Page 81 of Second to None

“Okay,” I told him. “I understand. Thank you for…”Not giving up on me.“Coming here. Giving us—me—a chance.”

His chest rose on a deep breath, something easing around his shoulders. “A week,” he repeated. “Then you can call me. And if you…Fuck.” His gaze flickered, then steadied again. “I know it’s a lot, okay? So if you can’t do it—yeah, that’ll hurt. But I’ll understand.”

God, I wanted to promise him the moon and the stars, wanted to promise forever. It wasn’t what he’d asked of me, though. Not just yet.

So instead, I set the guitar aside and took one step toward him, then stopped, hands by my side. He closed the remaining distance and leaned in. A kiss—oh. My eyes fluttered closed, his breath warm on my lips. Our mouths brushed, so light it barely registered.

He stepped back. “I’ll go now.”

Don’t.

I stayed quiet, managed a crooked smile as he turned away.Stay. He paused on the threshold for a backward glance, hesitating, before his voice dipped softer. “I’m not asking you to give up who you are, Cass. But if we do this—it needs to be real.”

“Last time was real, too.” I felt it down to the tips of my toes. “But I get what you mean. And I will think about it, okay? Everything you said. For a week.”

“I love you,” he said, and then he was gone.

Seven days. They stretched like a road I’d never traveled before, no map to guide my way, no shortcuts. But that was fine. I was ready.

CHAPTER19

Levi

Macclesfield, Wednesday, September 10th

‘Breaking news: it’s raining in London.’

Ah, so it was Jace’s turn to check on me. I felt a half-smile twitch around my mouth and replied,‘Mate, talking about the weather still won’t make you a Brit.’

‘Just trying to do as the locals do.’A few seconds passed before he followed up with,‘Hanging in there?’

Like it hadn’t been my choice—four days of silence, three to go. But that didn’t stop me from glancing at my phone each time it lit up, just in case it was Cass breaking his promise. I wanted him to stand by it, and yet I wanted to hear from him almost as much. My thoughts a mess because what if,what if?

Stop.

I sent Jace a thumbs-up emoji and finished packing Emily’s lunch while Alba wove around my legs, hoping for a handout in the form of cheese cubes. “Down, girl,” I told her. “This is human food. You get your own cat stuff, and it’s premium quality.”

She mewled in agreement or protest, hard to tell, pink tongue showing. Because I had the steely resolve of a floppy fish, I broke off a miniscule piece of cheddar for her. Man, if Cass could see me now, he’d—anyway.

I went to wake Emily a third time and waited until she actually trudged towards the bathroom. Upright, if not awake. An hour later, I dropped her off at school with a hug and a quick glance to make sure no paps hung around—all quiet on the Western Front. There’d been a couple hanging around the gate to the house when we got home, but with my lawyer on speed-dial and a minor affected, it had been a short-lived episode. Nothing since. Articles, yes, and online rumours that I’d chosen to ignore. And sure, some of the other parents were bound to talk, but the kids? Her best friend Lissie still traded stickers at lunch, Joey was obnoxious as ever, and Emily still told him his face had symmetry issues.

So, no—life hadn’t crumbled.

Traffic was mild on my drive to Manchester, watery sunlight breaking through a pale sky. I considered texting Jace the weather report when the radio transitioned from some cheerful pop song to one of Cass’s biggest hits. Because of course. His voice flowed like melting chocolate, slightly raspy with a hint of gravel, and I… I fuckingmissedhim.

Three more days. If he called at all. No—he would. I’d asked for a lot, yes, but he wouldn’t just disappear into thin air. I had to believe that we were well and truly beyond that. Even if he decided he couldn’t be that person, he’d... stay in my life.

Somehow.

* * *

Macclesfield,Saturday, September 13th

I woke up sick.

Not really. But my stomach was knotted up, a queasy flutter in my bones because this, today—this was my future at a tipping point. Melodramatic? Maybe. It wasn’t like... Christ, if Cass said no, it wasn’t like my world would end. It would just be a little colder, a little less radiant.

I’m trying, Jess. I really am.

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