Page 21 of Heartstrings & Horizons
Paige: Delete that.
Paige: In fact, just forget this ever happened.
She’s rambling, and it’s adorable. I love when she gets flustered.I tap to save the photo, not a chance in hell I’m deleting this one. It’s going in my collection alongside all the other ones. Her lack of confidence bothers me, making me question what sort of assholes she’s been with in the past. She’s never been anything but perfect to me.
Cade: No way in hell. You look hot. Tell me more about this date.
My text comes off indifferent, but inside I’m anything but. I can feel my pulse picking up, agitation creeping in at the thought of her with some other man. The moment I hit send on my reply, my phone starts to ring with an incoming FaceTime.
Before I have a second to react, Miles snags the phone out of my hand and answers for me. The sight of my gorgeous girl on the screen renders me speechless.
No, she’s not mine.
Her dark brown curly hair is pulled half up with a few pieces framing her face, and her eyes are rimmed in some sort of smokey green eye shadow. I can’t see a full view below her waistline because she’s standing in the bathroom mirror, her bottom half covered by the countertop, but I see enough that I find myself discreetly adjusting my hard on in my jeans, not for the first time.
“Hey there,sunshine.” Miles’ voice breaks me out of my stupor, the last word dripping with amusement.
“Um, hi,” she responds.Shit, she sounds nervous.
I quickly snag the phone back from Miles, hoping she doesn’t hang up on mefirst.
“Sorry Paige. We’re at brunch, and these dickheads have zero respect for boundaries.” I turn the camera to face the guys and make some quick introductions.
“Oh, uh, hi. Sorry to interrupt your brunch.” she says, I can tell she’s still a little nervous.
“No problem. What’s up?”
“I was getting ready for a date and realized it would be easier to call you since I didn’t have hands to text, but I can let you go.” I watch as she applies another coat of what must be called “Fuck Me Red” lipstick and I’m completely mesmerized.
“Nope, you’re stuck with us now,” Miles chimes in from my left as Dean slides himself into the booth with us. All 3 of our faces are now visible on the screen like some awkward bro sandwich.
“So, tell us about this hot date,” Miles continues, “What exactly do you do up there in the frozen wilderness? Snowshoe out to see the polar bears?”
“Don’t be a dumbass, Miles,” I say as I jab my elbow into his ribs. Paige and I banter back and forth constantly, so having Miles making jokes about Canada, too, feels like a step too fucking far.
“Actually, I think we’ve decided to build an igloo with habitat for humanity. My date really likes to give back to the community, you know?” she deadpans.
“Oh, I like her,” Dean says with a chuckle.Yeah, me too.
“I appreciate your seal of approval,” she says with a sweet smile. “Sorry to cut this short, guys, but my lunch date should be here in…” she taps at her phone screen for a minute, and I catch another glimpse of her ample cleavage. “10 minutes.”
I don’t miss the look on Miles’ face when he notices, too.
Cool it, Cade. You can’t kick your best friend’s ass in the middle of the diner.
“Text me SOS if you need help and I’ll be there in 3-5 business days,” I joke. “On second thought, probably best if you call Mags.”
She laughs and I think it might be the best sound I’ve ever heard. “Ok, talk to you later,” she says with a wave before the screen goes black.
Dean slides back into the other side of our booth with a knowing smile on his face as the server arrives with our brunch. They let the topic go, but I know I’ll never hear the end of it; I’m sure I'll be getting an earful about this later.
“So I actually have some news,” Dean says from across the booth. “The firm is transferring most of the consultant positions to a virtual model, so I’ll be able to stick around Oak Ridge for the foreseeable future. This will be my last travel job. They’re interviewing to replace the outgoing CFO in the new year, so we’ll see how that goes.”
“Holy shit, bro. Congrats! It’ll be great to have you around to help me keep this one’s dick in his pants once in a while.” I gesture towards Miles, who is currently eyeing a pretty brunette three booths over.
“Or maybeyoucould try actually getting some and leave the rest of us alone.” Miles gives me a knowing look and I think he’s going to bring up our earlier conversation with Paige, but he just winks and strides away and I’m left alone to face Dean’s inquisition.
“$20 says he gets the girl's number.”
