The bar’s closure hit harder than I expected. Caleb’s dad wasn’t known for his kindness, but now his frustration had turned razor-sharp, every word cutting deeper.
“You brought this mess in here,” he said one afternoon as Caleb and I cleaned the dusty tables. “If it weren’t for you, Emma, we wouldn’t have cops sniffing around our business.”
My cheeks burned. “I didn’t do anything. Someone’s trying to sabotage me.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he snapped. “It happened because of you. I should’ve trusted my gut.”
“That’s enough,” Caleb interjected, slamming a towel onto the counter. “It wasn’t her fault. Someone’s clearly out to get her.”
His dad scowled but didn’t argue further. Instead, he stalked to the back office, muttering under his breath. Caleb turned to me, his expression softer but still tense.
“Don’t listen to him,” he said, brushing a hand through his hair. “He’s just pissed about losing money.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered. “It’s not like he’s wrong. If I weren’t here—”
“Stop,” Caleb said sharply. “This isn’t on you. It’s on whoever called the cops.”
But as much as Caleb defended me, his mood began to shift. At first, it was little things: questions about where I was going, comments about Logan whenever his name came up. Then came the accusations.
One night after I’d spent hours job-hunting, Caleb showed up at my door unannounced. His face was tense, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets.
“Why didn’t you tell me Logan stopped by the bar last week?” he asked.
I froze. “What are you talking about?”
“Vanessa told me,” he said, his jaw tightening. “She said Logan’s been sniffing around you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Vanessa’s lying, Caleb. When has she ever told you the truth?”
“Maybe she’s lying, maybe she’s not,” he said, his voice rising. “But it wouldn’t be the first time you kept something from me, would it?”
My stomach dropped. “You really think I’m hiding something?”
“I don’t know!” Caleb snapped. “You tell me. Are you still hung up on him, Emma? Because if you are, just say it.”
I stared at him, the anger and hurt in his eyes twisting something inside me. “I’ve done nothing but try to be here for you, Caleb,” I said quietly. “But if you don’t trust me, what’s the point?”
At school, Vanessa’s smirk was unbearable. She made a point to laugh loudly whenever Caleb and I passed in the hallway, her gaze lingering just long enough to send my blood boiling. I tried to ignore her, but the tension was impossible to escape.
Logan noticed it too. He caught up with Caleb in the parking lot one afternoon, his expression unreadable.
“You need to stop listening to Vanessa,” Logan said. “She’s playing both of you.”
Caleb scoffed, leaning against his car. “Why do you care? You think if I step aside, she’ll come running to you?”
“This isn’t about me,” Logan said, his tone clipped. “This is about Emma. Vanessa’s tearing her apart, and you’re letting it happen.”
“Don’t act like you’re some knight in shining armor,” Caleb said, his voice dripping with disdain. “You’re just pissed because she chose me.”
Logan’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t rise to the bait. “If you really cared about her, you’d see what this is doing to her.”
“Get lost, Logan,” Caleb said, climbing into his car and slamming the door. “She doesn’t need you.”