“I love you, Cassidy Jameson.”
Dear Lord, I was so in love with him. I didn’t think I could ever get enough of hearing those words coming from his lips. No matter how much my gut screamed at me to grab my stuff and leave before he had the chance to hurt me again, I forced myself to unpack the duffel bag and get ready for bed. Pulling on a pair of sleep shorts and an old concert tee, I went to the bathroom to wash my face and throw my hair into a messy bun. Hoping to assure him I wasn’t running from him, I walked out to the living room and went to his door, but it was locked and there wasn’t any light coming from under it. I sighed and reluctantly walked back to my room.
G AGE
HOW HAD I fucked up so bad last night? I couldn’t believe what I’d heard from Cassidy about Tyler, and God, did it make me want to punch him all over again. Realizing just how much he’d lied to both of us to keep us from each other pissed me off to no end. But having Cassidy tell me she loved me took all that away. Kissing her and having her kiss me back again had felt so right, and I hated how much time we’d wasted, but damn if I was ever going to let anything stand between us again. And then I’d gone and done the job myself.
I’d checked on her that morning before my run, so I knew she’d stayed, but I didn’t know if she was planning to, or if she was just waiting for today so she could move out. Thinking about her leaving punched a hole through my chest, but I wouldn’t force her to say. I wouldn’t force her to do anything; she’d had enough of that with Tyler. I would treat her like I always did and let her make the moves. It terrified me, not being in control of the situation, but I knew Cassidy needed to be the one to do this, so I’d sit back and wait. Praying to God that at the end of the day, she was still in my place and wanting to be with me.
The coffee had just finished brewing when she stumbled out of her room and once again I was stunned at how beautiful she was. Her hair was a disaster, she looked half-asleep, and that Sex Pistols shirt about swallowed her whole, but she was still the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Her cheeks reddened when she saw me standing there and I held my breath until she staggered into my chest for our morning hug. Thank you, God.
“Mornin’.”
She mumbled and I laughed.
“How are you?”
Those whiskey-colored eyes looked up at me and for a long while she didn’t say a thing, just continued to stare at me. I wanted to kiss those naturally pouty lips so bad but I forced myself to let her do this at her own speed. “I’m fine,” she finally said, her voice raspy from sleep, “you?”
“I’m good.” Not anymore, I thought when she stepped away and made her coffee. She drank two cups without saying a word, and after she put her mug in the dishwasher she turned and faced me for a minute.
“We didn’t get groceries yesterday, so we’re going today.”
She’s getting food; does that mean she’s staying? “All right, I’ll take you.”
“Uh, no, I always go with Jackie. She’s going to pick me up soon, I’ll just go with her.”
Definitely leaving. Damn it. “I’ll be here, Cassidy.” Whenever you decide to come back. Before I could make an ass out of myself and drop to my knees and beg her to stay, I forced myself into my room and went to take a shower.
C ASSIDY
“I JUST DON’T understand. I thought he’d be happy I stayed.” I looked up at Jackie to see her face full of disbelief. I’d just told her everything from the night before.
“Um, I’m sure he’s thrilled that you stayed, but did you really think he was just going to pick you up in his arms and kiss you to death this morning?”
“Well . . . yeah.”
Jackie snorted and picked up a packet of sliced fruit. “Cassidy, you ran from him last night and started packing a bag. Granted”—she cut me off with a hand when I started to speak—“you did stay. But he probably doesn’t know how to act around you now. From what you’re saying, he thought you did something with Tyler after the first time you kissed, and the second time, you run from him. What is he supposed to think?”
“Damn,” I whispered.
“If it were me, I’d go right up to that boy and kiss him.”
“Really? But what if I’m wrong about all of this? What if he was lying last night?”
“Do you think he was lying to you?” she retorted.
“No.”
“Well, then it’s settled. When you get back march that tiny ass of yours up to him and kiss him good. He’ll wrap you up in his arms, you’ll say, ‘Take me to bed or lose me forever,’ he’ll go all Maverick on you and take you to his bed to ravish you for hours.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Top Gun, Jackie? Really?” I smiled at her and grabbed a grapefruit. “And your ass is smaller than mine.”
JACKIE GAVE A wry “Good luck” as I hopped out of her car and made my way to the house. For some reason, I still half expected Gage to slam his mouth down on mine as soon as I saw him, but that didn’t happen. Actually, I’m not really sure what happened. I opened the door and found Gage sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his hands. As soon as I shut the door he looked up and his eyes got wide, his jaw dropped, and he just stared at me.
“Um, I’m just going to put these away . . . ?”
Gage stood up so fast, he had to catch the chair before it toppled to the floor, and he hurried to the kitchen with me to help me put away the groceries. He didn’t say a word as we did it, though more than a few times I caught him looking at me from the corner of his eye. His weird silence confused and unnerved me, so instead of taking Jackie’s advice right then and there, I did the cowardly thing and headed for my room.
“I’m just going to take a shower,” I mumbled as I headed away. When I reached my door I chanced a glance back at him to find him walking slowly toward his own room, his head down and a hand rubbing the back of his neck. “Gage?”
He turned quickly, his green eyes shifting through a range of emotions while his face stayed impassive.
Before I could talk myself out of it again, I walked quickly over to him, rose up on the balls of my feet, wrapped my hands around his head, and brought it down to mine. His arms pulled me into a tight embrace and he smiled through our kiss. It was long and slow and oh so perfect.
“You’re not leaving?” he whispered against my lips.
“I can’t.” I shrugged, hoping he’d understand exactly what that meant.
Gage pressed his lips to mine again and lightly brushed my tongue with his. “God, I was afraid I’d never get to experience that again,” he confessed when we separated.
“Wait, then why were you so distant this morning and when I got back?”
“I’m not Tyler, darlin’, I’ll never push you. I’m taking all my cues from you. But can you please tell me what happened when we got home last night?”
So he was waiting for me to do something? God, Jackie was brilliant. “Gage, I was humiliated. Still am, actually.” He wasn’t getting it. “You rejected me, only to remind me soon after that I’ve never been with anyone. It makes sense that you wouldn’t want to be with me because of that, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.”
“Whoa, wait . . . what? How did you even come up with that?” I opened my mouth to respond but he continued. “Cassidy, you being a virgin doesn’t make me not want to be with you. If anything it makes me want you more, so I could claim you as mine. All I want is for your first time to be perfect, and my truck in a parking lot at your friend’s wedding is anything but perfect.”