Parker was quiet. She never seemed to know how to act when Cassie joked about how they’d met. Eventually, she said, “I’m serious, Cassie.”
“Acacia has got to be up by now.”
Acacia connected them a lot more than Seth, the now ex-boyfriend. She was Parker’s roommate and Cassie’s best friend since they were kids. She was also a morning person for some inexplicable reason.
“She and her brother are on a hike together,” Parker said and Cassie did a full-body shudder. “It’ll be a free breakfast—my mom will pay. I just need, like, a buffer. She’s too much sometimes, and I thought I could handle it on my own but now I’m spiraling. Please?”
Cassie resolved to never make friends with a freshman again. They were so needy.
Then again, Parker had broken Seth’s nose and ended things when she found out the douchebag had a girlfriend, so maybe she’d earned herself a favor or two.
“When are you picking me up?”
Breakfast was at one of Cassie’s favorite restaurants, so by the time they arrived, she didn’t even mind being out of bed so early on a weekend. A crowd of people waited to be seated.
“My mom’s got a table already,” Parker said, scanning the restaurant. “There.”
They headed toward a woman sitting alone, facing the window, a cup of coffee steaming in front of her.
“Call her Dr. Bennett if you want to make a good impression,” Parker muttered to Cassie.
“I’m great with parents, thanks.”
Parker reached the table first, and as her mom stood to hug her, Cassie almost fell over.
“Hey Mom, this is Cassie. Cassie, this is my mom.”
Cassie had to give Erin credit; her only tell was the slight widening of her eyes as she extended her hand. Cassie shook it, trying to keep the shit-eating grin off her face.
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Bennett,” she said.
Erin squeezed her hand a little too hard. “Please, call me Erin.”
Two
ERIN
Erin thanked the waitress for her coffee and the three waters for the table. She wrapped both hands around her mug and left her menu closed. No need to look before Parker and her friend arrived. Erin had found the place on Yelp earlier in the week, so she already knew it had plenty of good offerings. She’d wanted to go to Parker’s favorite breakfast spot, but her daughter hadn’t had any suggestions—she hadn’t made it off campus for breakfast yet.
The restaurant was cute—the yellow walls bright with light from the large windows. Open umbrellas of varying colors and patterns hung upside down from the high ceiling. Erin had had to make her way through half a dozen people waiting for a table to give the hostess her name for her reservation.
Erin missed Parker. Joint custody in high school had been bad enough. Parker had done student government and the science fair and art lessons—both taking and teaching—plus, she’d spent half her time at her father’s new apartment. But it was different, with her away at college. Worse.
It’d been barely more than a month, but Erin missed her. She wished she didn’t have to share her with Adam this weekend. Though, if Adam wasn’t also visiting, Erin wouldn’t have been at that bar last night. Even if it was ridiculous she’d slept with a college student, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.
A blush crept onto her cheeks just thinking of the previous night. She had hooked up with a college student in the back seat of her rental car. Rachel would have a field day with this, but Erin hadn’t decided whether she’d tell her. Her best friend had been trying to get her to, well, sleep around a bit for three years now, basically as soon as the divorce was final. Every date Erin had had in the last three years, Rachel made her recount in a full blow-by-blow—sometimes literally, depending on how the date had gone. She would love the recap of last night. Erin couldn’t even imagine how she would explain Cassie to Rachel. The way Cassie had looked at her, the way she’d touched her, no hesitation.
Erin shook her head and smiled into her coffee mug. She should be thinking about her daughter, not about the cocky woman with the filthy grin who’d bought her a drink.
As though summoned by Erin’s thoughts, Parker appeared beside the table.
“Baby!” Erin gushed, leaping up to hug her daughter.
She squeezed her tight, eyes closed, and breathed her in. Her kid. Parker smelled like the cheap perfume she’d worn since freshman year of high school. Erin pressed a kiss against the side of her head then let go before she could be reprimanded for holding on too long.
Parker’s smile was wide and toothy, and Erin wanted to cry. God, she’d missed her.
“Mom, this is Cassie,” Parker said. “Cassie, this is my mom.”
It took Erin a moment to shift from looking at Parker to looking at Parker’s friend. Her brain lagged, catching on the name but not figuring out why until her eyes landed on Cassie.
Cassie.
Thank God for Erin’s mother drilling manners into her since she was a child—her mind might’ve been a never-ending scream, but Erin didn’t miss a beat before extending her hand to shake Cassie’s.
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Bennett.” Cassie’s face was nothing but a self-satisfied grin. She ran her other hand through her blond hair, just as gorgeous and cocky as she’d been last night.
Erin tried not to squeeze too hard. “Please,” she said. “Call me Erin.”
This could not be happening.
Parker flopped down into the booth, and Cassie slid in beside her. Erin had to put a steadying hand on the bench as she sat down.
This could not be happening.
Erin took too big a swallow of coffee. It burned her throat.
Parker was still smiling, and Parker’s smile did what it always did: made Erin’s heart sing. She loved her kid so fucking much. She could not let this—this—this clusterfuck of a situation mess anything up.
“How was dinner with your dad last night?” Erin asked dutifully.
Parker’s smile dropped a couple of watts. “Fine.”
“Where’d you go?”
Erin didn’t care, except she hoped breakfast was better. She and Adam got along for Parker’s sake, but it didn’t mean Erin wasn’t petty.
“An Italian place,” Parker grumbled. She changed the subject. “What’d you do last night?”
Erin hadn’t looked at Cassie since they’d sat down, but she couldn’t miss the way the other woman hid a smirk by taking a sip of water. Something tightened inside her at the sense memory of that smirk.
“Nothing special,” Erin said instead of blushing.
Cassie choked on her water. Parker turned and patted her back, and while her daughter was distracted, Erin cocked an eyebrow at Cassie. She was not going to let Cassie fuck this visit up.
She meant the look to be a threat, but it wasn’t effective; Cassie seemed to take it as a challenge instead. As soon as she had her breath again, she smiled at Erin.
“How long are you in town?” Cassie asked, her bare foot brushing gently against the side of one of Erin’s flats.
Erin pressed her lips together. “I fly out tomorrow evening.”