Chapter Five: The Sock

Ryan 

My mood plummets when I see the sock on Caleb’s door. I toss my bag, from where I stand by the dining area, to the couch. It misses and hits the floor instead, with a loud thud. 

The entire content spills to the floor—stuff from the shelter, a consent form from the studio I’ve been volunteering at, to model for a new set of students. 

I stand in place, half-waiting for Caleb to come out..because there’s no way he didn’t hear the noise, but he doesn’t. 

Instead, the annoying sounds of him and Anna kissing behind the door slip through the cracks of the wall, softly echoing in the air. 

I want to plug my ears and close off my eardrums, but I drag my tired feet to the living room instead, crouching to pick up my things. 

My chest twists with an uncomfortable feeling as I glance at the door again. 

It’s a black sock. 

I know it belongs to him, because I gave it to him for Christmas last year. Caleb didn’t want a big celebration, because he hated the way his family celebrated holidays. 

His father was always working and his mom decided to plan holiday parties instead, so she could brag to the people who attended, that her husband was wealthy and famous. 

So, instead of buying a huge tree and decorating the entire apartment with flowers and lights, I bought him a pair of socks that had the Grinch just under the heel. 

He loved it so much he wore it every day for a week. 

And now…he was using it to tell me that he was potentially having sex with his girlfriend. 

I try to get it out of my mind—because the last thing I want is to picture them going at it—as I scoop the items quickly into my bag, but my thoughts keep straying. 

Back to a week ago, when we were on the couch. 

My breath quickens as I pick up the consent form and the blood rushes from my head, down south, as my mind stubbornly replays the events. 

His hands…on my shoulder, pushing me down to my knees…my lips parting to take him in, the sound of his throaty groans as my head bobbed up and down, taking him to the back of my throat. 

The way his eyes rolled back when I tilted my head slightly to watch his face, and the look of pure pleasure before he came in my mouth, the warm liquid spilling down the sides of my lips. 

I moan softly as my dick jerks and strains against the zipper of my khaki shorts, begging to be touched. 

By someone I can’t have. 

I shake my head sharply, snapping out of my reverie. “Get a hold of yourself, Ryan,” I scold sternly as I stand, slinging my bag over my shoulder. “It’s never going to happen again. You, of all people, know that it’s an arrangement.”

A contract with an expiry date. 

We both agreed that we were going to call things off the moment our parents stopped bothering us to get married or take over their companies. 

It could be a month from now or a year, but the important thing was that it had a timeline. 

Which was why I had to keep my head on my shoulders.

I’m back in the dining area, heading to my room, when I hear the door open. 

Don’t look. Don’t look. I repeat the words in my head, but I fail to obey them when I sneak a glance over my shoulder. 

Terrible move. 

Anna has her hands around Caleb’s shoulders, and his arm is on her waist, holding her close as she leans into him for a sloppy, wet kiss. She’s on her toes, her hair in dark waves coming down her shoulders. 

My chest tightens even harder, like an angry fist is squeezing the life out of it. I force myself to breathe and turn away, to not feel jealous. 

She’s his girlfriend, after all. 

They were dating before our fake relationship started.

Reminding myself of that, I cross the remaining distance to my bedroom door. I grab the door handle and push, but it doesn’t budge. 

I pull down and push again, but it won’t give in. 

“What the—” I mumble under my breath as I try it for the third time. It remains as stubborn as the other two times, like someone glued it shut. 

“Oh,” I hear Caleb’s deep voice from behind me. “I’m sorry. I forgot to tell you that I had the locks on all the doors changed this morning.”

What? 

I turn around, dragging my gaze away from his arm that’s still around Anna’s waist. “Why would you do that?” I ask, unable to hide the bite in my voice. 

He rubs the back of his neck, turning a light shade of red. “Well…the thing is, I saw one of my dad’s PA’s outside the apartment early this morning when I came home.”

I squint, shaking my head slowly. “And you changed the locks because of that?”

“I was worried he’d try to get in,” Caleb murmurs. “My Dad would like nothing more than to find evidence to discredit our relationship—” he glances at Anna when he uses the word and her mouth flattens into a disapproving frown. “So, I had to change them, in case he already found a way to bypass the locks.”

I—

I don’t know what to say. 

Caleb would’ve never forgotten to call and tell me something like that. Even if he was busy, he’d have left a text. 

“Why didn’t you send a key over to the shelter?”

Anna answers for him, arching a brow and crossing her arms. “Your mom visited the shelter a week ago, didn’t she?” She points out, with some snark. “What if she found the key? You want people to believe that you’re dating my boyfriend—“ she places a hand on Caleb’s chest, “—you have to be careful. Not sloppy.”

I can recognize a dig when I see one. 

“Where’s the key?” I ask, simply. 

He pats his pocket, reaches in and tosses it at me. I fail at catching it. Miserably. It lands on the floor and I don’t miss Anna’s quiet snicker when I bend over to pick it up. 

“Thanks,” I mumble. 

I turn around as my cheeks heat up in embarrassment, hiding my face from them. It takes two tries to get the key in, but I’m more than relieved when I hear that quiet click. 

“Are you going to be home later tonight?” Caleb asks before I can retreat into the safety of my bedroom. 

I freeze. 

Is he asking because he wants to bring her back home? Put me through more torture of hearing them? 

“Ryan?” 

I panic and say the first thing that comes to my mind, throwing a glance over my shoulder. “I’m going to the club.”

His brows furrow sharply, like it’s the last thing he expected me to say. “The club?” I hear the doubt in his voice. 

What? Can’t I go to the club? 

I wasn’t an outgoing person, like Caleb, but I didn’t have to stay here and wallow in feelings that I didn’t understand, while he had the time of his life. 

“Yes,” I nod. “The club. And I’ll be out till morning, so when you can lock the door, so your dad’s spy doesn’t accidentally find out you’re dating a woman. Not a man.”