Page 129 of A Lucky Shot

“I wanted to know for some time now what it would be like to kiss you,” he said. “Even if it was just once.”

If she was smart, lucky, sensible, or any combination of those, falling in love with Dawson James would have been the easiest thing in the world. Cass fiddled with the zipper on his parka one last time. “You are going to make someone really happy one day.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Friends?”

“Friends,” he confirmed, and tucked her gloved hand under his arm to turn them down the street. “Come on, I got a fashion show to get you to in ten minutes, and I don’t want to miss the electric Lego dresses.”

Cass covered her giggle in her free hand and smiled her first real smile in days. “Me, either.”

It could hardly be called a mobile phone if it had to be connected to a power outlet at all times. When her next pay cheque came in, she was getting an upgrade.

Cass dropped her keys on her kitchen counter and plugged in her dead phone. She dug her thumbs into the small of her back as she checked the time on her microwave.

Almost eleven. Enough time to ice her knee before bed. Before she could settle on the couch with a cold compress, her phone buzzed on her counter.

The five notifications that popped up should have tipped her off something was going on. One from her sister, asking her to babysit next week, one from her brother to borrow her truck, and three from Libby.

Call me

Call me

Before you look at anything else

Cass scrunched her brow.

What’s the emergency?

Nothing! Just wanted to see how was your date with D? You home? Are you alone?

“Okay, weirdo,” Cass said, holding out her phone while searching for her earbuds. “I’m home. I’m alone. What’s up?”

Libby’s face filled the screen. “I don’t suppose you fell madly in love with Dawson over sippy cups of hot chocolate and electrified fashion, did you?” she asked in an inordinately hopeful voice.

Cass heaved a sigh. “No. We kissed, and he’s so sweet, but we’re just friends.”

“Well, shit.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“No, I mean …” Libby trailed off, lips pursed. “Have you been online at all tonight?”

“Nope, too busy having the most platonic date of my life. But no face licking or vape clouds or monologues on tropical fish, though, so honestly the best date I’ve had in the last year.”

If she didn’t count the time she and Josh had spent holed up in her apartment, eating Christmas leftovers and laughing over old movies and smearing each other with beauty products. Winding themselves around each other in bed for hours, waking up in the middle of the night with his hand curled around hers.

The missing headphones were lodged between her couch pillows. She fished them out and worked at the tangles one-handed.

A long pause followed, and Cass used the silence to plug in her earbuds. By the time Libby spoke again, her voice was directly in Cass’s ears.

“A few gossip sites posted photos of you and D kissing from tonight.”

That was fast. Cass let out a weak chuckle. “I saw a few starstruck girls ogling him, but I didn’t know we were still trending. No jealous tirades against me for taking him off the market this time, are there?”

“I need to warn you about something, and I think maybe it’s best that you hear it from me. Some photos of Josh popped up, too.” Libby cleared her throat. “With Brynne.”

Cass’s heart lurched into her throat. “What do you mean?”

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