Page 72 of Growing Into Love

The knock comes again. “Hello? This is Betty from the front desk.”

“Coming!” I call as Cass hurries over to the bed and switches on the telly. I take a breath, make sure my clothes are in order, and open the door.

“Hi Betty,” I say a tad too enthusiastically. “Don’t tell me you’ve found me a room.”

Betty’s smile is tight. “No, sorry. I’ve just got a call from your neighbor.” She jerks her head in the direction of Nigella’s room. “She reported hearing some, um, sounds coming from this room. Sounds that would be, um, disqualifying.”

I feel a rush of pity for Betty being forced to confront two strangers about their sexual activities. Fucking Nigella.

“Oh, er…” I stammer as Cass calls, “Oh hi, Betty! Sorry was the telly too loud? We were just unwinding and watching a show, but I’m happy to turn it down.”

Betty looks relieved. “Yes, that would be great,” she says. “I’m so glad this was all a misunderstanding. Like I said, they take the rules really seriously at Windy Acres and I’m required to report anything, um, untoward.” She shoots me a look. “And the walls areextremely thin.”

“Got it,” I say. “We’ll keep the noise down.”

“Please do,” she says. “Enjoy the rest of your evening. And good luck at the show.”

She smiles and walks down the hall. I close the door and slump back against it, heart pounding.

Cass is eyeing the wall between our room and Nigella’s. “What is her problem?”

My throat tightens. “You’re not getting kicked out of the competition over some fraternization rule.”

Cass falls back against the pillows. “Fucking trollop.”

I move to sit at the end of the bed and pray that Conversation Cat will let me get through this without completely mucking it up. “Cass,” I say. “How long have you, er…”

Cass doesn’t need me to finish that sentence. “A long time,” she admits.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

I scratch my head. “I’m sorry.”

She stiffens. “Fine. I get it. You got caught up in the moment.”

She turns away from me.

“What?” I say, confused.

“You’re sorry that you kissed me, right?”

“Oh,” I say. Then I laugh.

Cass’s head whips around. “You don’t need to rub salt in my wound, Jaz.”

“Shit,” I say, sobering instantly. “No, Cass, that’s not—meant of time—in the same…ugh!” I take a deep slow breath. “I only meant, I’m sorry it took me so much time to get here. I wish I’d understood this…” I gesture between us. “Sooner. Much, much sooner.”

She looks up at me, her face wary but her eyes glinting with hope. “You do?”

I nod.

“But what about Theresa?”

I frown. “What about Theresa?”

Cass lets out an exasperated huff. “You’ve been texting her all week, Jaz!”

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