Page 26 of Paradise Found
He pushes past me, about to storm off, when I blurt out, “She’s a kid.”
“What do you mean? She’s in her twenties.”
“I mean, like,mentally. She’s sheltered and young and… and innocent,” I say. And because I’m desperate, I bend the truth. “Cassie doesn’t even have a job.”
“She told me that she’s running a business. I asked what she does for a living.”
“She makes crafts, man. That’s not a job.”
“What?”
“Crafts. Like what kids do.”
His eyes flick over my shoulder and I know, I just fuckingknow, I fucked up. By the time I whip around, Cassie’s fleeting form is swallowed by the crowd.
Cassie
“I’m sorry, Cassie. Please call me back.Please.Fuck, I’m so sorry.”
Changed for bed, I listen to the third message Lance has left on my voicemail. He started leaving messages after his dozen texts went unanswered.
I kept my phone off as Stephanie drove us back to Cincinnati. My girls were set to grab food at the deli near the university. I begged to be dropped off first. Without getting into details, they knew I was upset when we left the club.
Upset barely covers it. I’m humiliated. Angry. Hurt. I never imagined Lance was capable of cruelty. Oblivious to my infatuation when he joined my brothers to tease me, sure. I never thought he saw me in an infantile way. And to say it out loud to a stranger? He might as well have punched me, for how my stomach twisted and my heart stopped.
I’ll never look at him again without hearing his ruthless insult of me and my passion.
Crafts. Like what kids do.
“Cassie!” A deep voice carries from beyond the apartment door. Three thumps on the door follow. “It’s Lance. Open up.”
I stand and walk towards the sound, hardly believing the gall of this asshole, showing up here and demanding to be let in.
“Go away, Lance.” I look into my peephole to find his chest wrapped in a perfectly tailored button-down. He came straight from the club. Everything about him is polished perfection from the neck down. His face, however, is contorted in worry.
“No,” he bellows, eyes glowering into the peephole like he knows I’m right there. “Open up and let me in, Cassie,” he urges more gently.
“You’ll wake the neighbors, be quiet!” I say by the door.
“Sadie’s the one who let me in. Open up.”
I’m going to kill Sadie. She’s been teasing me about Lance since she met him. It was her bright idea to send him a picture of the gang, promising Gordon it would get Lance running to the club in no time. She was right in all the wrong ways.
The last thing I needed tonight was Lance reminding me I’m not desirable as a woman. That I’m not even a woman! I’m a kid?!Mentallya kid?! What the hell does that even mean? I know I’ve lived a privileged life, butshelteredandinnocentaren’t accurate, not when I’ve been supporting myself and my business for years.
I wasn’t going to sleep with Sergei. Still, it felt good to be wanted. Not that any of it matters. After what he heard, I’m sure he deleted my number the same time I deleted his.
“I swear, Cassie, I’m going to break this door. I’ll buy you another one tomorrow. But this door is opening, you hear me?”
“Fuck you, Lance.”
He’s quiet. I know he’s still there. His presence is a magnetic field that affects me whether or not there’s a door between us. I hear voices. No need to check to know it’s the sound of Sadie’s betrayal.
The lock turns before Lance bursts in.
“What the hell, Sadie!” I scream as she ducks into her apartment. I cannot believe she just handed him her key to my place. She’s never getting it back, the traitor.
“Don’t be mad at her,” he says, closing the door behind him.
