Capture the Moment (Moments #1)

41. Cleo

forty-one

Cleo

Blake and I spend the entire night practically socially distanced. Well… more like me socially distancing myself from him. Everywhere I go, he’s there and when I figure out how to escape him, he’s there again . It irks my nerves for the final time as I come to a halt at the bar and he slides up to me.

“Listen, baby–”

Baby?! I am not his baby.

My legs are wobbly as I turn around on him, ready to give him a piece of my mind but the six shots of vodka with Jace and Georgia are at odds with my body and I stumble a bit more than I mean to.

“How could you?” My words ring longer in my ears as Blake’s eyes widen looking down at me.

The blaring music of Breeze’s fourth floor overpowers my words so he bends slightly, putting his ear close to my lips. My body craves him as soon as I get a whiff of his enchanting scent.

Down girl! We’re supposed to be mad.

“What’s wrong?” he asks softly, rubbing the goosebumps on my arms as I throw my head back to the sky.

“You told him!” I shout but Blake doesn't seem to understand me as he tilts his head at me.

“I sold who?”

“Told!” I yell.

“ Sold? Princess, I think you need a ride home.” He frowns, gently plucking my Blue Lagoon from me, setting it back on the bar .

“I don’t need nothing!” I pout.

“Yeah, you’re done. Jump?” He asks, holding out his arms like normal and I’m so tempted to say yes but my body disagrees. That, however, does nothing to stop Blake as he nods his head and scoops me up bridal style.

“You look beautiful, by the way,” He whispers in my ear, awakening the butterflies in my stomach but I want to milk this angry charade for as long as possible so instead of smiling back at him, I pout.

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.”

When I wake up the next morning, my head is an aching mess as I squint at my surroundings. The room is still dark, I’m wrapped snugly in a red blanket.

I know immediately from the sweet smell of the covers that I’m in Blake’s bed, but I don’t fully notice him until I turn completely on my side to see him snuggled adorably with the covers wrapped around his head like a cocoon.

“Mornin’, Princess,” He rasps, opening a single eye as I smile back at him, only for it to drop as I remember that I was mad at him.

“You told Jace,” is the first thing to come out of my mouth and Blake chuckles, stretching a bit before looking back at me.

“No, you told him. He’d already known by the time I told him.” He sighs, opening both eyes to stare me down.

Did I really?

“I didn’t–”

“You did. He told me you called him after getting piss poor drunk with the girls one night,” Blake says amused by the clear frown on my face.

“I don’t remember that,” I groan as he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me closer.

“I bet.” He yawns, falling back asleep but I’m wide awake.

I pry myself from Blake, checking my phone for the time. I search high and low for my pink cell phone only to find it plugged in by Blake’s desk and mirror. It’s then that I notice that I look completely different from the night before. My hair is covered by a pink bonnet, my face is makeup-free, and my clothes have been swapped with an oversized t-shirt.

I move swiftly around Blake’s room, unaware of the now wide-awake man on the bed as I stumble over my own platform heels.

I face the bed when the faint sound of stifled laughter rings through the quiet room and narrow my eyes on Blake.

“You were mad at me last night because you thought I aired out our dirty laundry?” He asks, raising an eyebrow as I nod. Blake takes my words into consideration and nods before sliding to the edge of his bed, sitting directly in front of me. His hands find my waist, holding me in place as he speaks.

“How about this, we don’t speak about our relationship to anyone until we’re both ready. Our relationship is sacred to us, we shouldn’t fight before we get a chance to get closer,” He says and my nose scrunches at his wording.

Relationship?

This is not a relationship.

“Blake, honey…I’m going to say this once. We are not in a relationship until I have the title of girlfriend. Until I’m properly asked to be that, we aren’t in a relationship. Now, I have to get back home. I forgot that I promised my brother that we’d hang out today,” I say, turning on my heels to face his door, ready to get out here.

Classic, Cleo…letting past transgressions affect your current greatness.

It’s not Blake’s fault that I’ve become like this over the past couple of years, a major part of me knows that, but the less logical, smaller part of me has an inkling that if I were to pursue anything with Blake Wilder, I’d only end up hurt in the end.

“Why’re you so pouty today? Did The Sugar Hole run out of Pink Truffle?” Ryan asks from the other side of our booth at Doug’s Diner, his choice of location for today’s lunch date.

After Dad pointed out that none of us (specifically, me) have been spending time together, Ryan and I instantly made plans to have a Brother-Sister day.

My brother runs a tattooed hand down his face, giving a passing girl a quick smile before focusing back on me.

“Nothing.” I shrug, taking a sip of the Shirley Temple I’d ordered. Lemon-lime and Cherry flavors explode on my tongue, and I sigh as the cool drink is swallowed.

“You’re a shit liar, sis. How's your lover boy?”

I tense a bit at the mention of my “lover boy”. After I’d walked out of Blake’s room, leaving him dazed and confused in bed. I turned off my phone and proceeded to ignore everyone.

My fear of commitment came about after dealing with Marcelo and his constant antics towards me. It wasn’t even something I was aware of until I tried to go on a date a few weeks after our initial break up. The guy was nice, albeit, a little too sweet and mentioned how he was dating to marry and not for a fling.

I’d immediately left him there and proceeded to walk around Central Park until I could come to senses with the fact that my life was changing and I didn’t want a man to be able to affect me anymore.

Dad wasn’t the one who’d come up with the “no boys” clause of our agreement, he’d simply agreed to it and said he would hold me accountable to my word unless I genuinely wanted to give men another try.

Ryan eyes me for a long moment before tutting and nodding his head. “You have got to get out of your own head.” He sighs.

I frown looking up at the sky as my shoulders drop in defeat, he’s not wrong. I’m cock-blocking my future with Blake—and for very rational reasons. He likes playing sports, I’d rather watch. He’s a red guy, I’m pink through and through. He’s overly confident yet shy at times which I think is cute, but I tend to lack confidence in myself sometimes. He’s like the sun, always bright and glowing, and I’m like the moon, always there, yet hidden. And as I list all of these reasons, I realize they’re all completely irrational.

I’m just making excuses, so instead of bringing any of my thoughts to my brother’s attention, I change the subject.

“How’s that girl you’re supposed to be seeing?” I ask, raising an eyebrow as he chokes on his water.

Ryan wipes his nose and mouth with a napkin before furrowing his eyebrows at me. “How do you know I’m potentially messing with someone?”

“Uh… because I’m not an idiot.” I laugh, scrolling through my phone, checking his Instagram story. When I find what I’m looking for, I turn the phone to face him with a knowing smirk. “You’ve been soft-launching this same girl for a week,” I say, happy that for once, I’m not in the hot seat.

Ryan smiles, looking away from me to his plate. “When I know how she feels about me then maybe I’ll tell you who she is,” he says.

“Yeah, sure.” I roll my eyes.

We spend the next two hours with one another, talking about any and everything except for our love lives as the chilly early November day slowly fades to evening.

“I’ll see you at the game next week Cleo, stay safe and text me if anything happens,” he says pulling me into the most brotherly hug, making sure to tug on a few of my curls before walking towards his car parked beside mine.

“Okay! Love you, don’t do anything too reckless.” I tease, stalking towards my own car.

As soon as I take a seat, I lock the doors and check my phone and nearly drop it at the sight of all of the incoming messages.

Unknown

you dumb fucking bitch. Be prepared.

YOU WILL REGRET OPENING YOUR BIG MOUTH

it’ll be posted before you get a chance to stop me.

I’ll make you wish you were never born Cleo Jones.

remember that. Bitch.

xoxo, your worst fucking nightmare.

Cupid

UH CJ?????

call me as soon as you see this

Ceej I’m serious

girl you’re scaring me. don’t tell me you're hurt

we’re all going to your apartment.

Georgia Peach

GIRL

they did it.

I’m going to make those bastards wish they were never born.

Si Si

I’m getting our aunt to look into it all right now. Do not worry.

im so fucking sorry this happened to you CJ.