Page 67 of Fractured Rhythm

Chapter 16

Jamie:What do you call a beautiful pumpkin? GOURDgeous!

Cassie:Happy Halloween to you, too.

Jamie:Epic costume party in LA last night. Wish you’d come out here. Jax dressed up as a superfan of himself.

Cassie:Over the top, as usual. Maybe I’ll come out this summer.

Jamie:Miss you, Cas.

Cassie:Miss you, too.

CASSIE

“Pistachio and pepperoni,”Holly said when I opened the door a few nights later.

“Well, that’s a disgusting combination,” I said as she walked past me.

“Obviously, I didn’t get pistachios on the pizza,” Holly said, setting the food down on my kitchen island. “Tell me you have all the wine.”

I laughed. “Obviously. What goes better with ice cream and pizza than wine?” I pulled the bottle out of the fridge and poured two glasses.

“I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve been here. Did you have to power wash the entire apartment to clean off all the sex you’ve been having?” Holly asked as she ran her hand along the back of the sofa. “Is it safe to sit here?”

“Shut up. It’s not like it’s nonstop sex.”

“Why the hell not? You have years—YEARS—to make up for,” she said.

“Whatever. I’m sorry it’s been so long since we did a girls’ night.”

“It’s okay. I know you’ve been too busy hanging out with rock stars,” she said with a pout.

“You know you’re always invited when we go out, but I only went to the bar with them one night without you, and that’s because you already had a date.”

“A date I should’ve blown off so I could hang out with the band—I mean, with you, of course.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”

“How did you get Bash to give you the night off from all the sexing?”

“Stop. Are we really that bad?”

“Nah. I’m happy for you guys. You deserve to be happy, and he makes you happy, right?”

“So much it scares the hell out of me. I don’t want to get hurt again. I mean, I know that he didn’t actually cheat on me, but he let me believe that for years, Hols. I get why he did it, and if Jamie were here, I would totally kick his ass for butting in, but he was able to lie to me for so long. Am I stupid to trust him?”

This is why I needed a girls’ night. I couldn’t have this conversation over text with Holly, and there was no one else I could talk to about this, no one else I wanted to talk to about this.

Holly grabbed my hand.

“No. You’re not stupid to trust him. I get that he hurt you, but he thought he was doing the right thing. He was an idiot, but his heart was in the right place. You guys are talking about this, right? It’s not just constant sex?”

“Umm, it’s not constant sex. We talk about all sorts of things, but not how I’m afraid of him hurting me again. I don’t know. I should say something, but it’s going so well right now. Am I moving too fast?”

“You keep asking me that. Do you think you’re moving too fast?”

“It was so easy to fall back into how we were before. Is that settling?”

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