The Final Choice

37

I could hear laughter and talking, as I made my way towards the kitchen. Sounded like Sam was back. His laughter mixed with Colby's, making one of the best sounds that I had ever heard. There was just something about these two men, that made a person feel better.

When I was around them, feeling their energy, it was like everything was going to be okay. Like there was still good in the world. They made me feel lighter, like the weight of the world wasn't on my shoulders for a little while. They helped me forget that I always felt like my world was about to implode.

"Good Morning, Beautiful!" Colby exclaimed, as I walked into the room. I smiled and shook my head, praying that my cheeks would NOT flush, for a change. "Morning," I murmured, before I yawned. 

"Did you sleep okay?" Colby asked, narrowing his eyes, as he scrutinized my face. He, Sam, and Denise, were sitting around the kitchen island, with plates of food piled around them. It looked like Colby had ordered every breakfast and lunch food that was available. There was barely room for me to rest my elbows, as I sat down next to him. Sam and Denise were sitting on the other side of the island, watching me. 

Denise had a little smirk on her face, which didn't surprise me. It did worry me, because I felt like she had some sort of "plan" up her sleeve. Sam was also smirking at me, which did surprise me. Why? I met his gaze and gave him a questioning look. He just shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Colby. 

Who was also staring at me. Jesus, was I some kind of zoo animal on display?! "I slept fine. After the initial nightmare, anyway," I stated, as Colby pushed a full plate of food towards me. "Is that why everyone is looking at me?" 

"Sorry," he replied, blushing a little. I had to admit, it was so freaking cute when he did that. I smiled to myself and picked up a grape that was on my plate. "It's fine. I don't care that everyone knows I had a nightmare. I had a pretty eventful night, so it wasn't a surprise," I replied, before popping the grape in my mouth. 

"Yeah, I heard about that," Sam said, sympathetically. "Are you okay after all that? It's fucked up that something like that can even happen. It's not right." I looked up and met his bright blue gaze, immediately going soft. "Yeah, I'm okay. I've been through worse," I said softly, shrugging my shoulders. "Nothing really happened."

"Are you kidding me?" Denise asked, smartly. "Nothing happened? You're really gonna sit there and say that, with those nasty claw marks across your damn thigh? AND the bruises on your neck? That piece of shit better be glad that I wasn't the one to find you, because I would've killed him and risked prison time."

"Denise," I sighed, shaking my head. Before I could say anything else, Colby spoke up. "I wanted to kill him. I think I would have, if Callie hadn't stopped me." I glanced over to see him inspecting his bruised, split knuckles. 

"Where are your rings?" I asked, stupidly, when I noticed that his fingers were bare. He kind of smirked at me and rolled his eyes. "I do occasionally take them off," he replied. "Besides...they need to be cleaned, before I can wear them again."

"Oh," I breathed out, as I remembered the sight of him beating my abuser to a literal pulp. I remembered the blood splattering across his hands and arms. Even on his gorgeous face. Somehow, the memory didn't bother me in the slightest. In fact, it was even kind of hot.

I would definitely be keeping that thought to myself. I should probably tell my therapist though. 

I smiled to myself and shook my head. "What's funny?" Colby whispered, leaning close to my ear. I felt his soft breath hit my skin and goosebumps erupted. "Nothing," I whispered back, knowing that I wouldn't be able to hide the blush that finally flooded my cheeks. 

"Oh, now I definitely want to know!" he exclaimed, sitting back in his chair and looking at me with humor filled eyes. "No. Shut up." I replied. "Why did you get so much food?" He stared at me for a moment, probably deciding whether or not he wanted to keep antagonizing me. 

Thankfully, he decided against it. 

He shrugged and smiled. "I knew Sam would be here and I didn't know what everyone liked or how hungry you guys would be. So, I got a little bit of everything. Plus, I know you guys are more into that heavy food that we all use to eat. Sam and I got into eating healthier when we lived in LA. I know it's something that you have to get use to." 

Immediately, those dreaded insecurities filled my mind. What did he mean by that? He didn't think that I would eat healthy foods because I was fat. God, I probably looked like a cow in Kat's dress. No more playing dress up for me. Then, I really just wore that skimpy ass pajama set around him, like it was nothing! What was I thinking?! Nope. I had to do better. Have to keep the pudge covered. 

I subconsciously pulled the end of my shirt down, even though it was covering everything just fine. My phone pinged, so I grabbed it for a distraction. A text from Denise?

I glanced up to see her glaring at me. "Stop," she mouthed, silently. I sighed and opened the text to see the same word, in bold, capital letters. It was amazing how well she knew me sometimes. I rolled my eyes at her, grabbed a few more grapes off my plate, then pushed it away. No need to eat if I wasn't hungry anyway, right?

"Are you not hungry?" Sam asked me, raising his eyebrows. "Not very," I replied, looking away from him. "I'm not really a breakfast person." I could feel Denise's eyes boring into me, so I kept my gaze averted. 

"What's on the agenda for today?" I asked, changing the subject, as I popped another grape into my mouth. "Well, that's up to you," he replied, smiling at me. I think my heart skipped a beat. I know I froze, with a grape half bitten into. 

Was I ever going to get used to that heart stopping smile? I hoped not. I kinda liked the way it stole my breath.

"Up to me?" I repeatedly, dumbly. He nodded slowly and bit his lip. Christ, he had to stop doing things like that, if I had any hope of NOT falling even more in love with him. 

Wait. Falling more in love? Had I fallen in love with him? Was I intensely attracted to him? Yes, but in love? I mean, I loved him. I always would. He was one of my best friends. That was different though. Did I fall in love with him, when we had our so called long distant relationship, over the phone? Maybe...but it had been a long time since then. Surely, I wasn't still IN LOVE with him...right?

"Yes, up to you," he laughed. "We can stay here all day and play games, get in the pool,  or just relax. Orrr, we can go sightseeing and I can show you around." "Umm," I said, as I chewed my bottom lip, hesitantly. I hated making decisions, because what if I made the wrong one?

Say I chose to let Colby show me around. What if there were too many people and I had a stupid panic attack for no reason? Or, what if I chose to stay here at the house and didn't get another chance to see Las Vegas? See what I mean? Indecisive.

I sighed and held his gaze. "I don't know," I whimpered. He chuckled and reached over to pat my leg. "We've still got a few days, Cal. It's not the end of the world. Since you had a rough night, why don't we stay here for a while and just chill. If you feel like going out later, we can do that. Okay?" 

I gave him a small smile and nodded. "You always know just what to say," I sighed. "Well, I have to go listen to boring seminars and I'm already going to be late. Not a good look for that promotion they wanna give me, huh?" Denise laughed. "I've gotta go. Sam, do you mind driving me, so that I don't have to wait for an Uber? That'll just make me even more late."

I looked over to them, just in time to watch Denise nod her head towards me, indicating something to Sam. "I can take her, if you're busy, man. Or, if Kat is coming back soon," Colby said. Sam flashed a grin at Colby, but it seemed a little forced to me. "Nah, dude. I've got it. I don't think Katrina is coming back today and I've got nothing else going on. I'll be back soon."

Denise and Sam got up from the island, and pushed their stools up. "See you kids later," Denise said, winking at me. Sam threw his hand up, as they started walking out, but yelled back, right before they walked out of the room. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" echoed through the kitchen.