The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

pouting out. “Don’t let the man get you down. Let’s go have some fun.”
    I nod and follow him into the kitchen area and we stop beside the small wicker table. Seth’s carrying the bottle of Jack in his hand and he swings his arm around toward me, offering it to me. “Here, this will relax you.”
    I glance around at Luke and Kayden waiting by the screen door, and then back at Seth. “That’s okay. Someone needs to drive.”
    Luke shakes his head, smiling as he rubs his hand across his cropped brown hair. He has a loose-fitted red shirt on and a pair of worn jeans. “I’m having a weird sense of déjà vu, because I’m pretty sure you said the same thing that night we went to the club.”
    “I did,” I admit, flipping my hair off my shoulders. I don’t know if it’s the night’s heat or the kiss, but I’m suddenly very hot. “But what are we going to do? Take a cab everywhere?”
    Luke nods as he picks up his phone and rises from the chair. “Already taken care of. One should be here in, like, five.”
    Seth wiggles the bottle in front of my face and the liquid inside splashes against the glass. “Come one, relax.” He leans in, lowering his voice. “You need to relax, Callie. You’ve been so stressed out lately.”
    He’s right. I have been stressed and I want to relax—to forget for just a second about the unbearable weight on my shoulders. I grab the bottle from him and without any preparation put the glass to my lips and tip back my head, gulping way too big of a swallow. My gag reflexes instantly kick in and I drop the bottle as I clutch at my chest.
    Kayden’s arm dashes forward and he catches the bottle before it hits the floor. “Holy shit,” he says and then steps up beside me to pat my back. “Take it easy.”
    I cough and fight the urge to vomit. I’m not a big drinker and I usually take it in small doses. “I went a little overboard,” I say between coughs, with my hand pressed against my chest.
    He smoothes my hair back with his hand and his palm lingers on my cheek. He keeps touching me, yet he acts like he shouldn’t. I’m confused and choking and I just want to be free again. “Callie, you don’t need to drink if you don’t want to.” He says it so quietly only I can hear him.
    I stand back up and straighten my shoulders. “I know. And that goes for you too.”
    He eyes me over and then his throat muscles work as he swallows hard. “Here.” He hands the bottle to Seth and hurries toward the door, pushing it open. He steps outside and the door slams shut, leaving the three of us lost and confused. I don’t know what to do or if I should follow him. I have no idea what he needs.
    Suddenly, I realize I don’t know much about him at all.
Kayden
    She thinks I’m mad at her, but I’m not. I’m mad at myself. For coming here. For kissing her. For touching her the way that I have. She deserves better. I’m not even strong or good enough to stay away from her.
    I strategically make Luke and me sit in the front of the cab so Seth and Callie have to sit in the back. That way I can cool down and stop thinking about her in that damn dress. All I want to do is take her back to the house, rip it off, and make love to her again. But I need to stop thinking about that. And I need to stop drinking because it brings out the feelings I’m trying to keep locked away inside my steel heart.
    Luke and Seth keep passing the bottle of Jack back and forth and taking shots with their heads tucked low so the cab driver, a younger man with long hair and a goatee, won’t see. Seth offers it to Callie a few times, but she shakes her head and declines each offer. She hasn’t looked at me since we left the house and she keeps fiddling with the straps on her dress as she stares out the window. The sky is dark and the Christmas lights light up the street and glow into the cab and in her eyes. Her eyes look sadder than they did when I first met her, if that’s even possible.
    There’s some sappy song playing on the stereo. Some guy’s singing about love and I find myself wanting to stab my eardrums or at least make a few cuts to my skin. I don’t want to think about love or what it means to me. I don’t want to think about anything.
    I’m about to ask Luke to pass me the bottle when the cab pulls up in front of a tall brick building wedged between similar buildings. There’s a crowd lined up in front of it and the music playing from inside can be heard all the way to the