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“Who was that?” Luke asked.
Cassandra looked behind her and Dale was staring at her, and she waved back. Turning back around quickly, Cassandra said that he was Dale, and he was a nice guy. He didn’t seem like he was very happy though.
“He wasn’t getting handsy was he?”
Cassandra about choked on her drink with her brother asking her such a thing. It was funny because it was Steven that hadn’t been able to keep his hands where he was supposed to. She looked his way for a moment before she smiled and told her brother that he didn’t need to know any of that.
“I can take care of myself. Just because one guy got over on me, doesn’t meant that I let it happen very often. The guy was nice enough, kept his hands mainly to himself, so that is good enough. Are you going to be like this all night?” Cassandra asked Luke incredulously. She hadn’t been around him in years, but he didn’t get to be the protective big brother anymore. She was a grown ass woman and he needed to get with the program.
Luke realized that he was being overprotective and apologized. Cassandra felt bad in a way, especially when her eyes went to Steven. Steven had gotten handsy. He was the one that Luke should be worried about, not the stranger that she would never see again. It was the slow burn for Steven, which Cassandra was sure was going to cause the most problems for everyone involved.
Chapter 18
Steven
Cassandra ignored her brother after he made a comment about her dance. She went to dance with her friend Aaliyah, and Steven was able to ask Luke what was going on.
“I’m sorry, man. I thought that I was going to set the two of you up, but I don’t think it was meant to happen that way. There is some kind of connection between us. You don’t mind if I have a go at it, do you?”
Steven shrugged. “I don’t even know her. I think you should be asking your sister before me. Isn’t this exactly what you were mad at her for years about, her getting with your friend Nelson?”
Luke’s face changed, and he insisted that it wasn’t the same thing. “It’s not like Aaliyah is friends with her like we are. It’s different.”
Steven reminded his friend that the women had been friends about as long and Luke didn’t want to hear it. “She doesn’t seem to be upset about it, so I am going to take that at face value and think that everything is fine.”
Steven shook his head and told Luke that he was playing with fire. Secretly, he wanted Luke to continue, because it would make him be with his sister not as bad. He was sure of it, but he still had a lot of nerve about it. Luke couldn’t see how it was the same.
Cassandra came back to the table, her eyes dancing over to Steven’s and when he asked where Aaliyah was, she said that she was powdering her nose.
“You didn’t go with her?”
Cassandra shrugged and said that she hadn’t. “She can go to the bathroom by herself. She doesn’t need help.”
Luke didn’t seem to like that answer, and he was quickly on his way to go ‘check’ on her. Nothing was wrong, but Cassandra smiled at her brother trying to cover it up. Aaliyah was a beautiful brunette who had dark brown eyes and exotic features. It wasn’t hard to imagine most guys trying to get involved with her. She was pretty and smiled at just the right times. Cassandra’s brother must have been worried that he was going to lose her favor.
“I think your brother is smitten,” Steven told her after a minute.
Cassandra scoffed, “Of course he would be that way. He doesn’t want me to have anything to do with his friends, but he can be with mine. I don’t know what to say to him half the time, but I can tell you the hypocrisy is real, isn’t it?”
“He just wants to keep you safe.”
“Are you talking about from Nelson or from you? Do I need to be kept safe from you too?”
Steven wasn’t ready for her to ask that question, and he took a physical step back. Cassandra giggled and he knew that she was watching him closely to see how he responded. If there was a test involved, he had just failed it miserably.
“I am harmless,” Steven insisted. He knew that it was a lie of course, though he couldn’t admit to the truth. It was too dark.
Cassandra clicked her tongue disapprovingly and told him that she didn’t believe him at all. He was anything but harmless. Steven was a lot of things, but that wasn’t one of them. Luke came back by, and he and Aaliyah were talking about getting out of there. Steven made a comment, but he also promised his friend that he would get his sister home safe. Cassandra said that she didn’t need the help, but Luke insisted.
After they left, Steven asked her if she wanted to dance again and after a moment’s hesitation, she agreed and as she knew it would, it felt different in Steven’s arms. He was holding her tighter, and his hands were everywhere. Cassandra shivered in his embrace, not able to stop herself. It was sad how badly she needed his touch and how she reacted to it so quickly.
Since her brother was gone, probably getting naughty with her friend, both of them seemed to feel differently about the two of them. Steven was being more liberal with Cassandra and the way he touched her. It was how he wanted to hold her in his arms, and he almost kissed her when they were dancing, but Cassandra had more sense than he did.
“You know that this wouldn’t end well,” Cassandra cautioned, and Steven agreed.
“I know, I just want to kiss you so damn bad.”
Cassandra shrugged and said that he didn’t act like it, since he hadn’t even mentioned their last kiss. She said it all casual, like it wasn’t a big deal, but that very fact had bothered her more than she could really stress. She hated that he’d kissed her, changed her in a way, and then didn’t mention it again, like it wasn’t even worth a shout-out.
