Chapter 6 #2
He’s wearing fitted grey pants and a black T-shirt.
There’s no name brand on the clothing but from the fit and trim of the hem, they look expensive.
His eyes roam up and down my body and despite the warm weather, I shiver.
His gaze lands on my bare shoulders and I realize I haven’t changed.
I’m still wearing the tube top and skin-tight shorts I put on after my shower.
“Hi,” he says, and sucks on his bottom lip.
Ugh. It looks like I wore the skimpiest clothes on purpose. “You’re early. I just need a minute to change.”
I turn toward my hallway but his hand latches onto my wrist and turns me back around. His gaze drops to my neck and then back up again. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”
Did he really say that, or did I imagine it? It’s the first time we’re alone together.
His eyes drop to my lips, and he steps closer to me.
I’ve pictured this scenario in my head a thousand times in my dreams, Casey caresses my jaw and kisses my lips gently. Then he picks me up and carries me to the bedroom where he makes love to me all night.
“Sage?”
“Mmm?”
Did he say something?
“I asked if it’s all right if we sit down.”
“Yes, of course. Please come in.”
A wayward curl drops over my face, and I push it back with both hands. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’ll have water.”
“Water?”
“Yeah. I watch my calorie intake during the season.”
“That must suck.”
He shrugs. “I’m used to it. I’ve been doing it since I was sixteen years old.”
I grab two glasses and fill them with water from the tap. Casey makes himself comfortable on the couch and I sit next to him with my leg tucked in beneath me.
He takes a sip of his water. “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot since Charlotte’s party. Tell me a bit about yourself.”
Placing my glass on the coffee table, I run a hand through my curls and sigh. “There’s not much to tell. What do you want to know?”
“Well, when did you move to Cedar Brook Falls?”
“My family and I travelled here every summer until I was eighteen. My parents fell in love with the waterfall, and I fell in love with the people. Meeting Jane and Charlotte was the best thing that happened to me.”
“You smile when you speak of them.”
“They’re my family now. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
“What happened to your family? Did they move to Cedar Brook Falls too?”
“No.” I look down at a beauty mark on my knee. It’s been more than ten years, and I still hate talking about it. My friends all know what happened and I haven’t had to talk about it since. “They died.”
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
“If you don’t want to talk about it…”
He gives me a way out, but for some reason I don’t take it.
“My family and I would travel all over Canada and the U.S. My father was a painter, and he could work anywhere while my mother made jewelry and sold it at markets in whichever town we stopped in. It was an idyllic childhood.” I stop.
Not able to say any more about my parents.
I dangle my bracelets. “These were hers.”
He touches them gently and smiles. “Did you travel all summer?”
“All year, actually.”
“What about school?”
I shake my head. “My parents were my tutors. I never went to a proper school until my last year of high school and then college.”
“You went to college?”
“Don’t look so surprised,” I say with a large dose of sarcasm, but his shock is a little insulting.
“You just don’t seem the type.”
“And what type is that?”
“I don’t know.” He looks around. “You seem to be the opposite of conventional. And your upbringing confirms it.”
“I guess. But I think that’s where I differ from my parents. They were never happy if they stayed in one place for too long. As for me… I don’t know… I like having a place to call home… Friends that I can grow old with.”
He nods but looks away.
“What about you? Do you like travelling with the team?”
He redirects his gaze to me and smiles. “I love it. It’s the best part of the job. I get to travel across the country and even into Canada sometimes. I wake up in a new city almost every day. It’s like a dream come true.”
“You sound like my father,” I say and the familiar pang in my chest creeps up whenever I think about him. I’m ready to change the subject but he asks the one question I’ve been dreading.
“How did they die?”
A lump forms in my throat and I try to clear it. When that doesn’t work, I take a sip of my water. My hand trembles so I place the glass gently back on the table.
“I can’t talk about it.”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to.”
I look down between us and I’m desperate to change the subject. To change the energy in the room.
That’s when I remember his shoulder.
“Can I feel your arm?”
He stares at me through narrow eyes, probably wondering about the quick change, but then he smiles. “That’s got to be the worst pick up line I’ve ever heard.”
His boyish grin makes me laugh and I appreciate him lightening the mood. “I’m not flirting. I promise.”
“Well, I don’t like the sound of that. Just when things are starting to look up between us.”
“I noticed a grimace on your face when you were playing with Anthony, and I’ve been meaning to take a look at it.”
“I thought you were going to show me some yoga exercises. This sounds like a set up to have your hands all over me.”
I roll my eyes, but he continues, “I think you’re flirting with me, Sage.”
“Never,” I say, then look him straight in the eye. “Now take off your shirt.”