“Were the two of you in love?”
“Oh, we were head over heels, planning marriage, kids, the whole nine yards. His parents love me to pieces. We were high school sweethearts, our first loves, our first everything. We spent forever professing our feelings for one another. You know, talking on the phone all hours of the night—the whole heart-shaped nine yards. I don’t know how I could have been so stupid. Nobody has loved me more than that boy, nor will they again.”
“Hey, hey.” I give her shoulder a little shake. “Don’t go giving up just yet. We country girls aren’t built for quitting. If this boy is single and ready to mingle, he’s bound to be with someone. Why not you, the first love of his life? Couples get over huge indiscretions all the time. There’s no reason on God’s green earth why the two of you can’t be one of them.”
Her pert little cheeks fill with color as she blinks back to life. “You really think so?”
“I know so. Just get out there and spend as much time as you can with him—as friends, of course, in the beginning, and soon enough that flame will come right back.” I snap my fingers, loud and crisp, just as the professor walks in. I lean into her and whisper, “When you find a good man, you and I both know, you dig your pretty little claws in and do not let go.”
“I’m going to do it,” she whispers with a smile playing on her lips for the first time this morning—most likely for the first time all weekend. Poor thing. I can’t imagine having that crap-fest to deal with on Valentine’s weekend no less. Just what kind of monster is this guy? “In fact, if we get back together in a big way, I’m making you a bridesmaid one day.”
We share a quiet cackle.
“I look great in both lace and pastels,” I whisper. “Let the seduction begin!”
“Oh, it will.” She gives a side-eye to the door as if she’s ready and willing to dash on out and start right now. “I’m so glad to have you as a friend, Cassidy. You really did just change everything.”
And on that note, we struggle to stay awake while listening to a dull roar of a lecture that drones on for an hour straight.
Once that nap-fest is over, I head up to my Basic Principles of Marketing class to find Cade with that wicked smile spreading a mile wide once he sees me. That naughty grin says I know your secrets, all naughty sixty-nine of them.
I take my seat to the left of him just as the professor starts in on the lecture.
Cade taps his hand over my knee as if offering up a private hello, so I reach under and do the same. His fingers interlace with mine, and he offers a heartfelt squeeze that pulsates its erotic waves all the way down to my over-sexed soul.
Dear God, this man makes me melt like candy on a hot summer sidewalk.
I glance over to him and take in his godlike features. He looks my way and offers the slightest wink, the hint of the sweetest smile before facing the front again.
Holy heck, I think I’ve just found me a good one, and I don’t know how I’ll ever let go.
My fingers grip over his warm, strong hand.
Nope. Letting go of Cade is not something I ever want to do.
Cade
There is nothing as pure, as sacred as filling your lungs with fresh spring air in the middle of the afternoon. I thought I’d take Buddy and head up past the switchbacks for a quick run now that the stars have aligned, and I don’t have a single thing on my plate—well, not the stars, more like the sun has melted all the snow off the main inroads just enough to make this pursuit possible. Now that winter is about to take a hike, I’m hoping this is the first of many sprints through the switchbacks. A few months ago, Cole told me about the Witch’s Cauldron, a natural hot spring just above Hollow Brook, and I’ve been gravitating to the area ever since. I watch as the snow melts off the side of the mountains, creating a glacial runoff so pure and blue I want nothing more than to share this with Cassidy. For a second, I think of taking a picture and sharing it with her, but that’s not what my gut says. I want to bring her here. I want to enjoy the real-time beauty and wonder right alongside her. Instead, I take Buddy and head on home.
It’s Friday so already my dick is hopeful. Cassidy said it was her “lady time,” so she hasn’t made an appearance since last Sunday. Thursday after class, I told her to come by anyway, that we could just hang out, watch TV, study if she wanted to, but she said her body needed to get to bed early. I get it. I have a sister. Not that Piper has ever shared her menstruation schedule with me. She didn’t need to. She turned into a rager once a month, and I figured it was hormones rearing their ugly head, and then sure enough, she was miserable and in bed for a couple of days, scarfing down chocolate while watching reruns of Gilmore Girls.
I would have loved scarfing chocolate with Cassidy and watching reruns of just about anything. So far, she seems pretty content with our setup the way it is. I’m assuming she’s still on the hunt for her perfect unicorn, and, selfishly, I hope she never finds him. Then it hits me as the light turns green and Buddy spins in a circle in the backseat. The car behind me lets out a few bleating honks, and I’m shaken out of my momentary stupor.
“Holy shit.”
The car behind me lays on his horn this time, and I give a quick, apologetic wave as I pull over to the shoulder. “Oh God.” I close my eyes a moment. It’s happened. I’m falling for Cassidy. I knew I liked her. Hell, I loved her in bed, and now I love her out of bed, too. How the hell did this happen? A quiet laugh sputters from me as I take in the scenery outside my window—the trees look greener, the sky a crisper shade of blue.
I’m falling for this girl.
“Say it,” I dare myself. I swore off real relationships after Sammy. I didn’t just swear off any romantic notion of love—I had stopped believing it existed altogether. “Say it.” The words come from me a little louder, a little bolder. “I’m in love.” The words come out so fast they sound like gibberish. “I’m in love.” There, I said it like I mean it, and I do. “I’m in love with Cassidy Clayton.” A dull laugh ripples through me. “Shit.” A delirious laugh sputters from my throat. “I love Cassidy Clayton!” I shout, thumping my palm over the horn with every single word, expelling an entire flock of sparrows from the pine tree above. “That’s right.” I roll down the window and lean out into the frozen air. “I’m in love with the girl!” I laugh like a lunatic all the way home.
No sooner do I shower and snap the towel off the hook than a sweet little knock emits from the front door. Buddy lets out a few deep growls, and I move it.
“Whoa.” My heart thumps because I’m hoping to God it’s Cassidy. A part of me wants to burst into fucking song, letting her know how I feel about her, but I know that would only spook her—hell, the thought of me trying to carry a tune spooks me.
I reach for my sweats then relent, deciding to cut out the middleman a little early. I’m pretty sure Cassidy won’t mind too much that I’m in nothing more than a towel. According to her enthusiasm, she prefers me in less.
The polite, distinctly female, or dude with no balls, knocking commences again as I try to wrangle Buddy to his room, but he sits his hairy butt down and turns into an eighty-pound paperweight.
More knocking.
“Coming.” I stride to the door. The least I can do is let her know I’m subduing my furry little friend. For a second, I think of peering through the peephole first, but she belts out another polite knock so I opt to open it a crack instead.
Her hot pink running shoes catch my eyes first. “Darlin,’ I knew you couldn’t get enough of—” Shit. Everything in me freezes. There’s a girl at the door all right, but it’s not sweet, perky, beautiful Cassidy—it’s Sammy. It looks like I picked a fine time to try out my Tennessee accent.
“Oh gosh!” she gasps, running her gaze up and down my body, and instinctively, I close the door a few inches. Sammy has seen me in the buff plenty of times. I’m not trying to be coy or shy. I just don’t want to give her the wrong impression—whatever that might be. “I’m so sorry!” She giggles through her
words because obviously she’s not. “I was just down a few houses at a friend’s, and she mentioned there was a dog here that her little poodle can’t get enough of. Once she described him, I just had to see if it was Buddy.”
On cue, Buddy dives his nose through the crack, and Sammy bends over, screaming with delight as if she’s just been reunited with a long-lost child.
“Come in,” I offer without the proper enthusiasm. “Shut the door behind you, so he doesn’t get out. He’s quite the escape artist these days. I’ll be back in a second.” I head over to my room and entomb myself inside.
Crap. All week Sammy has been appearing from out of nowhere, and all of those places have been relegated to campus up until now—offering to buy me coffee, chatting about the fabulous weather, current events—she even invited me to a play next weekend. I couldn’t make up excuses fast enough, and as quick as I doled them out, she had a new reason for me to make one up. I take a breath before throwing on my sweats and heading back out there.
Sammy and Buddy are cuddled up on the couch like long-lost friends, and they are.
“God”—she coos into his fur—“I haven’t seen this sweet angel in years!” She pulls back, looks into his big brown eyes, and scratches behind his ears. “I remember you when you were just an itty bitty puppy!”
“You remember that?” I flop down on the chair opposite her and pull on my socks.
“Are you kidding? My favorite part about visiting your family was this guy right here. No offense to your parents. They’re pretty great, too.” Her features dull out as she looks to the floor. “I miss a lot of things. Anyway, I just thought I’d drop by and say hello—make sure you’re treating my dog okay.” She makes a face. Sammy used to claim ownership of Buddy way back in the day. When I broke things off for good, she said she wanted visitation rights, and even though she was partly teasing, I knew deep down she wasn’t.
She glances over at me, examining my clothes for a moment. “Hot date, huh?” She shrugs. “Looks like we’ve got the same plans.”
Crap. Here we go. Any second now, I expect her to call in for a pizza, expecting an invitation for that extended stay she’s looking for.
My phone buzzes over the table, and I pick it up. It’s a text from Owen.
Meeting the guys for wings and pool at the Black Bear in a few. If you want in on it, you know where to find me.
I hold the phone up quickly as if presenting evidence. “I’m meeting with friends in a few minutes. Sorry.” Sorry? If I keep tagging every excuse with an apology, it’ll only encourage her. I text Owen back and let him know I’m in.
“Oh, I won’t stop you.” She hops up, and so do I. “That’s the one thing I really miss is just hanging out with friends. I guess it’s no use setting down any real ties here if I’m not planning on staying.” Her sad eyes drag over mine in search for a shred of hope.
“You’re really leaving after one semester?” My tone softens, and I finally let my guard down. I need to stop being so aggressively against the idea of having her around if she’ll be living here for the next few months. She came here for me. There’s no real reason I should act like a pig. I’d hate to upset her to the point where she packs up and takes off. The least I can do is try to be decent.
“Yup, just one semester. Unless you beg me to stay.” She wags her finger and laughs. “Don’t worry. I got the message loud and clear. It’s just that you’re the only person I know here, and Piper, well, she’s already given me the finger—twice.” She winces through a smile. Sammy has always had a way of being good-natured no matter how many fingers are flashed her way.
“Come here.” I give her a quick embrace, and she latches on a little too tight. I pull back, nodding to the door. “I’m not trying to give you the cold shoulder, Sam.” I open the door, and the icy breeze whistles in as if mocking the words that just left my lips. “I’m just trying to navigate this new version of us.” Crap. Again wrong words, wrong fucking words. Never, but never use the term us.
“So, there’s still an us?” She ticks her hair to the side, and her brown curls spill over her shoulder. “I guess that alone was worth the trip.” She gives my cheek a light pinch before whisking out into the night.
“Crap.” I shut the door, and Buddy hustles on over before sitting at my feet. “Dude, you are lucky that poodle down the street can’t hunt you down and come knocking on your door.” Cassidy comes to mind with her big blue doe eyes, that thicket of lashes she loves to bat my way. “On second thought.” I reach down and give him a quick scratch over the belly. “You’d be pretty lucky to have a girl in your life, too.”
Cassidy is definitely the right girl for me. I should probably put Sammy out of her misery and tell her I’m seeing someone. Heck, I should probably put myself out of my misery and make it official with Cassidy.
Now—how exactly do I go about that?
The 12 Deadly Sins rock out on stage when I walk in, and I raise a hand over to Blake who’s screaming his head off into the mic. The Black Bear is filled with coeds in short skirts and high heels. Just about every dude in North Carolina has packed into this bar to witness the female free-for-all. With gorgeous blondes, brunettes, and redheads in abundance, it’s a spectator sport of the ages.
“Welcome to paradise!” A hard slap lands over my shoulder, and I turn to find Owen and his signature grin. “If you’d rather run with the rock candy than hang with my boys and me, I get it.”
Rock candy is what Blake and his bandmates refer to that tight circle of girls swooning at them, throwing their panties at them during their nightly performances. Annie says she doesn’t really mind as long as Blake doesn’t catch any. Blake and his girlfriend, Annie, are pretty serious. They’re raising his son, actually his dead brother’s son, together. I’ve always considered Blake my brother—and I did Benji, too, even though our connection was through our shared half-brother, Wyatt. Speaking of the goof. I glance around but don’t see him in the vicinity.
“I’m good with you guys.”
Owen leads us to the back, down a short hall to a room that opens up to a few pool tables and a dartboard.
“Dudes”—Owen slaps his buddies five—“this is Piper’s brother. Cade—this dude with the serious tats is Jet. The clean-cut, jock version is Rex.”
“Nice to meet you.” I shake Jet’s hand first, stiff, tough. Rex is a bit more relaxed all the way around.
“You look just like her, man.” Jet shakes his head at me as if what he is seeing is surreal. “That’s cool. I bet you two are tight.”
“We’re close. Piper and I went to the same boarding school. We hung out on weekends whenever we could.”
“I get it.” Rex tosses me a pool stick. “I went to boarding school myself. It’s just not the same as growing up in a house full of siblings and parents.”
“Parents?” I tease. “What are those? I was hatched from a pod.”
We share a laugh and start in on the game.
“So, where are all the girls?” I nod to Owen.
He frowns a moment as he steadies his gaze to the table. “Movies. Chick flick.”
“Sounds like you dodged a bullet.” I’d die to see a chick flick with Cassidy. Aside from class and my bedroom, that girl is harder to spot than Bigfoot.
“They should be here soon.” He steps up to take his turn.
I glance at the other two. “So, your girlfriends are with Piper, too?”
Jett holds out his hands. “No girlfriend here. I’m still taking numbers.”
Rex takes a jab at his ribs with the stick in his hand. “You’re still taking STDs. I’m taking numbers.”
“I would have guessed you were all equally chained down. Owen’s pretty much done. You know what they say—once one of you is practically hitched, the others fall like dominos.” I give a shit-eating grin as Owen comes over and knocks his fist into my arm.
“I told you he was a good guy. Full of bullshit, but a good guy.” He mock shoots me. “So, who’s yanking your ch
ain? Piper says you had an ex show up unexpectedly. Are you gunning to take her down again?”
“No way, dude.” I don’t hesitate with the answer. “I’m looking to make a clean getaway if at all possible, and, judging by the fact she dropped by uninvited at my place tonight, that doesn’t seem possible.”
“Shit.” Jet barks out a laugh, and that tattoo of a dragon on his neck does a little dance.
That one night—the only night I took Cassidy right there in the living room, in the entire house with the lights on, I saw that she had a few tattoos as well, but I was too busy, we were too busy to slow down. I’d love to slow down with her in every way. I want to see her tattoos, have her tell me their meaning. I want to know what she knows. Hear her stories. And if she’s ever ready to share it, I want to know what happened to that beautiful face of hers. It breaks my heart every time she ducks to the left. I get it. She’s spent a lifetime trying to hide those scars, ashamed of those scars. I want to tell her it’s okay. She’s beautiful just the way she is. She doesn’t have to hide them from me ever again.
“Dude.” Rex pinches his eyes closed. “You need a restraining order. That’s some serious boundary issues she’s breaking.”
Owen knocks a ball in the corner with such force the other balls clap like thunder around it. “Piper says she’s nuts.”
“She’s not nuts.” God, Sammy’s not nuts, is she? “We had a bad break up. I came home from practice and found her in bed with my best friend.” Dave flashes through my mind. Every time I think of him now, I still see his startled face, his body thrusting into hers, unable to stop. “Anyway. Both of those relationships ended at that moment. She knows it’s over—that it’s been over for years. I told her last weekend at most we could be friends.”
Jet ticks his head back an inch. “You really think you can be friends with this chick?”
“Yes.” I cringe a moment because everything in me isn’t so sure. “I can be friendly with this girl, but I’m not really feeling up to dinner, coffee, standing in line next to her at the bookstore.”