Page 90 of Losing the Rhythm

“Yeah. I think I’m in. I want to be there for her. To make sure she has everything she needs. I don’t think I can let her go.”

“Same, man. Same.”

Cadence made a small snoring sound that was rather cute. She wasn’t a big snorer, but it was there, a soft, heavy breathing that was more of a relief than an annoyance. She was getting sleep, something that seemed to evade her all too often recently. She always looked so exhausted lately, the dark circles underneath her eyes getting worse each day.

“If I go see my aunt this weekend, I can talk to her about her relationship,” I said slowly. I wasn’t sure if him acknowledging his feelings for Cadence was the same as him agreeing that he was interested in dating her with me. Being around and committing to a relationship were two very different things.

“She’s really married to two men?”

“Has been for about twenty years now, I think. You’ll have to meet her, she has some crazy stories from when the three of them began dating.”

“I think I understand that. Cadence is being bullied at school already for hanging out with us.”

Frowning, I glanced down at her sleeping face. “How bad? I know there were incidents. Paxon got into a fight and I think he and Toby are probably planning something they shouldn’t.”

“It seems everyone has her phone number now and spam calls and texts her. Bryan fixed that. Someone destroyed her locker. Some of the girls approached her so far.”

How did I not know about this? I kind of hated not being in school so I could help the others when they needed me. People usually wanted to get out of high school quickly, but I was the unlucky one to graduate first and become separated from them.

I sighed and tried to figure out what I could do to help. There really wasn’t much. My hands were tied and I’d already received a warning for trespassing when we apologized to Cadence. Next time, they might call the police, though I could probably talk my way out of it. Principal Calgary had always had a soft spot for me.

“I’ll keep an eye on everyone to keep them out of trouble.”

“Oh yeah, and who will keep you out of trouble?” I asked.

Justin didn’t reply. Frankly, he probably didn’t have an answer. Justin was one of the more dangerous ones when it came to protecting the group. I wasn’t lying to Cadence when I said that while Paxon’s fight was minor, Justin would have ensured that kid didn’t come back to school for a few days if he had been involved. He had the training to be dangerous too.

“Don’t do anything that will get you in trouble,” I said. “You’re dealing with enough right now with your dad. You don’t need to make things harder for yourself.

Justin’s jaw tightened. Reluctantly, he nodded. “I’ll behave.”

“Good.”

We watched the movie for only a couple of minutes before Justin spoke again. “Do you think she likes me?”

Yes. I wanted to say it right away. She liked everyone, more than she let on, maybe even more than she realized. I had a feeling Cadence wasn’t the type to hang around people she had no interest in. It just left me wondering where I stood with her, and how she truly felt. All I really knew was that she treasured us as friends and was scared to cause any issues among us.

Frankly, her thoughts scared me. Could she potentially destroy our relationship with each other? Maybe. But she’d have to be an extremely thoughtless person to do so. Cadence was far from thoughtless.

“She does,” I finally answered, realizing I was going on too long without saying anything. I believed it too as I answered him. If she truly liked Justin though, and had no interest in me, where would that leave me? That was the question that scared me the most. What would happen if she wasn’t interested in dating the both of us? What will happen to me if she chose only Justin?

Those questions sat heavily in the pit of my stomach as I tried to watch the movie. I really needed to talk to my aunt now. It felt nearly like an emergency. They’d kissed already. The thoughts were there. If things weren’t made clear early on, then everything was going to get screwed up really quickly.

Chapter Twenty-eight

I was being crushed from all around. I’d reach out and feel nothing within reach and yet, for some reason, something was suffocating me.

I thrashed, hearing a grunt.

“Cadence!”

I pushed out again as I gasped for air and sat up. I was sweaty, the lights were too dim, and I was completely confused. I wasn’t in the bedroom, like I expected, but on the couch.

I blinked, trying to clear the confusing fog. Concerned blue eyes stared back at me.

“Justin?” I whispered. I was practically plastered all over his chest. “What’s going on?”

“Did you have a nightmare?” he asked in a sleepy voice, eyes hazy.

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