everything is perfect.  I believe Caleb when he tells me that he loves me.  Looking back at the past couple months, I can see that it was there all along.  There are still things that bother me, though.  

Thank god we have the time alone at his mom’s apartment to discuss our relationship.  My mom won’t expect me home until this afternoon and it’s barely 10am.  “Sit,” I tell him, then add a “Please.”

Looking disgruntled, he complies and takes a seat in a recliner across from me.  Crossing his arms over his chest, he asks warily, “What do you want to talk about?”

I lick my lips nervously, “You told me last night about how my mom threatened you with sending me to Texas if you didn’t break up with me and that’s why you had to hurt me, but you didn’t explain the most important part.”

“I told you everything that happened and why I did what I did.”  Looking at the floor, his face is a mask of concentration.  With his head slightly tilted down, A lock of his dark hair falls over one eye.  He looks back up at me, “So, what’s the most important part?”

Even knowing now that he loves me, I’m still hurt.  Trying not to cry, trying to prevent my face from crumbling, I ask, “Why did you choose to break my heart instead of telling me?”

He shifts uncomfortably in his seat and looks guilty, sounding reluctant, he admits, “I guess I just panicked.  When your mom threatened to ship you off to your father or even farther away if she had to, I gave in because she sounded completely serious and I believed that she would do something so horrible.  I figured that I’d figure something out eventually so that we could be together.  But for the time being, you would at least still be near.”

Darn, I start to cry.  Speaking of panicked, Caleb rushes over to me and pulls me into his arms, “Sh, don’t cry.  It’ll be okay.  We’ll just have to be careful for awhile.”

Wiping away my tears with fingers, I then look up at him, “Are you sure you didn’t give into her so easily because you were afraid of something else?”

He doesn’t meet my gaze when he asks, “What else could I have been afraid of?”

I break away from his embrace and walk across the room.  Whipping around, I say, “Me!”

Looking guarded, he says, “Why would I be afraid of you?”

I hug myself in a defensive position, looking down at the floor, “Were you trying to protect me or were you trying to protect yourself, Caleb?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he says in a tense tone.  

“Don’t you, Caleb?  Think about it!  You could have told me and done exactly what we plan to do now.  Hidden our relationship.  Instead, you lied and said you didn’t love me, you hurt me and for weeks ignored me.  I know what my mom said was part of your reason, but I think there was another reason too.”

He starts to look mad, but I don’t care.  I want the truth.  “I think you took the excuse to distance yourself from me.  Our trip to Las Vegas was . . . intense.  I told you that I loved you and you panicked for that reason too.  The player in you came out, the fear of commitment.  I think my mom was an excuse to run away from me and from your feelings.”

His look of shock, followed by a look of dawning comprehension makes me want to cry more.  And I do.  Rushing to the room, I can hear his steps on the hardwood floor behind me.  I try to shut the door of his bedroom, but he’s there stopping me.  Instead, I go over to the window and stand there with my back to him, looking down at the street below.  Silent tears streaming down my face.

I can feel him behind me, just standing there.  “Gianna, I love you.”

My shoulders are hunched and my arms are crossed, gripping my elbows, “How do I know that you won’t get scared and run away again?”

His voice is husky, “You can count on me, Gianna.  I’m completely and fully committed to you.  I’m promising forever, if that’s okay with you.  You’ll be eighteen in less than a year and a half and we’ll tell your mom to go to hell.”

I turn around and launch myself into my arms.  Automatically, he comforts me and I give in, letting him guide me over to his bed.  

CALEB’S  POV:

Driving back to the suburbs and having to drop Gianna off down the block from her house, really pisses me off.  We shouldn’t have to hide our love like it’s a crime.  We’re not doing anything wrong.  Aside from a little premarital sex, that is.  

Halfway to my dad’s condo, my cell rings.  Hoping it’s Gianna, I look at the caller id.  It’s my mom.  I push to answer, “Hello?”

“Caleb,” she asks in a stern voice.  

“Yes, mother?”

“I just got home and found a pair of panties, that definitely aren’t mine, on your bedroom floor.”

I choke on a laugh, “It’s not what you think.”

“Are you going back to your old ways?”

“Definitely not.  They’re Gianna’s.”

She lets out a big breath over the line, “I know I shouldn’t be relieved, but somehow I am.  You being sexually active with just one girl, your own age, is a relief.  Gianna is good for you.  Other than a few calls from your school about a little ditching, you’ve been surprisingly well behaved.”

I laugh, “I’m hurt mama, aren’t I still your good little boy?”

“I wish,” she says with humor.  “But at least I haven’t had to pick you up at the police station lately.”

“I was always framed,” I assure her.  

“Caleb, I’ll never believe that someone mistook you for a valet outside that restaurant and that’s why you and Dante went for a joyride in a one-hundred thousand dollar sports car or that someone spiked your drink at a party and that’s why you got arrested for underage drinking.”

I know that she’s making light of all the trouble that I’ve caused, purposely ignoring the worst of my transgressions.  When I got arrested for putting a guy in the hospital, landing me in juvenile hall for a few days and on probation.  I’ll never regret it though.  If I see a guy hurting a woman, then I’ll hurt him.  I did it when Claudette’s ex-husband showed up at her apartment and beat her and I did it when Josh repeatedly hurt Gianna.  The fact that Claudette, my older upstairs neighbor, and I were in a casual relationship didn’t matter.  I would do the same for any female.  My probation was what held me back from hurting Josh even worse than I did.  Asshole got off lucky.  

Back to the present, I tell my mom, “I’m sorry for being such a pain in the past.  Things are different now.  I have a reason to be good.”

I can hear the smile in her voice, “Gianna?”

“Yes,” I say, grinning like the fool in love that I am.  

“Has her mom come around?”

My grin disappears, “No, she’s still being stubborn.”

“What are you guys going to do?”

“Whatever we have to.  See each other secretly for now.”

“Why your father married that woman, I’ll never understand.”

I feel pity for my dad, “He loved her.  I think he still does.”

“Well, at least one thing came out of it, you met Gianna and now I can sleep at night without worrying what kind of trouble you’re getting into.”

My mind wanders to what kind of things that I’d like to be doing at night with Gianna.  

My mom interrupts my thoughts, “So, you love her?”

“Yes,” the stupid grin is back.  “I’m keeping her.”

“I’m happy for you, baby.”

“I’m happy for me too.”

“You’re welcome to bring her here anytime.”

“Thanks.  I just got to dad’s, I’ll call you later mom.”

“Bye honey.”  She hangs up and I go in to greet my dad and get his support in what Gianna and I are having to do.  

GIANNA’S  POV:

“Gianna, who dropped you off earlier?”  My mom asks suspiciously.  

As soon as I was through the front door earlier, I ran up the stairs.  Now, I’m sitting and eating dinner at the dining room table with my mom and Chance.  This is the room that I first met Caleb in.  I stifle a sigh and try to hide how happy I am.  I might not be doing a very good job, which has brought on my mom’s easily suspicious nature.  

I bring down the forkful of spaghetti that I was about to eat, “My friend Ian.”

My mother’s eyes narrow, “Tell me about him.”

Not feeling one bit guilty about lying to my treacherous mother, I go right into it.  “Let’s see, he’s really handsome and plays football at Denver West High School.”  I have to hold back laughter at the thought of Ian as a jock.  He is so not the type.  I see him more as the head of an illegal gambling ring, taking bets on sporting games.  

My mother looks pleased.  “Are you dating?”

“Oh no,” I manage to hide my horror at the thought.  I mean, I like Ian as a friend, but now the thought of being with anyone but Caleb makes me want to shudder, and not in a good way.  The way Caleb makes me shudder.  

Okay, lying to my mom is actually something that I’m enjoying.  

“Is his family wealthy?” Nosy bitch.  

I give her a fake smile, one that I’ve perfected in high school.  This time, I tell her the truth, “Very rich.  You’d approve.”  God, I wish I could lie and say that Ian is poor as hell.

She frowns, “But you still spend the night at the girls house, the one that you go to ballet with?”

I give her a dirty look, “Her name is Cece, mom, and she’s been my best friend since I was little.”

“Yes, well your true friends are the girls that you have the most in common with.  The girls you cheer with.”  Like she even knows what she’s talking about.  Two of those so-called friends have already screwed Josh.  Not that I care, but the way I see it, friends don’t hook up with your ex-boyfriends.  Then she tries to innocently add, “This Ian sounds like a good catch.”

Fake smile back in place, “Maybe I’ll date him and get knocked up by a rich guy like you did.”

She is momentarily shocked, then I only have a second or two before the slap lands on my face.  I immediately look across the table to Chance, who was quietly playing with his food, but is now looking like he’s about to cry.  I glare at my mom, “Do you have to act like a psycho in front of my little brother?”

She glares right back, “Go to your room.”  

I jump out of my chair and it topples back to hit the floor, “I’m calling dad!”

“Gianna!” she calls out as I run up the stairs, but I’m not going to let her stop me.  I slam my bedroom door and lock it.  

My dad doesn’t answer his cell, so I try his home phone.  He must have checked the caller id, because he answers with a, “Baby?”

“Daddy, why did you have to breed with a crazy person?  I mean, wasn’t there anyone better to choose from in the mental hospital?”

My dad, always ready to listen to me vent about my mom, just laughs.  “What has she done now?  I’ve told you before, you’re always welcome to move here and live with me in Houston.”

 I scowl, “Are you still dating that bimbo?”

“Mia is a surgeon and, no, we aren’t dating anymore.  She’s still a good friend.”

“I still think she slept her way through medical school.”  I’m glad they aren’t dating anymore.  When I would visit, Mia would suck up to me and Chance in front of my dad, but when he wasn’t around, she’d act like we didn’t exist.  It used to confuse the heck out of my little brother.  

I sigh sadly, “Daddy, can’t you move back to Denver?”

He groans, “You’re making me feel like a terrible father, Gianna.”

“You’re a great dad, but me and Chance need you.”  I beg him.  

“Maybe,” he says reluctantly, “We’ll see.”

“That’s all I ask!  Just think about it.”  I decide to play dirty.  “With mom divorcing Scott, Chance won’t have a man in his life.”

I know that it’s a deliberate change of subject on his part when he asks, “Your mom mentioned something about Scott’s stepson.”

Startled, I wonder what she said, “Yeah?” I ask innocently.  

“That you were seeing him?”

“Uh-huh.”

“That she didn’t approve?”

“Overreaction on her part,” I say nonchalantly.  “You would have liked him, dad.”  So not true.  Caleb is a father’s worst nightmare.  Right after hardcore criminals, that is.  

“Are you still seeing him?”  Unlike my mother, I hate lying to my dad.  

“I want to,” I hedge.  

In a tired voice, he says, “Just be honest with me, baby.  I’d rather you tell me the truth.”

“You won’t tell mom?”

“I won’t tell mom.”

“I love him, daddy.”

My dad, just a couple years older than my mom, is in his mid-thirties and is still youthful.  Not like the woman downstairs who is only thirty-three and acts like she’s fifty-three.  I know he’ll understand.  “Just be safe.”

“Don’t worry, dad.  He loves me too.”

“I’ve got another call coming in, baby.  Have Chance call me after school tomorrow.”

“And you’ll think about moving here?”

“I’ll think about it.”

We hang up and I flop down onto my bed and turn on the television.  I ignore the show and think about my boyfriend.  It feels so good to be back together.  He’s really changed from the guy who he used to be.  I trust him not to hurt me.  I may not be able to claim him publicly, but he’s mine.  He said the most romantic things today.  Really sweet.  I can’t wait to see him at school tomorrow.  Maybe we’ll ditch and sneak off somewhere together.  I start to drift off to sleep, but then I get a text message an hour later.  It’s from Caleb.

“Hey beautiful, I’m going to sneak into your house tonight and bang you.”

I hold my hand over my mouth to cover up my laughter.  Some things never change.  I better savor the few romantic words he said today and last night cause he’s still a player.  But, now he's a one-woman player.

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