Page 79 of Rewrite Our Story

I bite back a smile, remembering all the places on me his lips caressed last night.

Pippa whines, turning to face me with her bottom lip jutting out. She rushes toward me and leaps onto the bed before landing on top of me.

I scream, laughing, as Pippa envelopes me in the biggest hug. “I’m not ready to say goodbye.”

We squeeze each other, a tangle of hair and limbs on her bed. “You’ll see me in a few days,” I encourage her. The words are meant to soothe me as well. Pippa and I aren’t used to being away from each other like this. And even though I’m looking forward to spending my last days with Cade under the guise of not wanting to leave my dad too early, I’m going to miss Pippa like crazy.

“That’s a few days too long. Why don’t you just come with me?”

“You know I can’t leave my dad yet.”

She groans, clutching me tightly. “Maybe I don’t need to do the interview.”

I roll my eyes, pushing her off me so I can look her in the eye. “Pippa, you can’t cancel the interview. It’s your first step at taking the bakery world by storm. Plus, this is your chance to have all the fun before your boring, responsible, friend comes to ruin the party.” I reach out and rub a tear from her cheek.

She nods, looking up at her ceiling for a moment.

Cade clears his throat, catching both of our attention. He fixes the hat on his head, looking between the two of us. “What if Mare comes with us? I can bring her back. It could give the two of you more time together…”

“Yes!” Pippa squeals, tackling me to the bed all over again.

“You’re choking her,” Cade points out, humor in his voice as Pippa squeezes me with all her might.

I laugh when she finally pulls away, brushing pieces of hair out of my face.

“What do you say, Goldie? Keep me company on the drive back from the airport?”

My heart pounds against my chest when I meet Cade’s eyes. I can’t look away from him. He’s being so obvious right in front of his sister, but I can’t seem to care. I love the thought of riding back with him.

Cade and I have never been off the ranch together. This is our chance. After we drop Jasper, Linda, and Pippa off at the airport, we can do whatever we want.

“It’ll be fun,” Pippa interjects, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “You’ll survive the car ride home with Cade. Please see me off at the airport.”

I bite my lip to try and hide how excited I am to ride back with Cade. The two of us share a look. His eyebrows rise to his hairline as he challenges me to give her an answer.

“Yeah, IguessI’ll survive.”

42

MARE - AGE NINETEEN

“Why are you so quiet?”I ask, plucking at a strand of my fraying cutoff shorts. Cade hasn’t said a word to me since we said our goodbyes to his family.

I had all these visions for what it’d be like to finally go out in public with Cade. None of them included having him ignore me.

We both sit in the truck, idling on the side of the curb as people rush around us.

“Cade?” I press. Nerves settle in my stomach. He won’t even look at me. His body is eerily still as he stares straight ahead.

He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he shifts the car into drive and pulls away from the curb. I look in the mirror, watching the airport disappear behind us as I wonder what’s going through his head.

Cade doesn’t make me wait for long. As we’re pulling onto the highway, he glances over at me.

“What are we doing?”

“It doesn't matter to me. I’m good going wherever you want to.”

He shakes his head. “No. What are we doing with us, Goldie? You’re leaving in two days. What the hell are we thinking?”

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