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Cassie rolled her eyes. “You know one night stands aren’t for me, girls. And please, stop calling him Jackson Avery. It weirds me out.”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t binge-watched every episode of Grey’s Anatomy since we told you how much they look alike,” Callie said, a knowing look in her eye.
Cassie sighed and blew her bangs out of her face. “I need more ice cream.”
“Iknewit!” Aria gave Callie a high five.
“You’re supposed to be my friends!” Cassie wailed. “You’re supposed to be supportingme!”
“We are, honey,” Callie said, her face getting serious. She grabbed Cassie’s hand. “You haven’t ever let yourself be happy with someone, Cass. I haven’t even seen you go on one date since I’ve known you. Not all men are like your dad. Evil does not lurk in the hearts of every man on the planet.”
“I know,” Callie said softly. “But how do I tell the good ones from the bad? I thought my dad was one of the good ones, too, and look at where that got me. A mom he killed and covered up and years of neglect and abuse, all because he was theupstanding sheriffof our small town.”
Aria and Callie pulled her in for a hug. “Trust me, Cass. I’ve known him for a long time. Jamal’s one of the good ones. Pinky promise.”
Cassie wiped a tear from her cheek that she didn’t even know had fallen. “Even if I was eventually willing to trust someone, Jamal doesn’t even want that with me. He has a kid and a career to worry about, not some woman with issues about men.”
“Why don’t you let him be the judge of that, hon? I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He is smitten. I think you should give him a chance,” Callie said with a soft smile. “What could it hurt?”
That was what worried Cassie. She was afraid that if she gave it a chance she might lose her heart in the process.
-------------------------
“Youdancedwith a bunch of seven year old kids? Man, I wish I would have seen that. I’m going to have to blackmail Cassie for a video.Pleasetell me she recorded it.”
Kyle and Jamal were sitting in their favorite Mexican food place, Ted’s Café Escondido, chowing down on fajitas, homemade tortillas, cheese dip and fantastic homemade salsa. Callie, Aria and Cassie were in Kyle and Callie’s new home, supposedly unpacking the million boxes of wedding gifts Kyle and Callie had received.
“She better not have!” he replied, a glare on his face. “I would never live that down!”
“You dance with your own kid all the time. Everyone saw you and JJ nae-nae battling at my wedding.”
“That’s different. She’s my kid. I’msupposedto dance withmykid.”
“So what’s going on with you two anyway?” Kyle asked between mouthfuls. Jamal gave him a blank look and avoided the question.
“Me and my kid?” he asked. “Nothin’ much other than the usual. Thanks for asking.”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Cassie, idiot. Don’t think I didn’t see the way you looked at her at my wedding. I know it was my big day and all, but you two were definitely the conversation of a lot of our wedding guests. There’s even a rumor running around the mill that you two got caught playing tonsil hockey before the toast.”
Jamal shook his head. “I don’t know, man. I just can’t get her out of my head. There’s something about her that just, I don’t know man. But I’m not sure I like it.”
“Why not? You can’t find anyone better than Cassie. She’s a sweetheart.”
“That’s what scares me, man,” Jamal replied. “What if I break her heart? What if I breakJJ’sheart? Little girl’s gotten pretty attached to her already, which she doesn’t do with a lot of people.”
“Just make sure you don’t like her because JJ does, J,” Kyle replied. “Cassie’s pretty sensitive. I don’t know what happened in her past, but she’s easily spooked. You gotta really think about what you truly want before you act. Otherwise it could be bad news. And Callie would never forgive me. We’re newlyweds, man. You can’t mess with my mojo.”
“Damn, Kyle, I’m messin’ with myownmojo!”
His friend just laughed and drenched another tortilla in cheese dip. “Man, I do not miss being single anymore.”
Jamal prepared himself to give Kyle the bullet points of exactlywhyhe couldn’t get Bambi out of his head. Sometimes, it was the way he could remember the silk feeling of her hair gliding through his fingers as he tucked it behind her ear. Other times, it was remembering the death glare she sent his way when she discovered he had let her stay the night in his house that just made him want to pull her into a bear hug so he could breathe in the scent of coconuts that belonged specifically to her. All the time, it was the fact that he loved to be the one who made her smile, the real smile that crinkled her nose and made the dimple in her right cheek deepen.
And there was the kiss. Damn,that kiss.She tasted like sugar and kissed him like she was dying for air and he was the only source of oxygen on the planet. He remembered how small she felt in his arms, how he wanted nothing more than to keep holding her to his chest, close to his heart so he could feel it beat in time with his. The last time that had happened, he had wound up a broken-hearted baby daddy with the momma nowhere to be found.
“Jamal? You there?” Jamal shook himself from his thoughts and looked his friend’s way.
“Huh?”
