Let Him Stumble While You Climb Chapter 04

Let Him Stumble While You Climb Chapter 04

After hearing his answer, my wolf grumbled angrily inside me.

“I can’t believe we wasted so much time on Caleb during senior year.”

“The more I think about it, the angrier I get. We worked our asses off keeping him on track, and now he’s throwing away his future for love.”

“What an idiot. Can’t the Moon Goddess give us a new mate right now?”

Vivian blushed and laughed.

“You’re embarrassing me!”

She wrapped her arms around Caleb’s neck, pressed herself closer, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

“Then let’s never break up, okay?”

Caleb affectionately ruffled her hair.

“We won’t.”

Morgan couldn’t stand all their over-the-top PDA.

“Let’s see how confident you two are when one of you is at an Ivy and the other is at community college.”

“You’ll be long-distance and see each other once a year.”

Caleb merely smiled.

Vivian lifted her chin smugly and stuck her tongue out at Morgan.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Love can overcome anything. Just wait and see.”

By the time the bonfire ended, the bottle had never once landed on Morgan, despite all his talk about wanting to confess to someone.

I waited by the side of the road because I had been drinking and Dad was coming to pick me up.

Caleb suddenly approached and grabbed my arm.

“Are you sulking?”

“You obviously…”

He did not finish.

I knew what he wanted to say. I liked him, and I had liked him for many years.

I had loved him enough to lose myself for him and put him first in everything.

But I had placed my heart in his hands, and he had never treasured it. He had toyed with it carelessly and let it fall without even bothering to pick it up.

Now that it was shattered, how could it ever be put back together the way it had been?

I pulled my arm free and said calmly, “I didn’t know any better back then.”

“I couldn’t tell right from wrong—or a good guy from a bad one.”

Caleb stared at his empty hand. Instead of getting angry, he laughed.

“Whatever you say.”

“In two months, we’ll both be starting at the same Ivy. We’re going into the same major, and we might even end up in the same classes.”

“You can ignore me all you want now, but you’ll have to talk to me then.”

I smiled.

“Okay.”

“We’ll see.”

Soon, people began checking in through the group chat to say they had made it home.

Dad still had not arrived because he had gotten lost.

What a ridiculous excuse.

Vivian updated her post again.

OP: [I asked my boyfriend today, and he completely agrees that true love comes before everything else. I’m so touched. I can’t wait to tell him!]

Comments:

[The application deadline is only a few hours away. Fix everything before it’s too late. Don’t be this cruel.]

OP replied: [You’re all just jealous! You’ve never seen love this pure before, have you? My boyfriend is crazy about me.]

[Anyone who tries to stand between us will regret it!]

[Just wait!]

The post was hidden again.

I exited the forum and noticed a red notification badge on the Messages app.

Caleb had probably realized that I still had not made it home.

Caleb: [Need me to pick you up?]

I replied: [No.]

His response came immediately.

Caleb replied: [Fine. Suit yourself. You can walk home, then.]

I ignored him and studied the location Dad had sent me.

He should have been somewhere nearby.

I was about to go look for him when several engines roared in the distance. A group of custom bikes sped toward me and boxed me in.

Vivian climbed off the back of one of the bikes.

Without a word, she flung the liquid from a bottle straight into my face.

“You bitch! You saw my post, didn’t you?”

“Caleb suddenly said he was coming to get you, and the application deadline is only a few hours away. Were you planning to tell him the truth? Are you trying to ruin the birthday surprise I prepared for him?”