Chapter 60
Elena's POV
I sat frozen on the sofa, chest heaving, staring at him.
He crossed the room in three strides, grabbed one of the beers from the mini fridge, and pressed the cold can against his forehead. His back was rigid. His shoulders tight.
My heart wouldn't slow down.
"Why..." I started, voice shaking. "Why did you—"
He turned. His eyes were back to normal. But the scent—God, the scent was still everywhere. Ten times stronger than usual. It clung to the air, to my clothes, to my skin.
"Ask me one more time," he said flatly, "and I'll come back over there."
I shut my mouth.
Silence. The only sound was the wind howling outside, rattling the windows.
Finally, he exhaled. "You should eat something."
---
He moved around the kitchen like nothing had happened. Opened containers. Set out the food I hadn't touched earlier. His hands were steady.
Except they weren't. I saw the slight tremor in his fingers when he set the spoon down.
I sat at the table and ate because I didn't know what else to do. He stood at the counter, back to me, gripping the edge like he needed to hold onto something.
I kept replaying it in my head. The kiss. The way he'd looked at me. The way his voice had sounded when he said my wolf.
This wasn't the cold, controlled Caleb I knew. This was someone else. Someone who'd been buried under all that restraint.
When I finished eating, he took my bowl without a word. I watched him rinse it, put it away. Every movement deliberate. Controlled.
Then I noticed the carpet. The beer he'd knocked over earlier had soaked into the fibers. The smell of malt mixed with his scent, sharp and overwhelming. I tried not to breathe too deeply, but it didn't matter. It was everywhere.
---
He walked to the door. His hand closed around the handle.
Then he stopped.
For a long moment, he just stood there, back to me.
"You staying here tonight," he asked quietly, "or going back to the model room?"
"Here."
He turned his head. Not all the way. Just enough that I could see his profile.
"When I came in earlier," he said, voice low, "I did want to kiss you. But this time?" He paused. "You were sending me signals."
The door opened. He stepped through. It clicked shut behind him.
I stood there, frozen, staring at the empty space where he'd been.
---
I collapsed onto the bed face-first, burying my face in the pillow.
What the hell just happened?
I'd imagined my first kiss before. Soft. Tentative. Sweet.
Not... that. Not raw and desperate and dangerous.
But my body didn't care what I'd imagined. My body remembered the heat of his mouth, the way his hand had gripped my hair, the way his breath had felt against my neck.
God.
"He's so calm normally," I murmured. "And then when he kissed me, it was like he was someone else entirely."
I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling.
If it was him... I might not have said no.
The thought hit me like ice water. I sat up, pulse racing, shame burning through me.
I'd just ended things with Damon. I was a mess. I had no business thinking about Caleb this way.
But I was thinking about him. And I couldn't stop.
---
Caleb's POV
I didn't go to the elevator.
I went straight to the emergency stairwell at the end of the hall, shoved the door open, and stumbled onto the landing.
Cold air hit me. The wind was brutal up here, cutting through my shirt, but I didn't care. I needed it.
I took a deep breath. Then another.
It didn't help.
My body temperature was still climbing. My hands were shaking. And my eyes—I didn't need a mirror to know they'd gone full amber.
I gripped the metal railing so hard my knuckles turned white.
Control it. Breathe. Control it.
I pulled out a cigarette with trembling fingers, lit it, took a drag. The nicotine didn't do shit.
I touched the cigarette to my bottom lip without thinking—and tasted her. Gardenias. Sweet milk. Her.
I closed my eyes.
"Fuck," I muttered. Then, quieter: "Worth it, though."
I knew I was screwed. I'd been screwed the second I walked back into that room tonight.
No more pretending. No more lying to myself.
My wolf had made its choice.
---
Elena's POV
At exactly eleven PM, I heard the lock click open. I'd been lying there for hours, still in my clothes, just staring into space with the blanket pulled up.
The second Lila stepped through the door, I yanked the covers over my head.
"Elena?" Her voice was cautious.
"Yeah." Muffled. I buried my face deeper.
Silence. Then footsteps. I felt the mattress dip as she sat down.
"Why are you hiding?"
"I'm not hiding."
"Your entire head is under the blanket."
I didn't move. My face was burning. If she saw me now—saw me like this—she'd know.
"Nothing happened."
She was quiet for a moment. Then I heard her stand and walk to the other side of the room. The mini fridge opened. Closed.
"Uh-huh."
I peeked out from under the covers. "What?"
She was holding an empty beer bottle. Then she bent down and touched the carpet. "This whole area is wet."
Shit.
"My God." Her voice held a teasing note. "What did you two do?"
"Nothing."
"Liar." The bed dipped again. Closer this time. "By the way, your ears are red. I can see them sticking out."
I stayed silent.
"Elena, I'm your best friend. You can tell me—"
"He kissed me."
Silence.
Then: "Holy shit."
I groaned into the pillow.
"Wait. Caleb? Caleb kissed you?" She sounded thrilled. "When? Here? In this room?"
"Yes. Tonight. Stop laughing."
"I'm not—okay, I am laughing. But seriously?" She grabbed the edge of the blanket and yanked it down. I tried to hold on, but she was faster. "Look at me."
I turned my face away.
"Elena."
"What?"
"How was it?"
My face exploded.
"Oh my God, it must have been amazing." She laughed. "You're practically on fire."
I sat up and glared at her. "It was a mistake."
"Uh-huh." She crossed her arms, grinning. "That's why you're glowing."
"I'm not—"
"You are. Your lips are swollen. Your eyes are all big and dazed. And you smell like..." She leaned closer, sniffing. "Like someone who just got thoroughly kissed."
I pushed at her shoulder. "Stop it."
She laughed harder. "So what happened? Did he just go for it, or—"