Trusting You: The Switched Series book two (9 page)

I have just gotten off the phone with Callie, when my phone starts ringing again. I am really glad Callie is getting to remember what it’s like being a part of a family, but I am so jealous too. Not only is she getting a mom and dad and siblings, she has finally found someone she hopes to spend forever with. I am really happy for her about that though. It gives me some hope that maybe happily ever afters really can exist. I look down at my phone and see Brody’s picture.

“Hey there handsome,” I say not being able to stop smiling.

“Hey to you too, beautiful,” he says. “How has your day been?”

“Not nearly as exciting as yours,” I say. “I just got off the phone with Callie. Y’all have definitely had an exciting day. Did you really threaten to move in with them?” I ask, laughing.

“Yes, I did. I thought that would be enough to make her see it my way, I was really wrong. She is very stubborn,” he says.

“That she is. Let her have some fun. She deserves it. I think she is in good hands. You can tell he is so in love with her it’s pitiful,” I say hoping I don’t sound too jealous.

“He is a good guy and he is probably the only guy I would ever trust her with, so I’m good with that,” he says. “Plus, if I made her move out, I would sound like a royal hypocrite for what I’m about to ask you,” he says, making me very suspicious.

“Is that so?” I ask. “What do you need to ask me? You definitely have my curiosity up.”

“I put in for a transfer a few months ago. I just needed something different. It was before I knew about Callie and everything. Now I’m not sure I want to move anywhere else, but there is a case they have asked me to work on that is in Miami. I was hoping I could stay with you while I was there, unless that’s too weird for you. I can get a hotel, it’s no problem,” he says, shocking me. He really wants to come to Miami and stay with me.

“I think that can probably be arranged. When are you coming?” I ask.

“I leave Monday. It’s only for a week and I haven’t told anyone about it yet. They don’t know about me putting in for a transfer, so it’s kind of a secret and I really dread telling Callie. That’s why I’m glad she has Ash.”

“I can definitely find some room for you by then. I’ll have to kick my boyfriend out though. I’m not sure how he will like that, but you are a lot hotter,” I say hoping I am hiding how excited I am about this. I get him for a whole week to myself and I don’t have to share him with anyone. I could definitely get used to that.

“Is that so,” he says, laughing. “I really hope you’re kidding, because I really wanted to be your boyfriend.”

“Oh wow, I feel like I’m in junior high again. You could send me a note that says yes, no or maybe. Those were always so much fun,” I say, laughing.

“Are you sure you are okay with me crashing there for a week?” he asks, sounding serious.

“I am positive. I can’t wait to have you all to myself for a week. I just really hate we both have to work while you are here,” I say, sounding pathetic even to myself.

“Well, I shouldn’t have to work too many nights. I’m sure you can find us something fun to do then,” he says, sweetly. “I need to get some rest, some girl kept me on the phone half the night last night and I have had a very stressful day. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he says, before we say our goodbyes.

I don’t remember the last time I was so excited. The kicker in all of this is I can’t even call my best friend and share with her how excited I am about this because she can’t know about it. I am really hoping she would be okay with this since she is dating Brody’s best friend, but I don’t want to tell her anything Brody doesn’t want her to know. So until he says it’s okay to tell her, my mouth is shut. I am just so happy to have him all to myself for a week.

This has been the quickest week of my life. Going back to work the first week is always hard and exhausting, but having Brody here has easily made this the greatest week of my life. He got here on Monday and was supposed to leave on Friday, but today is Saturday and he is still here at least for one more night. He said he couldn’t leave yet, because there was one thing he had always wanted to do and he is determined to do it with me. I have no idea what it is, all I know is I need to be ready to spend some time outside. Miami in August is pretty hot, but I am willing to do whatever he wants to do.

I walk out the door to find him dressed in slacks and a white button up shirt.

“You look really nice, should I go change? I really wish you would tell me where we are going,” I say, walking over to kiss him.

“You look absolutely perfect and amazing,” he says, kissing me back. “Are you ready to go?”

“I am as ready as I will ever be,” I say, grabbing his hand. We walk outside and get into my car. He pulls out and drives what feels like forever before pulling over to a house on the beach. “Are we visiting someone?” I ask really hoping I am not going to have to share him on his last night here.

“Nope, no one is home. We aren’t going inside the house anyway,” he says, getting out and coming around to open my door. After my door is open and I step out, he walks to the trunk and opens it. He gets a large picnic basket out and grabs my hand. “This way,” he says, heading straight to the beach.

“Are we having a picnic on the beach?” I ask smiling.

“Yes we are, a private picnic on our private beach, at least it’s ours for tonight,” he says, leaving me wondering how I got so lucky to have this guy with me. He finds a spot in the sand and gets a blanket out of the basket. After the blanket is down, he starts taking all of the food out of the basket.

“Wow, you thought of everything, didn’t you?” I ask.

“I wanted it to be perfect,” he says. I don’t know why he wanted tonight to be so perfect, but I’m very thankful he did all of this for me.

“Thank you,” I say, watching him wink at me.

After we have finished our amazing meal, we relax on the blanket and look up at the stars. “Do you really have to go back home tomorrow?” I ask. He lays there quietly for a few minutes. Finally, he props himself up on his elbow to look at me.

“Is there anything I can say to convince you to come home with me?” he asks. I was not expecting that.

“My job is here. I can’t just pack up and move. Can you stay here?” I ask, watching him shake his head.

“No, I tried. I told you I put in a transfer, it didn’t get accepted. I called this morning to see if I could transfer here full time, but they said for now, I needed to stay in Nashville.”

“I sent a resume to all of the counties up your way. Unfortunately there are not a lot of job openings right now. I’m lucky to have the job I have. I can’t just move and have no way to support myself,” I say.

“I’ll take care of you. It could work. I won’t even charge rent,” he says, smiling.

“I know, but I can’t do that. Besides, Callie would find out then,” I say, laughing.

“I would definitely tell her if it meant I got to live with the woman I loved,” he says, before his eyes go wide. I don’t really know what to say, because right now he is looking like he really didn’t mean for that to come out.

“It’s okay, you can take it back. You look like you are about to be sick,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.

“I’m not taking it back, I just didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” he says.

“How did you mean for it to come out?” I ask, confused.

“I meant to say, Leighton Lancaster, I am so in love with you and I really don’t want to leave you tomorrow,” he says, leaning down to kiss me. I put my finger on his lips to stop him.

“I love you too,” I say, pulling his lips to mine.

“Are you serious? I have only seen you four days in the past two months, and that was two very quick weekends, and you are saying I can’t even come to the airport to pick you up,” I practically scream into the phone.

“I know and I can’t wait to see you, but Callie wanted to come get me. Callie, the girl who is scared to go near Nashville, is coming to the airport in Nashville by herself to get me. There is no way I was telling her no,” Leighton says. “I guess this move has been really good for her. How do you think Thanksgiving will go with her and Molly?” she asks.

“If it’s anything like the past few months, it will be everyone making sure they aren’t left alone together and pretty much not letting either of them speak. Thankfully we all don’t get together very often,” I say still sounding mad. “I’m glad you will be here to help with all of that. Do you think I will be able to steal you away from Callie some this week? I have really missed you a lot and we have a lot to catch up on,” I say.

“If I have to sneak out in the middle of the night, I promise we will spend a lot of time together,” she says. “Now I have to go if I am going to make my flight. I love you and I will try to see you tonight,” she says, quickly.

“I love you too and you will definitely see me tonight. Bye sweetheart,” I say, before hanging up. I have gone way too long without seeing this girl and Callie better not keep me from her. I know this would be so much easier if we would just tell everyone, but for some reason, keeping it a secret makes it feel like we are so much closer. It’s just for us and no one else is a part of it. I understand why Ash and Callie wanted to keep their relationship a secret for so long.

I finish getting ready and head out to work. I know my head is going to be a mess today, so I am really glad Ash is working with me today. We don’t have many days lately where we get to work together all day.

After what feels like the longest day of my life, it’s finally time to head out. I probably shouldn’t, but I can’t stop myself from following Ash to his house instead of going to mine. Leighton is way too big of a temptation to stay away from when I haven’t seen her in a while. I get out of my truck a few seconds after Ash and follow him inside. Leighton’s eyes automatically go straight to mine making me smile.

“Hey handsome,” she says, making me smile even bigger.

“Leighton, where is Callie?” Ash asks, making Leighton look back to him.

“Molly called on the way back from the airport and asked her to come over. She sounded really weird too, but Callie said it would be okay. She also said if she wasn’t home in an hour to come looking for her. It hasn’t been an hour yet,” she says, sounding worried. I can’t believe Molly wanted to see Callie. Something is definitely not right about this.

“Do you think we should go over there?” Ash asks, turning around to me. I know we definitely need to go over there, but it is taking everything in me not to grab this girl in front of me. I need her in my arms bad right now.

“I think that would probably be a good idea. Do you want to go with us?” I ask Leighton. There is no way I am walking out of this door without her.

“Sure, she hasn’t been gone fifteen minutes yet. Are y’all sure we need to interrupt?” she asks, sounding like she needs to be alone with me as bad as I need her right now.

“I don’t see how it could hurt anything,” Ash says, walking out the door. I take this opportunity to grab Leighton and give her a quick kiss. “Hey baby,” I whisper, before heading outside to join Ash in my truck.

We pull up to find Molly and Callie’s vehicles in the drive, so they are definitely here. We all get out of the truck and start to head for the house when we hear a gun shot. Ash and I take off running inside. I really don’t think Molly would shoot Callie, but something bad is going down inside. We walk inside to find the house mostly dark. I try to hear something. Finally after a few seconds, I can hear a muffled cry. We run into the living room where the first thing I see is a man on the floor in a pool of blood. On the couch, Molly is tied up crying and Callie is sprawled out covered in blood. This can’t be good.

After several minutes of chaos, an ambulance finally shows up. I give Leighton my keys and tell her to follow us and to call my parents on the way to meet us at the hospital. Ash jumps in the ambulance with Callie and I jump in with Molly. She looks fine, but I need to know who the hell that was and why he tied her up.

“I’m really okay, he didn’t do anything to me,” Molly keeps saying over and over.

“Who was he? How did he get in the house? Why did you call Callie?” I ask. I know I should probably be quiet, but I really need to know what happened. Molly just keeps staring at me with wide eyes shaking her head. “Who was he?” I ask one more time.

“Kyle,” she whispers.

“Kyle. Are you talking about your boyfriend Kyle?” I ask. I have never met the guy she has been dating. All I know is his name is Kyle. She just nods her head at me. “Why?” I ask, before she starts telling me a very crazy and unbelievable story.

As soon as we get to the hospital, they take Molly and Callie back and tell us to go the waiting room. I head outside to try and find Leighton and my truck. I walk around the lot until I find her standing beside my truck in tears. I grab her and pull her to me and hold her. I have no idea what to say to her right now. I saw the exact same thing she saw back there and it will be hard for her to get that image out of her head.

“Is Callie going to be okay?” she asks quietly.

“I hope so,” I say, pulling her a little tighter. I give her a quick kiss on the forehead and thank God she was not in that house with them. I know it is selfish of me, but I am so glad she didn’t go with Callie to that house. “We should probably go inside and wait on an update. We have to believe she will be fine.”

After a crazy afternoon of lots of secrets coming out and lots of happiness going around, we find out Callie is going to be fine and will probably get to come home soon. Leighton and I tell Callie bye and head out, finally some alone time with my girl. I take her straight to Callie and Ash’s so I can spend some time with her. I begged her to come home with me, but she insisted on being there when Callie came home.

As soon as we get home I grab her and start kissing her.

“I know you can’t stay with me, but can you help me pack up what I brought over here a few months ago to try and scare Callie into moving out?” I ask, finally letting go of her for the first time since we got home. “At least now we know why they really wanted to live together so bad.”

“Of course I will help you. I should probably help you unpack it all at your house later too,” Leighton says, winking at me. “I think Callie and Ash will be glad to have some time alone after today. Maybe I can sneak out some this week,” she says, smiling back at me.

While we are packing up the rest of my stuff, Callie walks in with Molly. This day keeps getting weirder.

“I was just packing up my things. I figured you two didn’t need a chaperone anymore,” I say, looking at the both of them. Not that I spent many nights with them. It was too hard keeping my phone calls to Leighton a secret here.

“You can stay as long as you want. Right now I need you to take Leighton somewhere for a few minutes. I need to talk to Molly, okay?” Callie says, looking at Leighton, who looks just as shocked as I am right now. “Please,” I see her mouth to Leighton.

“Sure, come on Brody. We will be back in a little while. Good to see you again, Molly. I’m really glad both of you are okay,” Leighton says, pulling me out the door.

“What is happening in there?” I ask, opening my truck door for Leighton.

“I have no idea, but I did just get permission to spend some time with you. Where do you want to go?” she asks, smiling. I will definitely never get tired of this girls smile.