Page 14 of Cass

Harley smirks, and looks down at Brody. “I suppose I did. What can I say? He’s irresistible to me.”

Brody grabs her hand and kisses it. “It’s you who’s irresistible to me.”

Reagan turns to Darian. “Mom, you have completely failed us in the safe sex department. You should be ashamed of your faulty parenting.”

Darian deadpans. “I view their irresponsibility as nothing but a success.” She turns back to Harley. “Good job, baby doll.” Harley smiles.

I wink at Reagan. “It’s always the quiet ones, right?”

She nods in agreement. “Totally.”

* * *

CASSANDRA

Dennis and I leave Darian and Jackson’s house. I’m upset with how much I hurt Trevor, but I know that it’s for his own good. I can admit to myself I care about him. Enough to let him go and spread his wings.

Dennis looks at me. “I’m not coming back to your place tonight, am I?”

I smile at him. “No. Not tonight. I’m not up for it.”

He shakes his head. “Wow. I never thought I’d see the day.”

“I’ve told you ‘No’ once or twice in the past ten years.”

He grabs my hand. “That’s not what I meant. I meant I never thought I’d see the day that you fell hard for someone.”

I drop his hand. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t fallen for anyone. I willnevermake that mistake again.”

“If you think I don’t know that you’ve been fucking that kid, then you must really think I’m stupid. No one knows that side of you better than I do.”

We’re silent for a moment. “Not only are you fucking him, but you’ve fallen for him. Clearly, he’s fallen for you. Out of curiosity, why are you ending things with him? You both care for one another.”

I look at him in confusion. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“No. The only obvious thing is that there’s the age gap, but you’ve never been one for conventional relationships. You’ve never been one to give a shit about what other people think. There’s no reason for you to change that now.”

“I don’t care about other people. I care about Trevor. It’s not what’s best for him. I need to end things for his own good. He’s getting too attached. He still has a lot of living to do.”

“You know, you’re allowed to do something for yourself. It’s okay.”

“I have been. For the past year and a half. Now it’s time to put on my big girl pants and do the right thing.”

“No, you haven’t. You always put other people’s needs ahead of yours. It’s kind of the theme of your life. At least as long as I’ve known you.” He clearly doesn’t know me at all. He only knows the time I spent with Darian and the girls after Scott’s death.

I drop him at his place. He gets out of the car, but looks back down at me before he walks away. “Cassandra, you’re allowed to be happy too. Don’t forget that.”

He blows me a kiss. “Call me anytime, beautiful.”

CHAPTERFOUR

TREVOR

Ilook up at the girl bouncing up and down on top of me. I think her name’s Amanda. No, that doesn’t sound right. Maybe it’s Anna.

I met her at a bar in Soho tonight. She’s probably a little older than me. I’m not really sure. She’s pretty, but she’s definitely not going to make it happen for me like this. I need something a little more aggressive to get the job done.

She’s moaning. “Trevor, you’re so big. You feel so good.”

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