Page 178 of The Monster and the Masochist

He was the whole reason Cass had wanted to fake marry me in the first place… Now that he was gone, did that mean whatever it was we were doing here was officially over?

Would she want me to move out?

Probably.

Then she could go back to how her life was before I came in and fucked it all up.

She could drink in her own home again without worrying that her messy roommate was going to crash out and get wasted for no reason.

She’d have her space back.

“So… what happens now?” I rasped, suddenly needing to know if this was going to end.

She turned around and leaned against the counter, crossing her toned legs out in front of her as she happily took a sip of her kombucha.

Completely misunderstanding my question, she beamed at me and shrugged.

“Well, the partners are throwing this big fundraiser to combat any negative press we might receive once the evidence we discovered against him goes public. They want us both to be there. Viv is pushing to have everything pulled together by next week, so poor Alyssa’s probably going to have to work through the weekend.”

“Wait, they want me there?” I squeaked, and Cass grinned, still looking adorably excited.

“Yep! They sure do, and honestly, I’m so excited to dress you up. I was thinking we could go shopping this Saturday and get you fitted for something.”

She wanted to go shopping with me?

I was going with her to an event?

Okay… so it wasn’t over. Not yet. She still needed me.

At least for a little longer.

My stomach warmed, and I smiled, sliding up closer to her. Gently, I took the glass out of her hand and placed it on the counter behind her, boxing her in between my arms.

“You wanna play dress up, princess?” I smirked, rubbing the tip of my nose against hers until I had her giggling.

“Mhmm… I can’t wait to see how hot you look in couture. Bet you’ll get poached by Vogue or something after the event. Maybe then you’ll finally stop fighting in that shitty ring if you’re too busy strutting that sexy ass down a runway,” she teased, and my heart skipped a beat.

Oh fuck.

The fight was next week, too!

Shit!

As if reading my mind, she rolled her eyes.

“Relax, Theodora. I made sure the fundraiser wouldn’t interfere with your big fight. The event will be on Friday, so you’ll still be fine to fight on Saturday. You’ll be able to do both. Just… no drinking at the event, okay? If you insist on fighting, I don’t want you to be hungover.”

Obviously, I wouldn’t be drinking at the event.

I was hoping once my big fight with the Russian was behind me, I could spend some time working on myself, and I was honestly hoping I could get to a point where I’d never need to drink again.

But… I didn’t want to make any promises like that out loud. Not until I felt more confident that I would actually be able to follow through with it.

I was tired of lying to Cass. She deserved better than that.

So instead, I focused on the fact that she’d made sure to organize an entire fundraiser around my fight schedule, even though I knew she hated what I did for a living.

“R-really? You did that for me?”