“Say hello and leave,” I gruff at the two of them.
“Hello and leave,” Owen says to her, amused. “Cade here says you’re his new girlfriend. Funny, I haven’t seen the two of you around much.” He presses out a forced grin.
“We’re keeping it low-key,” she growls it out like a threat, and my stomach detonates. It’s becoming pretty clear the two of them are having their own private conversation. Even Rex looks silenced into submission.
“Have a nice night.” Owen tweaks his brows at me.
Rex nods at the two of us. “Have fun.”
They take off, dragging their momentary confusion with them.
What if she is seeing someone else? What if it’s some frat boy, and I’ve been the other guy in some unsuspecting love triangle?
Cassidy melts into my arms, and her chest gives a few wild bucks as if she’s upset.
Crap. I pull back and lift her chin gently with my finger. “You still up for taking that swim?”
Her gaze softens into mine as she leans in and relaxes for the first time tonight. “Oh, hon, you already have me soaked in all the right places.”
We share a quiet laugh as I land my lips over hers, soft like brushing air. There’s a sweetness in this moment that counterbalances all of those dark thoughts I had just a moment ago. If there is some boneheaded frat boy waiting in the wings—too bad for him, because I’m screwing the hell out of his girlfriend tonight. A dull laugh huffs from me. In that respect, that would put me on the same plane as Sammy all those years ago. Nope. There is no other guy as far as I know. Tonight, I’m simply making love to a girl I call my very own.
Here’s to hoping that title lasts indefinitely.
Cassidy and I drive up the switchbacks in contented silence. We watch in wonder as the evergreens flank the road like a fortress barricading the two of us from the rest of the world, from all the dark secrets that it may harbor.
The spring comes up with its steam rising into the sky like a forest full of ghosts.
We get out, and I pull her close to me.
“Come here.” A sad smile comes and goes on my lips. Something tells me if I invite her to Piper’s party this early in the week she’ll get cold feet by Saturday. I’d better leave it as a last-minute invite, vague at that. “Do you know that I miss you a little too much when we’re apart?”
“Oh, come on, stud.” She gives my ear a light pinch. “You know what they say—absence makes the heart beat faster.”
“That’s close enough—and true in my case.” I chuckle into her lips as she blesses me with a kiss. “You kick-start my heart every time you’re around, and when you’re gone, it simply stops beating. It waits for you.” My lips meander over her right cheek. “I’m only alive when I’m with you.”
A breath escapes her as her gaze rides up and down my body before meeting up with mine once again.
“Sometimes, the only time I can truly breathe is when we’re together.” The words come from her so sweet and tender they can only be true.
“Tell me one thing”—my voice wavers for a moment—“do you want this with me?”
“Yes,” she belts it out so fast, so loud it comes back to us as an echo. “Come here, you.” She pulls me in, and we evict our clothes achingly slow until I’m in my birthday suit, and she’s wearing that teeny tiny bikini she happily threatened me with.
“Wear this always.” I run my finger under her strap, touching down over her soft flesh, and she shivers. “Except for now.” I reach back and untie her top, freeing the girls into the wind. I bow down and kiss each one in turn before hitching my thumbs into her bottoms and letting them sail to the ground.
“Wear this. Take this off”—she purrs into me, warming her soft flesh over mine—“you are just a walking contradiction, Cade James.”
“Not me. I know what I want.” I swoop her up and carry her to the spring as she gives a little shriek of excitement. I sit us down at the edge and lower us into the heated bath.
We both give a little howl at the same time.
“You okay?” My lips find hers before I pull back and inspect the situation.
“As long as those tree trunks you call arms are wrapped around me.” She runs her cool, slender fingers down my cheek. “Of course, my previous statement puts me at risk of sounding like a damsel in distress—which I promise you I am not. I may sound sweet and look like a cream puff, but I can kick ass with the best of them.” Her cheeks darken with color, and I stifle the laugh begging to tremble from me. I love her. I love everything about her cute, feisty ways. I love the fact she needs to make it clear she’s not a damsel in distress, and yet, appreciates being tucked in my arms. “Anyway—” she bites down on her lip with that mischievous look in her eye that both my dick and I have grown to appreciate—“you make me feel safe, Cade.”