Arise
Gray

I woke up ready to leave as soon as possible. According to Dr. Hal, I should be on bed rest, and although sitting in a luxury suite sounded nice, it was rather boring. I had been sitting around all morning catching up on tv shows. I left the room in hopes of ridding my boredom, which was when I met Valerie down the hallway.

“Hey girly, like my outfit,” she asked with a twirl. She was wearing a red and white-striped dress and hunter boots.

I tilted my head. “It’s winter.”

She waved off my comment. “It’s warm inside and Caleb likes it when I wear this dress.”

I resisted the urge to gag. “Getting hit by a plane sounded less painful than hearing that.”

She rolled her eyes at my comment and smiled widely. She swayed side-to-side, swinging her dress around. “You know why I’m dressed up.”

I raised an eyebrow and tapped my chin in thought. “Is it because you want to get laid?” I snapped my fingers. “You wore the dress in hopes that Caleb would notice your frustration.”

“Rosetta!” she yelled.

“I’m kidding! I know the bridal shower is this evening, and you want to look nice all day. But all these outfit changes are giving me a headache.” She had come by this morning to drop off breakfast wearing a long-sleeve crop top, leggings, and a cardigan.

“Is that how you speak to the birthday girl?”

I cocked my head to the side. “It’s your birthday?”

She narrowed her eyes and pulled a lock of my hair.

“Ouch! What the hell!” I rubbed my scalp. “This isn’t kindergarten!”

She ran a hand through her hair and placed her other hand on hip. “Just checking to see if the concussion affected your memory.” She turned around and walked away with a hair flip.

I cupped my hands over my mouth and shouted, “I ran over your gift with my car!” Val flipped me off from behind and went on her merry way.

Hours later, the party was in full swing. I had briefly met some of her friends and we played games and ate food to our hearts’ content. I wore a dark green sweater dress that complimented my red hair and paired it with a black statement necklaces and brown boots. Dylan wore a black long sleeve shirt with a thick plaid blanket scarf and a beanie, pairing it with dark washed jeans and converse. She had luckily found a girl her age that she stayed by for most of the night to probably avoid Jordan. I remained by Val’s side as she greeted people and introduced me to them. She changed her outfit again, sporting a white dress and black heels with a bridal sash over her shoulder.

She was talking animatedly to a group of little kids who asked about how she first met Caleb. I happily drowned that conversation out by loudly munching on tortilla chips. Yum.

Another hour passed, and the men started to show up, including Caleb. I never met anyone who liked Caleb besides Valerie, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I figured he had no friends and only employees.

Wearing a dark blue button up and jeans, he walked to Val’s side and gave her a lingering kiss on the forehead to which everyone gushed at.

Even though I hated the guy, I could tell that he really loved her and would do anything for her. It was the only thing that kept me from castrating him.

Leaving them to talk to everyone, I moved to talk to some of Val’s friends. They were just as excited and happy for them as I was. They asked about how Valerie and Caleb were in high school. I happily told them with some embellishment. I couldn’t deny them of what they wanted to hear.

I heard Val let out a loud squeal of joy. My eyes drifted to her. She was hugging a man to Caleb’s delight. The man was tall, towering over her but slightly shorter than Caleb. His tan arms seen from the short sleeve, black polo shirt he wore. His black hair was combed back but looked effortless.

A smile rose from his jaw as he talked to Valerie. I couldn’t stop staring at this handsome man. The conversations around me seemed to have faded away. Even from here, I could see how gorgeous this man was. I parted my mouth as I gazed at him. He kissed Val’s hand and winked at Caleb, causing him to get angry.

He stayed with them for another hour. The way the three of them stood caught my attention. While people came up to talk to them, it was as if he was second to Caleb. He was watching over them but still watching everybody around them. His gaze observant and calculating. Afraid he would catch me staring, I averted my eyes and put my attention back on the people around me.

The rest of the night went rather well. Valerie opened her gifts, cut a giant four tier cake, and thanked everyone for coming. The night was fun, but I couldn’t stop my mind from drifting to the man I had seen only briefly. I found myself always turning my head looking for him, but he disappeared as quickly as he came.

I woke up to the sound of an alarm at 8 am. Valerie had warned me that breakfast lasted from 8 am to 10 am and from there everyone would part ways to their jobs or school. I brushed my teeth while Dylan showered and then we both got ready.

The struggle of my morning started with brushing out my long hair. After several agonizing minutes of brushing through the tangles, I ended up braiding it down my back to control the frizz. I threw on a flannel and jeans before walking in with Dylan to the dining room.

There were a ton of people talking in different areas of the room as well as through the buffet line. Teens were cheering and laughing in the living room while kids were running around from the kitchen to the main table, as their parents tried to control them. I waved to those I met yesterday.

All the chaos ended abruptly as two stern figures walked in. Everyone went dead silent and bowed slightly. At the corner of my eye, I saw Dylan quickly inclining her head. Confused, my I turned towards the entrance and saw Caleb with the man from last night. The man’s eyes scanned the room demanding respect until they landed on me. They widened a fraction, but he remained stoic.

Now that I had a good look at him, I could see everything I had notice about him yesterday but clearer. He was the very definition of a Calvin Klein model. He raised an eyebrow at me, and I crossed my arms over my chest mimicking his stance. He looked at me with a smirk causing the world to return to order and stopping my mind from drifting. Valerie shuffled behind Caleb and moved right past him when she saw me.

Before I could say anything, Caleb spoke, “You may resume.” Just like that, everything turned back to normal and the chaos ensued.

“Dylan and I have a lot of questions to be answered.” I rested my elbow on Dylan’s shoulder, taking advantage of the slight height difference between us.

“And I will try to answer as much as I can but it’s...” she looked off the side.

“The Caleb Family Secret,” the three of us said in unison.

“See you get it now.” Valerie grinned. “There is someone I want you to meet, Rosie.” She turned her head towards the door. My gaze followed until they stopped at the figure next to Caleb.

“The hot dude who won’t stop staring at me?” He laughed as if he had heard me, and I faced Valerie again. “I’ll pass.” I walked passed her and headed for the breakfast line. The buffet table had everything: pancakes, waffles, eggs, fruits, toast, cereal, and whatever other breakfast meal known to mankind. When I made it to the front, I took a plate and filled it up with as much food as I could fit. I looked behind me to see Dylan do just the same. There was no doubt that we were sisters.

I took one step to the right and roughly bumped shoulders with someone causing most of the stuff on my plate to hit the ground. “Sorry, didn’t see you there.” A deep voice sounded in front of me.

It didn’t take a genius to know who it could be. And I knew just how cruel fate could be. “I’m pretty sure you did, seeing how you haven’t stopped staring at me since you came in.” I stared up at the mysterious Calvin Klein model in front of me. My heart skipped a beat when I noticed his piercing eyes. Damn. Gray was my new favorite color.

“Toots, the way I see it: you were staring at me,” he mocked.

I narrowed my eyes. “In your dreams, Hot Shot.”

Caleb appeared next to Calvin Klein and smacked his shoulder. “I see you guys are off on the right foot,” he said sarcastically.

“Any other observations?” I retorted.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, you dropped the food our kitchen staff has been kind enough to make.” He made a point to look at the floor.

“My plate fell only because he shoved right into me,” I said pointing to the jaw dropping model next to him.

“I didn’t even see you.”

I snorted. Liar.

“Alpha, if you would be so kind to move...” A short woman came up from behind Caleb with a wash bin and paper towel.

“Alpha?” I asked confused.

“It’s a nickname.” Caleb shrugged.

“No wonder your ego is so big,” I muttered.

“You should remember that your stay here is only because you are Valerie’s best friend, but keep disrespecting me and you can see yourself back where you were found,” he responded back angrily and walked away.

“Jerk,” I mumbled. I looked down and saw that the woman had started picking up the food I dropped. I dropped down next to her and proceeded to help. “I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz sometimes. Let me help.”

“Oh no, Miss. It’s my job,” she said kindly.

“You made all this food. The least I could do is help clean the mess I made, again, sorry about that.”

“Thank you, Miss.” We stood up and I placed my hand on her arm.

“Its Rosie.”

She nodded shyly and hurried back into the kitchen.

“Rosie,” he said as if testing the way it felt on his tongue. I blinked. I could hear him say my name for hours. “Only here a couple more days? That doesn’t give me enough time to get to know you.”

“It’s Rosetta, and I’d rather keep it that way.” I turned to leave but he grabbed my hand. I gasped at what that did to me. Did he feel what I felt? Whether it was the butterflies in my stomach or the beating of my heart, there was something about the way he looked at me. Too bad he realized his mistake of touching me and dropped my hand.

“C’mon we were just about to have more fun. I’m Logan, by the way.” He grinned and brought his hand out and I hesitantly shook it with my own. There it was again. A weird feeling came over me.

“Nice to meet you Logan, but I don’t see how dropping food and cleaning it is any fun.”

“Makes for a great first impression.” I scoffed. This guy.

“Rosie, I got you some food.” Dylan interrupted our little moment, which was my cue to leave.

I had to remind myself why I was here: Valerie. Everything else was less important. “I should go. It was nice meeting you.”

“You too, doll.” He winked.

“Toots or doll? Can’t use both?”

He grabbed an apple and threw it in the air before catching it and taking a bite. “How about I let you know over our date.”

I smiled mischievously. “You have to win me over first.”

He returned with an easy grin that would make me fall over if not for Dylan behind me. “I’m pretty sure I already did!” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the (ꜰind)ɴʘvel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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