Country Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book #8)(44)
“So I see I have my work cut out for me.” She gives a playful laugh. “Relax. So, when do I get to meet her?” Sammy sinks down into Piper’s seat, shoulders sagging, her overall affect deflated as if she indeed just lost the war. She has, but I hate that there was a war to begin with.
“I don’t know if you’ll ever meet her. She’s a bit shy.” There, that much is true for sure. “Besides, I think I should make the rounds. You know, introduce her to Piper, my brothers. Get her feet wet before introducing her to—”
“Your ex-girlfriend?” Her neck juts out a little when she says it. “Now that’s a title I can never get used to.” Her lips tremble as she bites down on them. “Not sure I ever will.” She gives a slight wave before stalking off, and I grab my bag, abandoning my coffee in an attempt to catch up with her.
“Sammy, wait.” I catch her by the elbow, and she takes a step back. “This isn’t how we end. We end as friends. We don’t end in heartbreak.”
“Too late.”
I glance toward Cutler Tower. A part of me wants to take Sammy and head straight for Piper’s dorm and make her apologize for her unwarranted aggression.
“You and my sister might never be best friends, but I’m not going to let the next few weeks go by without her being civil to you. It’s about time she grows up. In fact, next weekend is her birthday party, and I’m officially inviting you as my guest.”
Her eyes widen a moment. “Will this new girl you’re seeing be there?”
“If I can help it.” God only knows. Cassidy is harder to wrangle than an entire herd of cats. “You’ll love her, I promise.”
Her lips twist as if insisting she won’t.
“I guess you have a date.” She makes a face. “It’s just not officially me.”
“So you’ll come?”
“Only if you can guarantee my safety.”
“I promise, no bloodshed. Piper used to love you.”
“I know.” She glances down a moment.
“This is a good growing moment for her. For all of us. She’s not going to cause a scene at her own party. And who knows? You might even walk out friends again.”
“Here’s to hoping.” Her eyes linger over mine a moment too long. “Maybe a lot of relationships will change that day.”
We part ways, and for the life of me, I try to figure out what just possessed me to do that. But deep down, I know it’s because I need to put this bullshit behind me. I’m not about bitter or broken hearts. But the real reason I invited Sammy wasn’t hoping that Piper and she would end up making nice before the day was through. It was to get the message to Sammy, clear as possible, that I’m with someone new. That there isn’t a lingering chance that it will ever be the two of us again.
I’m sure once she sees me with Cassidy she’ll cut the cord and move on.
I want that for her.
I want her to find her unicorn, just like I found mine.
A Dirty Little Lark in the Park After Dark
CASSIDY
There is nothing as beautiful as watching the sun melt on the horizon of Cutler Tower as I approach my dorm after a long dog day of hitting the books. Whitney Briggs was a feast for the eyes in the fall with its fiery leaf spectacular. The entire campus is lined with maples and sweet gums. Blood oaks and their parade of flaming colors were too beautiful to miss as the school year got started, then came the permafrost of winter with its glistening lavender blue glow, its spray of starry snow that we thought would never stop tumbling from the sky—but this, this is Whitney Briggs’s unyielding glory—spring is in full bloom, and it is christening all of Hollow Brook with its majestic fragrant splendor, citrus and aloe. I can’t seem to wipe the smile from my face, the joy from my heart as I swim through sweetened air back to my room. But it’s not spring and her floral army of trumpets that has me swooning. It’s not the perfume Mother Nature wears this time of year making me sing like a giddy preteen. It is most definitely a boy by the name of Cade James.
“Cassidy!” a girl’s voice wails from behind, and I turn just in time to see Sammy lunge at me with a hug. “It’s happening!”
“What’s happening?” I pull us out of the way of traffic before we get rammed by an errant bicycle or skateboard and dragged all the way under a maple with its new leaf buds spun tight in coils just waiting to release into the warm blue air. “Tell me all about it. If that boy did anything to your heart, just point me in his direction,” I say the threat with a bit too much venom behind it, but, in truth, I like Sammy. I’ve probably taken more of a liking to her than I normally would have because she drips that Tennessee sweetness that I so badly crave. Not that I don’t have Caila with me here in North Carolina. It’s just that, well, let’s call a spade a spade. Caila wasn’t born to drip sweetness.
“Are you kidding?” she bubbles with laughter as her bright green eyes flash to the sky a moment. “I would never point you in his direction. He might fall in love with you.” We share a sisterly laugh. That’s what it feels like with Sammy, sisterly. “I was with him this afternoon, and he actually asked me out!”
“He did!” I press my hand to my chest a moment. “Of course, he did. Look at your cute little self parading around campus like the beauty queen you are. There’s no man in his right mind who’s going to let that go. See there? Everything worked out like I said it would.”