Capture the Moment (Moments #1)

44. Cleo

forty-four

Cleo

It’s been three days since my world turned upside down, 72 hours since I’ve had a donut, and 4,320 minutes since I’ve left my bed.

I haven’t been to class because how could I leave when everyone has seen me?

How can I go anywhere after I’ve been exposed so intimately ? My friends have been leaving small meals for me outside of the door and sometimes one of them would sit on the floor of my room and tell me about their day. Though it’s only been three days, it feels like it’s been years since I’ve seen the sun, or maybe it has been years.

Who knows?

I’ve spent the majority of the day editing my and Blake’s project for film class, and smiling at the screen because who wouldn’t smile at such precious memories?

“CJ, it’s me, girl! Open up!” Denver shouts from outside my bedroom door, knocking on it with a special kind of force.

Denver’s been coming over here more and more lately, spending time with me and making sure I'm caught up in our shared classes.

Stumbling out of the bed (literally), I groan as a bit of the light from the hallway flows into my bedroom.

“Girl, OMG, when was the last time you opened the blinds!?” Denver scrunches her nose, a bit of her Latin accent seeping through as she crosses my room to the cream curtains and blinds.

“NO–” But I’m too late; she yanks back the curtains and opens the blinds in one fell swoop, revealing the blistering sun and the complex’s swimming pool .

Denver acts as if she didn’t just hear my cry of terror as she spins on her heels with a large smile decorating her painted red lips.

“Blake should be here in about forty minutes which gives me just enough time to get you ready for your date—”

“Date?!” I shriek, running to my vanity mirror taking in my appearance.

Dark under eye circles, ice cream smudged hoodie, and four-day old curls… I can NOT let him see me like this.

But then again, he did watch me cry for an hour into his favorite hoodie…

STILL no.

“Yes, mami, had you checked your phone, you would’ve seen the fifteen messages the girls, Blake, and everyone else in the goddamn world has sent you.” She sighs, rummaging through my closet.

“My phone was dead,” I groan, running a hand through my curls and cringing as my nail gets caught on a tighter coil.

“Dead?! Girl—I can’t. Just go take a shower and do your curl routine or something… Oh! And wear this, it’s chilly outside.” She pushes me into the hall bathroom, loading my arms up with goods before slamming it shut as soon as I’m inside.

It takes me twenty minutes to get my clothes on, detangle my hair, and slick it into a slick-back bun. Denver lets a low whistle as I strut into the living room, decked out in an outfit that screams Denver Castillo. I run a hand over the outfit. She chose a brown leather jacket that hung a bit loose over my body, a high neck cream crop top, and a pair of low-rise jeans and boots.

The outfit was completely at odds with my normal wear, and yet, it was exactly what I needed to have on. I twist at my bow shaped ring for good measure as Denver makes me do a twirl for her.

“He is going to eat you right up. Especially with these curls!” She gushes, gesturing to the small curly pieces that I purposely pulled out of my bun.

My cheeks heat at Denver’s compliments, she’s a literal goddess and gives out compliments just like one too.

Just as I’m about to offer her something to drink, Denver rises from the couch, dusts herself off, and gathers her things .

“Where are you—”

“My job here is done, that dude that I’m related to should be here any minute now! Have fun, gorgeous, and make sure you let me know when you get back safely.” She winks at me, before leaving me both confused and amused in my living room.

As if on cue, the doorbell to the apartment rings as soon as she leaves.

“Were you two planning that?” I ask, opening the door wide for Blake as he smirks down at me.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Princess.” He wiggles his eyebrows before swinging his arm from behind his back, presenting me with a large bouquet of fully bloomed pink Lily’s, my favorite.

But if we’re being totally honest, I hadn’t had a favorite flower until I’d seen these just now.

They’re light and airy and perfectly me.

I love them and I love—

No.

It’s way too early for that and we’re not even together.

Nope.

Nu-uh.

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

“These are for you by the way… I hope you like Lily's, I asked my mom and sister to pick between Lily’s and Dahlias and they chose the Dahlias but I felt like you were more of a Lily girl but then again—”

“They’re amazing!” I grin up at him, carefully taking them before pulling him into the most bone crushing hug ever. Blake relaxes into the hug, pulling me closer before letting go.

I watch as his gaze darkens, taking in the full expanse of my outfit. He unconsciously licks his lips before his eyes flicker back up to my own.

“Ready?” He asks, clearing his throat as I nod, stepping out the door, locking it behind me.

On the ride to our destination, we sit in a comfortable silence, listening to a new song by Luka Espinosa, the lead singer of Twisted Vipers. The car ride is so soothing and comfortable that I drift off to sleep with a feeling of contempt and safety over me.

“Princess? Cleo…? Oh my goodness, free donuts and cameras on Highway 59!”

“Where?!” I jump up out of my sleep and immediately regret it as my head collides with something hard.

Blake groans, cursing under his breath from beside me but I can care less as I let my eyes adjust to my surroundings.

“There aren’t any don—Barnes & Noble?!” My disappointment is immediately replaced with excitement as I catch sight of the four-story book store ahead.

“Oh, don’t mind me, just nursing a concussion,” Blake mumbles as I hop out of his Jeep.

“Don’t be such a baby, Boy Scout! There’s probably a book about concussions for you!”

Blake grumbles something incoherent behind me as I skip towards the store. I almost make it into the section where all of the Shapeshifter Erotica novels are when Blake pops up behind me, holding a book with a girl and guy in an ice rink on the cover.

“We should reenact one of these scenes, TikTok said that this book is—what the hell is DVP? Double vag—holy shit.” He grimaces, looking down at his phone before gagging at the sight of whatever he saw.

“Put that down!” I hiss, grabbing both the book and his phone.

It's a good thing he hadn’t looked up the book in my hand though, he’d probably throw up at the mention of knotting and what it actually is.

Spoiler alert, it has nothing to do with tying a rope or bondage.

“How about this, Princess. I buy you seven books, and a box of donuts, if you and I can reenact whatever’s in… this book!” He smiles triumphantly, holding up a book about fae, that everyone and their mom , including me , have read and loved.

This sounds like a win-win situation to me .

I nod as Blake fist pumps the air, grabbing his phone back to presumably look up the large book.

We walk around the store, him picking up every book that I put down while I stalk through the fantasy and romance aisles. “Look at this one, babe, TikTok says he fucks her with a… with a gun? Oh my—”

I double over in laughter at the horrified expression on Blake’s face as he lightly puts the dark romance book back in its rightful spot and allow him to walk us to the check-out area.

Note to self: Keep Blake far, far away from both TikTok and the Dark Romance section of Barnes & Noble.