Page 28 of Love Wasted

Dropping my hand, I glance away before I reply, “I guess it bothered me a little, but he’s your boyfriend and—”

“But he isn’t,” she states, talking over me.

My head swivels back in her direction. She’s looking right at me, and now I’m confused. She can see it, and she sounds like she regrets saying those words.

“Richard and I are complicated. We’re not exactly together, and we’re not exactly apart,” she confesses. “We have a history, and right now we’re in an on period of our on-again, off-again relationship.” Cass explaining this to me is worse than Laney’s account of their relationship. It’s quiet in the room around us and she takes my hand again. My chest burns. “Why would it bother you, Pax?”

I don’t say anything, just allow my gaze to roam over her, hoping for the right words, hoping for some sort of justification for why seeing Cass with Richard felt wrong. Cass waits, her eyes begging me to find the right words too.

“You know what, let’s just forget it. I was just a little taken off guard. It didn’t bother me, I misspoke.” Her eyes lose some of the light shining in them. “Let’s not fight, Cass, okay?”

She peers at me beneath her lashes, her gaze never leaving my face.

“Yeah, sure…okay,” she replies, her voice sounding unsure.

“I was just going to make dinner, want some?” I ask her, hoping we can just pretend this conversation never happened.

Shaking her head slowly, Cass takes a step back. “Thanks, but no. I think I’m going to just go to bed.” Turning, she walks toward her room. “Good night, Pax.”

“Uh, yeah, good night, Cass,” I reply, a bit stunned and unsure of exactly where we stand now. It’s always two steps forward, one step back with us.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care, because damn if I don’t feel like shit right now.