Page 97 of Hot Summer

“Yeah, but—”

“Guys.” Cas held up her free hand. “It’s fine. You’re right anyway, I’m sure. You usually are.”

Aisha flashed Skye a smug smile before dunking her biscuit into her tea. “See.”

Skye rolled their eyes. “Anyway, what were you going to say that was going to make me kill you?”

“Just—” Despite her earlier confidence, Aisha seemed a little nervous now. Like she wasn’t entirely certain she wanted to say what she was going to say next. “You were really happy with Ada. And I know”—she held her hand up before Cas could even start protesting—“I know, but when she comes back, I really think you need to talk to her.”

Cas set her mug down and started tossing clothes out of her suitcase and onto the bed. “There’s no point. She made it pretty clear she doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“It was the heat of the moment,” Aisha said. “You both were angry.”

“I wasn’t angry; I was upset.” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she swiftly took a drink of tea to cover it. “I wanted to explain, but she wasn’t listening.”

“So you decided to run away.”

“Aisha—” Skye said, but Cas shook her head.

“I had to leave. They were literally kicking me out the door.”

“No, I’m not talking about then. I’m talking about now.”

Cas crossed her arms. “How am I running away now?”

“You’re already refusing to talk to her when she gets out of the villa. You’re the one closing the door.”

Skye sighed heavily but, apparently, was going to let this conversation run its course, because they grabbed Cas’s toiletries bag and started unpacking it in silence.

“I’m not—” It was actually outrageous, the suggestion. “I’m not running away. She doesn’t want anything to do with me. You saw it.” She pointed angrily out the door, toward the lounge where their television sat. “You heard what she said to me.”

“Look.” Aisha put her hand on top of Cas’s, and though Cas, in her frustration, wanted to pull away, she knew that it came from a kind place. “I’m not trying to piss you off, I just wanted to circumvent all the doom and gloom I know you’re about to get up to in this room. Remind you that you’ve got another option.”

It was almost rude, the fact that Aisha knew exactly what she’d been planning on doing the second she finished unpacking.

Cas sighed and sat down on the end of her bed, scooting back so she was half leaning up against her pillows.

“It doesn’t really seem like an option, talking to someone who doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.”

“Only because you’re afraid.”

“I’m not—”

Aisha held up her hand. “You are. And I know you don’t like to hear that or believe that, but you’re terrified that Ada refusing to leave the villa with you is the same thing as Saoirse fucking off back home.”

As much as Cas wanted to reject the suggestion, there was no point denying it. She was afraid. Had been since the moment Saoirse had walked out on her.

She’d avoided relationships for years because she was too afraid of the consequences, and now the first time she opened up to someone, it happened again.

“She said she’d come with me if I left.” Cas tucked her feet up underneath her, careful to balance her tea on her knee. “She didn’t. It’s simple.”

“You have to see it from her perspective,” Aisha said gently. “She thought you never actually cared about her.”

“Ada didn’t stay behind because she wanted to,” Skye added quietly. They’d been so quiet, just listening, that Cas had almost forgotten they were there. “You could see it in her face, her heart was broken.”

Cas laughed bitterly. “Yeah, well, how do you think I feel?”

In spite of herself, she felt a few tears leak out of the corners of her eyes, and she swiped away at them with her sleeve.

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