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“CAM’S NOT GOING to bed until I get back,” Cadence said. “You know that, right? It’s one of those overprotective big brother things. I don’t think he’ll ever outgrow that. Even once all his little sisters are married off to men he approves of, he won’t stop…he’ll end up shifting all the focus to Cassidy.”
She was smiling. A real smile, even. One that reached all the way to her eyes. There was something magic about her eyes. The hazel in them seemed to change color with her mood. When she was wary, they were almost brown, dark and intense like a cup of rich coffee. When she was focused on something and thinking hard, they turned to a light golden color. But now, when she was relaxed and enjoying herself, they were morphing into something soft and green. So far, I’d seen each of those colors tonight, only sparking my curiosity to learn how many other hues might be found in them at different times.
“Yeah, I know. Poor Cassidy.” I stretched my hand out across the table at Shari’s, a twenty-four-hour diner we’d come to after the concert, tracing my fingers over Cadence’s upturned palm and memorizing the curvature of the lines and the softness of her skin. I knew how late it was—already well after midnight. We had a game tomorrow, so I had to be back at the Moda Center early for morning skate, and the last thing I needed to do was stay up all night talking to Cadence. But it was exactly what I wanted to do.
As the night had gone on, she’d gradually loosened up around me, visibly relaxing. The music had been the first thing to help her let go of whatever had her all bound up tight. Katie had hooked us up with tickets on the floor, only a few rows back from the stage, and the speakers were so loud that even now, more than an hour after we’d left, the drum beat was pulsing through my body. I could still feel it, but Cadence was practically vibrating with excitement and energy. It was as if her true self had been in hibernation, but the bass and guitar had spoken to her soul and brought her back to life.
“What’s it like being teammates with your brother?” she asked, giving me a smile that was at once both sweet and coy. She took a sip from her coffee to hide it, but that didn’t do anything to mask the teasing expression in her eyes.
“You realize that’s a loaded question, right?”
She gave me a blatantly unapologetic wink.
“Jamie’s been my best friend for twenty-four years. But he’s also had two years on me through my whole life, so he’s always been a few steps ahead.”
“So you compare yourself to him?”
“Not on purpose. The comparisons simply happen. And he always comes out on top.”
“It can’t be always. There has to be something you’re better at than him.”
“Yeah? Like what? Help me sort it out.”
“Well, there’s that dimple you’ve got on your left cheek.”
I shook my head. “They’re a Babcock family staple. Jamie’s got two of them, one on each side.”
“Oh,” Cadence said, deflating. “Well, maybe one is better for some people?”
“Some people?” I cocked my head to the side. Yes, I was fishing for the answer I wanted, and I wasn’t too proud to admit it.
“I kind of like your single dimple.”
“Only kind of?” I gave her an exaggerated pout. “So now you can see where I’m coming from.”
“Well, who’s taller?”
“Me, but only by an inch. Really a half inch or so. But he’s got five pounds on me.”
“You could spend some time bulking up in the gym this summer.”
“So could he.”
“Now you’re just being contrary.” She flashed a fiery glance in my direction.
I chuckled. “I think I like being contrary if that’s all it takes to earn me looks like you’re giving me now.”
Cadence blushed, which only made her hotter to me. All night, she’d looked like some kind of golden sex goddess in that sweater dress, but the addition of the blush brought out something protective in me. I couldn’t decide how I should think of her.
Considering Jonny was her brother, the safer course of action might be to avoid thinking about her at all. I definitely needed to move away from the whole golden sex goddess line of thought, no matter what.
“When you figure it out,” I said, trying to redirect my thoughts to some safe area, “let me know. In the meantime, I’ll be over here playing catch-up so I’m not completely left in Jamie’s dust. Didn’t you ever feel like that with your siblings?”
“Never. We were always close, but as different from each other as possible. Cam was quiet, determined, and completely focused on hockey. Corinne’s the smarty-pants, so no one was surprised when she went into nursing. She tends to keep her thoughts to herself. Chloe was always playing school with her dolls and as many of her dozens of friends as she could gather together. She did a lot of babysitting over the years, as often as she could manage it, and now she’s an elementary school teacher.”
“And you were the life of the party,” I said, since she left herself out.
Cadence shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess so. I think Mom got me started skating because I had so much energy to burn. She needed something to help me focus, because I was all over the place, otherwise. Bouncing from one thing to the next in the span of a breath. I might be undiagnosed ADHD or something. With figure skating, I loved how I could have an activity of my own, similar to what Cam was doing, but still different. It was my own thing.”
