They both started laughing as she was handed a cup. She stared into whatever concoction she had just been given this time when Dakota took it out of her hand. “Hey.”
He gave her the same look he had at dinner, and she had a feeling he was still considering the possibility. Cally tried to take it back, but he grabbed the soda she had sat down next to her and put it in her hand. “This is so not fair.”
He leaned in and whispered it just loud enough for her to hear him. “Prove it.”
She was shocked that he would say that to her. “Just wait,” she warned him, not sure what she could do to him at this point but needing him to see that she wasn’t going to stand for his accusations.
He just laughed. “Now, where have you been all day?”
She rolled her eyes. “Hiding from the psychotic mess you were making.”
“Is that what you really think?” he asked, trying to figure out something.
Cally took a long swig of soda and shook her head. “You put me into shock, then dragged me around to a bunch of people I don’t know, and put the fear of death in me. What do you expect?”
He smiled. “Is that all it was?” Then he leaned down and kissed her hard and fast before one of his friends started talking to him and his attention turned away from her again.
She just nodded and looked past him to a group walking down the boardwalk ramp toward them. One face stuck out like a sore thumb, and almost like she had called to him, he looked her dead in the eye with the wrath of Zeus shooting bolts of lightning at her. Seth wasn’t turning around and he looked like he was going to come over here and start something she wasn’t ready to deal with tonight.
Dakota was talking to a taller guy, and she glanced back at Savannah who turned from Seth to her. She had to do something, so she leaned back and said, “I’ll be right back.”
Annalise asked, “Everything all right?”
“We’ll find out,” Cally said with a different kind of fear running through her.
She made sure Dakota wasn’t watching as she walked up to Seth. His words cut through her like a blade of steel. “You didn’t do it!” he snapped.
She couldn’t look at him as she answered, “No.”
“When?” He demanded to know like she owed him something.
Seth’s brother grabbed her hand and shoved it into Seth’s face until her new ring was sparkling at them. Seth nearly yelled, “You hussy!”
Cally watched him turn and storm off.
His brother demanded, “Why didn’t you tell him?”
She couldn’t look him in the eye. “Because I didn’t think anything like this was going to happen.”
“You’re just another Jezebel,” he yelled as he followed his brother.
Cally turned to see Dakota, Jay, and one of their other friends walking toward her. This wasn’t good, and there was no way she was getting out of this. “What was that about?”
She looked back to Dakota, and their eyes locked as she was trying to explain what had happened. “I broke up with him, telling him I didn’t want to date anyone over the summer. He was angry when he saw me and when his brother held up my hand.” She was still cradling her hand and holding tight to where her new ring was.
“He’s not taking the engagement well?” Jay laughed it off.
Cally shook her head as she looked past them to Savannah. Her sister knew what she had just done, and she didn’t have to be over here to hear them either. Savannah knew that she had just fully and completely ended it with Seth and she was watching to see how this was going to play out. If Dakota let it go, then she would too; but if not, well, blood didn’t mean anything when it came to Savannah and her friends.
Dakota wrapped his arm around her and kissed her in a way that she knew was more of him claiming his rights to her than anything else, and when he was done he held her close as they headed back to the trucks. It was over. It didn’t matter what Seth said or did at this point. All she had to do was keep it together for a month or so, and none of it would matter anymore. She would be his wife, and no matter what she wanted or felt, she would never cheat on Dakota. It was done. There was no getting out of this; she was getting married.
I’m getting married, I’m really getting married. That was the moment reality was starting to kick in. The more the words played in her head, the more real it all seemed.
Cally looked over to Savannah as they walked by, and she nodded. Her sister knew it was over with and what she was going to do was the right thing, or she’d be the one that would kill Cally. Savannah had gotten her way yet again. Cally wasn’t going to break Dakota’s heart. She was going to love him and become his whole world or end up dead in the process via her sister’s hands. Yep, the way life works for a fifteen-year-old, do what you’re told or the older sister will make you do it via physical force; a.k.a., she would beat you down if you didn’t. Cally could attest to that firsthand.
It wasn’t until a few people started leaving that Cally realized what time it was. She looked over to see Savannah and Jay getting ready to leave, and she then looked to Dakota. He was still talking to a few people, and she just sat back and did everything she could to hold it together. The wild emotional rollercoaster that had been her day was finally starting to catch up with her. More than anything, she just wanted to curl into a ball and cry. She broke up with the wrong guy and agreed to marry the wrong guy, and now was getting married, married!
Cally just leaned back and looked up at the stars, wishing that this was all just a dream, hoping that everything would work itself out. This life was already too stressful for her, and she wanted nothing more than to run and hide. To boot, she had to work tomorrow, and she really didn’t care what anyone said. Work was the only sane thing left in her life, and she was not flaking out just because they wanted to plan a bunch of crap behind her back.
It was nearly one before they left. She had to be at work by six thirty, and she knew she was going to be tired. For the first time, she took Dakota’s hand and walked back to his car, knowing she was going to be with him forever. Something had happened tonight, and she wasn’t sure if it was Seth or Savannah or just getting away from everyone’s planning frenzy—but something had changed.
The boulder she had been carrying with her for the past few weeks was now gone. Some huge invisible weight that had been dragging her down was gone. For once, she wasn’t feeling like she was walking on a thin line between a snake pit filled with rattlesnakes and a crocodile feeding frenzy. Yeah, the weight was gone, and in its place were the dangerous reptiles ready to attack if she wasn’t careful.
Dakota walked her up to the dark house. There weren’t any threats around or anything to worry about in this small safe community, but he did it because it was the gentlemanly thing to do, and that is what he was—above all else, he was a gentleman. He kissed her goodnight—one of his infamous knee-weakening, fire-setting, passion-filled kisses that left her wanting more.
He laughed as he looked at what he had done to her again and teased, “Not tonight.” He just walked away, and she knew no matter how much she wanted him, he wasn’t going to give in.
Cally watched him get in his car and pull out before she went inside. She knew Savannah was probably still up, but she needed sleep tonight, not another lecture from her sister. She barely made it to bed before she passed out from this long messed up day.
Commitment Isn’t Easy
Cally woke up at five thirty to her alarm screeching the most unnatural sounds. She looked down and turned it off before it had a chance to wake anyone else up. More than anything, she just wanted to go back to bed, but she didn’t because she knew that she had to get up and go to work. She didn’t