Page 92 of Blindsided By the Enforcer

“And, Scarlett, Annie knows what happened with the baby, so stop playing games and trying to break us up. Move on.”

She doesn’t say anything as I leave her dorm. I just hope she’ll heed my words of advice. I head back to my car and drive over to another lot that’s closer to my classes. It feels like a weight has been lifted. I also realize I told Scarlett I was falling in love with Annie, and it was the complete truth. I am falling, I just hope Annie is too.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Annie

Cade said he just pulled up to my driveway. I head downstairs to open the front door for him, thankful my roommates aren’t home. He said he met with Scarlett this morning, and I want to hear how the conversation went. Knowing Scarlett, she probably tried to win him back. I hate the thought of losing Cade, but I also don’t know if I am courageous enough to tell him how I feel. From the start we had an expiration date, now I’m changing the rules of our game.

It’s snowing heavily as Cade makes his way to the door. He wanted to bring me dinner and I told him to surprise me.

The wind blows inside along with snow. “Hey,” he says, holding a couple plastic bags filled with food.

“Hey,” I say back. He leans in and kisses me, but this time he lingers a little longer and the kiss feels like it is more than just a hello. “It’s freezing.” I close the door quickly as a shiver runs through my body.

“That’s because no one wears shorts and tank tops in the dead of winter.” Cade laughs.

“Indoors is the key word,” I answer. “My roomies love to blast the heat. The house is always hot.”

“And here I thought it was because you are always hot for me.” Cade snickers.

“It is.” I waggle my brows. “What did you get us?” I ask, curious about what was in the bags.

“I got us veal parmigiana, bruschetta, gnocchi, risotto,” he goes on.

“Did you buy everything off a menu at an Italian restaurant?” I giggle.

“Almost, I didn’t know what you’d like,” he answers.

“Follow me” I wave him into the kitchen and settle the bags of food on the table. I open all the containers of steaming goodness. “Where did you get all this stuff?”

“I drove in to town. I wanted to get us something special because I felt like celebrating,” he says with a smile.

“I’m guessing things went well with Scarlett?” I ask.

“I hope so. I made myself clear, it’s just a matter if Scarlett was actually listening to me. I didn’t want to be harsh, but I felt like she deserved the truth,” he explains.

I set plates on the table and we dig in to the food while Cade recounts how she wanted to meet in her dorm room and seemed like she would try to seduce him. Cade is completely transparent with me. It is something I never experienced in a relationship before and it pushes me even more to want to take the leap and share my real feelings.

“I told her I was never in love with her. That I felt obligated because she was in a bad place. I know this all sounds harsh but I was upfront with her from the start, she just believed that, at some point, my feelings would change.”

“Did she agree to get some help? It sounds like she has a lot on her plate,” I ask.

“I even offered to pay for it. I hope you aren’t upset.”

“That’s really sweet of you, Cade. I get it. You felt responsible for her for so long. But there is help at the Wellness Center on campus. She probably has it covered with the health insurance she gets from her parents.”

“I told her that too but I wanted her to have the other options on the table, just in case. I hope she doesn’t use it as a way to keep in touch. I really tried to send the message that I moved on,” he says and that feels like a segue to us. I wasn’t going to divulge my feelings without testing the waters first.

“You mean to your fake girlfriend.” I grin.

Cade was eating the risotto and he places his fork on the plate. “About that, Annie.”

My stomach sinks because Cade seems nervous. Is he going to tell me that we can call it quits now? We really have no reason to continue the ruse. Ford apologized. Daddy settled his case out of court instead of dragging things on. Cade made things clear to Scarlett today.

Now it is all making sense. This celebratory dinner is a dinner to celebrate the end of our fake relationship.

I’m going to be sick.

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