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I took a deep breath. It probably wasn't the best idea I had ever come up with, and I was positive Ray wouldn't like it, but I would deal with him later. I wasn't letting Brody spend Christmas in the firehouse alone, no matter how angry I was with him. I swallowed hard.
“I have a spare room, Brody, you could always stay here with me.”
“You sure about that, Cass?”
“Yes, you can stay here as long as there isn't any funny stuff like this afternoon. You can't do those things, Brody.”
“Do what?” he feigned innocence.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” I heard his deep chuckle come over the phone.
“What about Ray?” he asked in a mocking tone.
“Just let me deal with him, Brody. You can come by the store on Monday, or you can just come here after the work day is done. I close at five.”
The line went quiet again, and when he spoke his voice took on a somber tone. “When did you start working at the bookstore, Cass?
I looked down at the flashing cursor on the screen. I didn't know what to tell him. I wasn't sure I wanted to tell him the truth just yet or just make something up.
“Cass?”
I cleared my throat, “When I moved here. I just needed something to occupy my time,” I lied. He didn't need to know my writing career had plummeted, and I was the owner. “Listen, I'll tell you more when I see you. I'll have a spare key made for you this weekend I’ll have it with me on Monday, in case you want to move in while I am at work.”
“Alright, I’ll see you then. Good night, Cass.”
“Night.”
I hung up the phone and sat staring at my blinking cursor. My phone pinged with a message. I looked down at my phone, another message from Ray.
Ray: I see you’re still up, I'm coming over.
I rolled my eyes, I just wanted to be alone. I was so tempted to text Ray and let him know Brody would be staying with me. That news would be enough to make him stay home, but I knew he would be pissed, and truthfully, I feared how he would react if we were alone. I didn't want to spend the night in an argument. Brody was a friend, and even though I was angry with him for what he did in the past, I needed to move past it and get on with my life. I'd explain everything to Ray in time. I felt confident that he would understand after he got over his anger. I typed out a text to him and went and unlocked the front door.
Chapter Nine
Cass
Ray collapsed on top ofme, breathing hard, his sweaty body sticking to mine. He gripped the top of the condom, pulling himself from me and headed toward the bathroom. “Just going to shower, I'll be back.” I watched as he left the room. When I heard the shower running, I let out the breath I was holding and ran my hand over my face.
Ray had been able to sense how distraught I was, he had come right out and asked me tonight when he arrived. I didn't have the heart to tell him what was on my mind, and I felt awful. Since I had seen and spoken to Brody, he was all that had been occupying my thoughts.
I listened to the water run and rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling, thinking back to this afternoon. Brody's words replayed in my mind—Am I too late, Cass? Please tell me you’re not dating this guy? He's got to be twenty years older than you. I mean, is he even able to get it up?
Sure, Ray was older than me by twenty years or so. He was divorced with a daughter about my age. Our relationship certainly wasn't what I would have thought I would have found myself in after Jackson. He was a rather rough man, but he was a hard worker, and he treated me well. However, the more I thought about our relationship, the more I felt something was missing. I didn't feel it could go much further than where we were right now.
The longer I lay there thinking about my relationship with Ray, the more Brody started to enter my mind. I grabbed my phone off the bedside table and opened my chat, debating on whether or not to send a message to Brody. Just as I was about to start typing, I heard the shower shut off. I went to put the phone back on the table when the screen lit up with a message.
Brody: It was good to talk to you, and to see you. Sleep well, see you on Monday.
I smiled to myself and reread his message. I tapped the side of my phone and bit my bottom lip as I thought about how to respond, then I quickly began typing.
Cass: Would you like to come for dinner tomorrow night?
As soon as I hit send, I felt a ball of nerves in my stomach start to quiver, and it felt like hours had passed while waiting for his response.
Brody: Absolutely
Cass: I’ll message you tomorrow with the time, you should already know the address.
