The Love I Need

Chapter 17

Cal's assumption that I slept with Theo has a slew of emotions running through me. I feel angry, then I want to laugh, and then a small amount of hope comes bubbling to the surface.

He's jealous. Perhaps he's not as caught up in April as last night led me to believe.

"What?" I ask innocently, neither confirming or denying his assumption.

Cal stares me down, then slowly shakes his head. "No," he says softly, sounding as if he's trying to convince himself. "No... no," he says again. When I only look back at him, he turns around to look at Theo. "She didn't stay here," he says as a statement, rather than a question.

Theo frowns. "She did..." he answers.

Cal inhales sharply and reaches up to grab at his hair. He looks like he's ready to pull it out.

"Come on, Cal," Theo says, his tone suggesting that Cal should know better. "It's not like that."

"Not like what?" Cal snaps, then takes a deep breath as if trying to calm himself. He continues to stare down Theo and then he looks back to me. "No," he says for the fourth time and then begins to laugh softly. "Fuck, of course it's not like that."

What's that supposed to mean?

"I'm sorry, guys," he apologizes, "I don't know what I was thinking. I know you wouldn't..." He uses a hand to gesture back and forth between Theo and I and lets out another laugh.

I don't know what about this is funny to him. I'm not sure which is worse, that he would assume I had sex with Theo or that he is so sure that it couldn't happen.

Theo picks up the two plates and puts them down on the table. He pulls out a chair and nods toward it, then pulls out another chair and sits down himself. "Did you want something to eat, Cal?" he asks while he sprinkles some pepper over his eggs. He's so casual, acting as if this entire situation isn't weird as hell.

Cal shakes his head and watches me as I cross the kitchen to sit down in the chair that Theo pulled out for me.

Theo offers me the pepper without a word, and I accept it from his hand and shake some over my eggs.

Cal steps toward the table and grabs the back of the chair beside me. "What the fuck is going on?" he asks in a weird voice that sounds amused, confused, and verging on anger all at once.

I look at Theo, but he just keeps eating his eggs. I follow his lead and do the same.

"Theo?" Cal pushes when he doesn't get a reply.

Theo looks up at him and then at me. He shovels the last few bites of eggs into his mouth and then stands up. "What's going on?" he repeats Cal's question thoughtfully, then shrugs his shoulders. "I'm going to work. You're getting a mailbox. She's... Well, right now, it looks like she's eating eggs." He carries his plate to the sink and rinses it off, then picks up a set of keys from the counter. "Call me if you need anything. I mean it, Cal. See you later, Emilia. Maybe."

He walks out of the kitchen with Cal right behind him.

"What the hell, man?" I hear Cal's voice as they walk to the front door.

"What?" Theo asks nonchalantly.

"You're really not going to explain anything to me?" Cal questions as their voices grow more distant.

"Nope," Theo replies. I hear the door open and then Theo's voice once more. "Talk to her, Cal. And don't be a dick."

The door shuts and Cal walks back into the kitchen and stands at the table, across from where I'm sitting. "Do you want to go get breakfast?" he asks, attempting to sound casual. He doesn't pull it off the same way that Theo does though.