The Love I Need

Chapter 24

"What?" Cal spits out the question, immediately looking outraged. "I'm not stepping out on April. Why would you—" He stops mid-sentence and rubs the back of his neck. "Oh... Fuck!"

"Yeah, good luck denying it, Cal. I heard the whole damn thing," I tell him as I walk up the porch steps to stand in front of him.

I can't figure out if I'm angry on April's behalf, or if I'm just jealous that he's cheating on her with someone other than me.

Though, when I made the comment about being "right here" if he was going to step out on his wife, it left a rotten taste in my mouth.

I love Cal. I want Cal. But given the chance, would I really want him like that?

"No, Emy, it's not... It's really not like that. Half of what you heard was just me joking around. Melissa is—"

"How stupid do you think I am, Cal? I know I ignored all your bullshit when we were together and let you get away with everything, but I wasn't completely stupid then either!"

"I don't think you're stupid, Emy. Not now or then, but Melissa—"

"Save it, Cal!" I try to move past him but he blocks me with his arm.

"No! Wait! Just fucking listen to me!"

He grabs at my forearm to keep me from moving past him and my feet stumble backwards to put space between us, just as the door behind him swings open.

"You good out here?" Theo's voice booms from behind Cal, though he isn't quite yelling.

I look over Cal's shoulder to meet his eyes, as Cal answers him in a low growl. "I'm good."

Theo takes a step forward and rests a hand on Cal's shoulder. "Glad to hear, man. But I wasn't asking you." He pulls back on his shoulder, forcing him to take a small step back from me. His eyes haven't left mine. "Milia, are you good?"

I now recognize the look in his eyes as concern rather than pity, but it still rubs me the wrong way. Just yesterday he was acting like I was a threat to Cal, and now what? He's trying to save me from him?

"I'm fine, Theo," I say the words in a similar way to Cal's growl.

I was with Cal for years and he never physically hurt me—not badly, not on purpose. I'm not afraid of him, and I don't need someone to rescue me from him. Considering Theo apparently knows so much about our history together, he should know that.

Theo nods slowly and squeezes Cal's shoulder. "Okay. I'll go back inside then?"

"Go ahead," I say at the same time as Cal speaks.

"Wait! Theo, tell Emy who Melissa is, would ya?"

Theo lifts an eyebrow and finally takes his eyes off me to look at Cal. "Okay..." he says slowly like he's waiting for Cal to change his mind. When Cal doesn't say anything else, he looks back at me. "Melissa is Cal's therapist."

I know I must look shocked, because Theo gives me a gentle smile and then pats Cal's shoulder. "Okay, I'm going inside now." He looks at me one more time and then turns around to enter the house again.

Cal seems unsure of what to say now. He cracks his knuckles and stares down at his feet, then looks up at me again. "You believe your new pal Theo at least, don't you?"

I cross my arms over my chest. "You're sleeping with your therapist? There's gotta be laws—"

"For fucks sake, Emy, I'm not sleeping with her! I was supposed to go see her tonight, but I'm going to an AA meeting instead. I've been seeing Melissa—as my therapist—for a while now. She's the one who diagnosed me."