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“I missed you today,” he whispered and tightened his grip around her body. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long.”
“Why were you then?” She trailed her fingers along his jawline, reveling in the familiar scratchy sensation the stubble on his chin offered.
He shifted and toyed with the fabric of her dress. His fingers squeezed her thigh, traveling upward to her waist.
Heat enveloped her, a pull in her groin flushing her cheeks with warmth. The breath caught in her throat as his fingers pinched her skin, tugging the waistband of her panties.
“I haven’t seen anyone in that office for a few months. I just got caught up, you know?” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “And I wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders either,” he purred in her ear.
Casey giggled and dipped her hand inside the collar of his shirt. “The way you bounced out of bed this morning, you’d never know.” Her fingers dragged along his neckline, popping the top button on his collar.
He shivered and captured her hand, planting a kiss on her palm before wrapping it in his own, resting their intertwined fingers on his chest.
“Oh! Didn’t you have something you wanted to tell me? You texted me something this afternoon...” He freed her fingers and dove into his pocket to pull out his phone. “What’re you excited to tell me, Cinderella?”
Her eyes skimmed his screen as a jolt of forgotten excitement gripped her body.The internship!She straightened and reached across the table, snagging her glass of wine. “I got an email from the Office of the Chicago Mayor. They offered me an internship!” She snorted. “Whatever the hell you said in that application... Well, they picked me, Austin!”
His body went rigid beneath her, his muscles tensing as the breath caught in his throat. He swallowed and squeezed his eyes closed, then open. “Case, uh, wow, that’s wonderful news! I’m so proud of you. You’ll be great.” His lips disappeared into a thin line as his gaze returned to the floor.
What the actual fuck?
“Okay, umm. I really thought you’d be, like, way more excited than this.” She scooted off his lap with an eye roll.
“Hey, where are you going?” His brow furrowed, forcing a deepVto crease his forehead. His hand shot out and grabbed her waist, his palm radiating heat, gently tugging her backward.
“Austin, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you’ve been acting super weird since the rehearsal. You pushed me to apply. Fuck! You appliedfor me! And now that it’s actually happening, your response is,you’ll be great?” She sneered. “What the hell happened to you today?”
She locked eyes with him. Even in the twinkle lights of the patio, his eyes returned nothing, the glimmer of his baby blues lost to the secrets of his silent mind.
“Tell me this isn’t about Mavis.”
Her heart skipped a beat as her bold words dripped from her lips. Scrunching her eyes together, she swallowed as the seconds ticked away, each cricket’s chirp a knife slowly assaulting her heart.
“I saw her today,” he whispered, biting his bottom lip.
Casey rolled her eyes. “Umm, yeah, so did I. We sweated our assess off in that stupid meadow together.”
His gaze lifted from the floor, the smattering of white lashes catching in the glow of the light. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but the words didn’t follow.
Oh, God.
Her heart hammered in her chest, her blood pounding through her veins as a dizzy spell left her breathless. She swallowed and forced down the wine threatening to return from her belly.
“I...” he stammered and gripped the arms of the chair. “I saw her before the rehearsal... alone.”
Casey squinted, her eyes unwilling to leave his face as she sank back into her chair. “Before the rehearsal,” she repeated, bringing the glass of wine back to her lips.
“It’s not what you think though.”
She drained the deep-red contents in a single gulp. “And what do I think, Austin Templeton?” Replacing the empty glass on the table, she folded her arms across her chest. Her brain ran rampant, searching her memory for a clue, her heart landing on their collective late arrival at the rehearsal. “God, I’m a fucking fool,” she murmured.
He dropped to the ground between her knees. Gripping her arms, Austin pried them apart, his sudden muscled tug stealing her breath. “I’m the fool, Casey girl. For ever letting myself fall for her.” His lips pressed a kiss to her palm. “I met her at the beach to say goodbye. Weneededto say goodbye, for good this time. It’s over. All of it.”
His eyes clouded, sparkling under the twinkle lights as he stared up at her. His fingers tightened around her hands, squeezing as if willing her to understand the complexity of emotions swirling in his heart.
She swallowed and leaned forward, tugging at the sad form of his usually confident body. His head rested against her heart as her fingers cupped the back of his head. Her eyes closed as his breath hammered against her chest. “I should have told you where I was. And what I was doing, Casey.” His lips pressed into her skin, his tongue tasting her. “I said goodbye. That’s it.”
“Did youkissher goodbye?” A groan escaped her, the fog of the wine clouding her brain, toying with the fraying edges of her heartstrings.
