Bait (Wake, #1)(47)

He watched as I discovered the breakfast and put his hand over the receiver and said in a hushed voice, “See? Patriotic,” as he pointed to himself. He then pretended to be serious as he whispered to me, “Blake, I eat those every morning.”

I put my hand over my mouth and giggled.

“I love you, too, Audrey. Don't stress out. Go have some fun. Tell Morgan to call me... Okay. ’Bye.” He ended the call and took a seat across from me at the table.

“I like these pancakes.”

He said, “I thought you would. I like when it when you smile like that.”

“Then keep making me.”

And then he did.

We left our phones off and walked for hours. We ate hot dogs and stopped to watch street performers in front of The Bean in Millennium Park. We talked about our families and jobs. He bought us ridiculous Uncle Sam hats and we wore them the rest of the day.

We ate at a bar on The Pier and watched fireworks over Lake Michigan. We drank and laughed and kissed.

He was freedom and throwing caution to the wind. He was no work and all play.

We held hands on the sidewalk and in the cab as we rode back to my brother's building. When the car pulled up outside, he got out with me, walking me to the glass doors of the entrance.

“Today was a very good day,” he told me. I agreed that it was.

“So now what?” After the day we'd had, I was even more confused and heavy-hearted parting with him. His face was tinted red from the sun and his eyes looked more like deep blue than I'd even seen.

His face changed from the easy-going, carefree Casey with the permanent grin, to a more mature-looking sober one.

“That's all up to you, honeybee. I'm free.” He wrapped his arms loosely around me, low on my back and we swayed back and forth on the sidewalk holding a stare that was loaded. Loaded with ‘should we's and ‘shouldn't we's. Loaded with pleasure and reality.

We lived far apart.

He traveled more than not.

I was engaged to someone else and no matter which way I looked at it, I couldn't keep him for myself. It was too selfish.

“I think you like being free. It suits you,” I told him.

“What suits you? What do you want?” Something in the timbre of his voice sounded like a truth. He really wanted to know where my head was. The trouble with that was I didn't have a clue.

“I don't know. I like talking to you and being with you, but—” Then he kissed me. His mouth cloaked mine with an unspoken urgency.

“Mmmm...No buts,” he said against my lips. “Just leave it like that. You like talking to me and being with me. That's all I need right now. Let's leave it right there. Okay? No pressure.”

Why was it when people said, “No pressure,” it added an ocean's worth to the situation?

“Okay,” I said.

“Okay,” he said back. “It's settled. We're still friends.” He placed his lips on my forehead and made a low humming sound, I closed my eyes and savored it.

Then he let me go.



The next weeks were busy. I worked alongside Bridgett and followed her wherever she went. Since she ran the Seattle office, I was naturally paired up with her most of the time. I made friends with another new hire, Melanie, who worked out of the San Francisco branch. She and I were basically hired to do the same job.

Grant had contracted workers to do most of the major renovations, but he was adamant on doing what he could on his own at the house.

We set a date for the wedding, May 23rd of the next year. My mother proceeded to buy anything and everything that said the words “groom,” “bride,” or “wedding.” I was thankful, though, since I was busy working, she told me she would handle everything. Wedding plans barely registered on my radar. Of course, it wasn't like it was swept under the rug. It was in every conversation I had with my family or Grant.

The wedding. The house.

The house. The wedding.

I almost felt like two different people.

The wedding and the house Blake, the work and the Casey Blake. It was only sometimes when the two met that my brain dissolved onto itself. Like talking to Reggie or Micah.

“I can't believe you're getting married,” she said when I told her.

“I know, sometimes I don't even believe it myself.” That was true. Work and Casey Blake didn't really act very affected by the upcoming nuptials either. I don't think that half of my brain really accepted it was happening.

“Cory and I are pregnant,” she said, in the middle of our wedding conversation. She blurted it out like she'd being trying to hold it in for some time.

“Oh my God! When are you due?” I was shocked. I knew they were serious and that they’d moved in with each other, but I wasn't expecting a cart before a horse with them.

“I'm due at the end of April. With your wedding in May, I might still be fat, but you know I'll be up there with you. If that's what you want.” The last sentence sounded weird off her tongue.

We never spoke about Casey and me. I hadn't told her a thing. I assumed that Casey and his brother spoke, though. She always seemed to hint or mention him. Even though I think her question was made to sound like, if she wasn't too fat she'd be there for my wedding. But it sounded a lot more like she didn't expect there to actually be one.