Chapter Twenty-Two
My phone buzzes as soon as I walk into the café. It’s Cassie.
“Are you ignoring me?” she asks as soon as I answer.
“No,” I snap. “Hold on a second.”
Tina is beside herself, ready to leave as soon as I walk behind the counter. “Thank you so much, Clara.”
“No problem,” I say. “Go!”
I have no clue what has happened with her boy, but I’m sure she’ll fill me in later.
“Hey, Cassie… Sorry… I just got in to work.”
“Since when do you work on Sundays?”
“It was an emergency. I’m just filling in.”
“Ok… well, I need you to tell me everything that happened last night after I was shipped off on the bus with the other losers.”
I laugh out loud, and a customer eyes me. I turn from him so I can fill Cassie in on all the details. Well,almostall the details. I skip a few. I don’t venture into my whirling emotions about the whole thing. I just admit that we did the deed, and as expected, it was mind-blowing. I don’t even gush about my record-breaking orgasm… no need to rub salt into the wound.
“So what’s next?” she asks. “Are you and him a thing now?”
“Uh… no,” I say. “I guess I’m just one of the many women he’s bedded. I’m officially in the club.”
“You lucky bitch.”
Lucky… I don’t know about that. I’ve had the best sex of my life, and I probably won’t have a chance to do it again, not if I want to escape with my heart intact.
“He’s just a guy,” I finally say, desperately wanting to believe my own words.
“A beautiful gorgeous specimen of a man with loads of cash,” she says. “Yep… just another guy.”
There’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask her, but I’m not sure I want to know the answer. “Listen… I was wondering… What did Colton want with you when he pulled you away after the party?”
I can’t see her, but somehow I know she’s smiling. “Um… why don’t you ask him yourself. I’m not sure I’m supposed to say.”
Secrets. I hate secrets. “I guess…”
“Did you think he’d chosen me?” she asks. “I saw your face. You looked like someone had just trampled your new puppy.”
She knows me too well, and I kind of hate that about her. “I did.”
“And you clearly didn’t like that,” she says, pointing out the obvious.
“Not one bit,” I confess. There’s no hiding anything from her.
“Well, you have nothing to worry about where I’m concerned,” she reassures me. “I know you probably don’t want to admit this, but you’re obviously a goner for the guy.”
“I…” I’m at a loss for words because she’s right.
The doorbell clangs, and a woman and a young girl walk in. “Listen, I should let you go. I have customers just coming in.”
“Okay, I’ll let you go, but we’re not done here.”
I know Cassie will want to go over every detail over and over again. She’ll ask me a million questions including embarrassing ones. I don’t look forward to it at all.
