Page 57 of Second to None

“Excellentway to start the day.” Cass’s voice was low and satisfied, and I smiled at him.

“Let’s count it as a morning workout, shall we?”

“Fair.”

I reached for the box of tissues on the bedside table and wiped us off, fumbling a little in the half-light. Once I was done, I tossed the crumpled balls over the side of the bed. Cass caught my hand to kiss the knuckles. Didn’t mean a thing. Itcouldn’t.

“All right,” I said lightly, pulling away. “I better get going before Emmy decides to wake me. You up for a hike today? And maybe another round of this tonight.”

“Sounds good. Yes to both.” He sat up as I slipped off the bed, watching me step back into my boxer briefs and then pad towards the door. I shot him a smile.

“See you in a bit.”

“See you,” he echoed, voice strangely quiet. There was a brightness in his eyes, though, and it told me that we’d be okay. No big deal. Probably just a bit of adjustment needed as we settled into this temporary half-something-or-other arrangement.

Light and easy. All I needed was a moment alone to gather myself, will down the queasy flutter in my stomach, and then it would be fine.

* * *

Sardinia,Monday, August 25th

We set out early enough that the sun didn’t yet hit us with all its brutal force—Emily, Cass, and I, while my parents had opted for a relaxed morning in the villa. I drove, with Emily in the back seat playing some stupid game on my phone because she’d huffed and puffed about doing a hike. Yes, thanks, I was the kind of parent whose good intentions about electronics use collapsed in the face of adversity. Cass navigated from the passenger seat with instructions like “right, no, there should be a left turn coming up in a—there—no, right turn,right, I meantright!”

Somehow, we still made it to a makeshift parking lot, dust and pebbles crunching underfoot, where we met up with Frank. Hats tugged down over our eyebrows, oversized sunglasses shielding half of our faces, Cass and I started on the trail, Emily following with all the cheer of someone heading off to their own execution, while Frank trailed further behind. Five minutes later, Emily was hopping from rock to rock, arms swinging and braid mostly undone, grin wide.Kids.

Cass cast me a sidelong look, one corner of his mouth quirking up. “Bit of a drama queen, isn’t she?”

“She’s seven, Cass.” I smiled back. “She gets upset over a cupcake that has less frosting than her friend’s, and over how some American cartoon character says ‘zee’ instead of ‘zed.’”

“Perfectly reasonable.” He lowered his cap when other hikers approached, his jawline shadowed. Good thing that this late in the summer holiday season, the crowds had dwindled to a trickle. Whenever we passed someone, we uttered a greeting but kept our faces turned away, faking fascination with some shrubbery by the wayside.

My gaze kept sliding to him—how he reached up to adjust his hat, and the movement exposed a sliver of his stomach, how his shorts clung to his gorgeous arse. A week ago, I could have blamed it on pent-up frustration after not getting laid in a while, or on all those years I’d spent without him. But now? Yeah, not so much.

Just a bit of fun.

The path wound downwards, curving between pale stone walls and scraggly brush. Emily led the way until we reached the gorge and took a careful walk around the rocks. She pointed at cliffs, insisting they looked like faces if you squinted just right, before she and Cass got distracted by a small lizard sunning itself. They crouched at a polite distance, heads tucked close and whispering between themselves, while I stood back with a half-smile. It was… nice.

After a while, we headed back to the car. A few times, I saw someone glance at us, a flicker of “wait, is that—?” but we were quick to move along. Just a single dad, his kid, and his friend enjoying a day out. Nothing to see here.

On the drive back, we stopped at a small turnout overlooking the sea. The sky was a gentle blue, the water a deeper, hazier shade, and Cass took out his phone to snap photos of Emily and me making silly faces, our arms around each other.

“Want one that’s a little more serious?” he asked. “For the Christmas cards or whatever.”

Emily scrunched up her nose while I gave him my best glower, perfected in hundreds of photoshoots—‘Tilt your chin down a little, that’s it, that’s the angle.’It made Cass laugh, and I lost the brooding expression, tripped up by the slant of sunlight across his cheekbones.

I tipped my chin towards his phone. “Want me to take a picture of you?”

He shook his head, already slipping it back into his pocket. “Nah, I’m good.”

Damn. I’d have loved to capture him like this: grin lazy and shoulders relaxed, real and beautiful and nothing like that last year in the band, when every glance between us had cut to the bone. But maybe he wanted a time-out from the cameras, which—yeah, fair enough.

By early afternoon, we were back at the villa. After some bread, cheese, and salad that Emily made sure everyone ate in equal amounts, we changed into swimwear and gathered around the pool. A sun sail provided some shade. Cass had just stretched out on his back, eyes closed, when Emily cannonballed in and soaked his chest.

He sat up with a squawk. “Hey! What’s this—a palace revolt?”

She shrieked, giggling, when he jumped in and they started splashing each other, limbs flailing. My gaze snagged on the curve of his shoulders. For God’ssake, I needed to stop acting like some hormone-stricken teenager.

I grabbed my phone and took a quick photo of them, both laughing as she tried to dunk him with her small hands and he pretended to go under. They looked happy. Both of them. The thought made my chest ache a little, and I tucked my phone away without even bothering to check how the picture had come out.

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