Page 214 of As the Rain Falls
The baby slips out of me again, and I catch myself wincing. Maybe I shouldn’t be calling her that if she’s not mine. It’s just hard not to when she’s like this. I just want to… make her feel better.
“You don’t understand,” Cassandra continues to spill everything, sighing dramatically. “You’re such a good guy. I bet you’ve never even kissed a girl who belonged to another boy.”
I wince again.
Not quite true.
“Nicolas would tell you a different story if you asked.”
Her eyes widen just a little, a glint of recognition shining in her eyes at the mention of my ex-classmate.
“What?”
“He’d been dating Alex for six months. I knew that. Everybody knew that.”The girl with the red hair. “But I still hooked up with her in the backseat of my dad’s car.”
She blinks, her green eyes lighting up.
“Really?”
“Twice,” I smirk. “Best first times I’ve ever had.”
I tighten my grip on her hand, lay my cheek against the back of my seat, and watch the tears streaming down her face. Her tight lips turn into a pout.
“You’re a dog!” She dries her tears with the back of her hand while looking at me, flustered and yet intrigued. “Is this true?”
I roll my eyes.She’s cute.
“Yeah, it is. Not my proudest moment or anything.” I shrug. “I still did it, and I’m not embarrassed about it.”
She hesitates, looking torn, “I know we’ve talked about this before, but I never had the courage to ask.”
“Go ahead.” I smile softly. “I don’t keep secrets from you.”
“Was she really your first love?”
I raise an eyebrow, finding it interesting that Cassandra knows so much about me when I’m always trying to guess what’s on her mind. I can’t read her, not as well as she reads me. It annoys me to no end that I can’t pick up on things as easily as she does.
“How do you even know about that?”
“Everybody knows.” Another lonely tear slides down. I watch her wipe it quickly. “Don’t go around thinking you’re that important to me.”
I chuckle, “Right.”
“So?”
“I guess.” I shrug. “But I don’t think about her anymore.”
Because I’m too busy thinking about you instead.
“What am I going to do?” her question comes out with defeat. “Beckett, I’m scared.”
“Are you sure he is telling her?”
“Probably,” she answers quickly, and I can tell she feels embarrassed about it. “I turned him down tonight. Told him I didn’t want to see him anymore.”
“Did he get upset?”
Cassandra shifts, her fingers tracing mine, playing with my rings.
