Chapter 12
TWELVE
DYLAN
When Cass said he wanted to move some of his things over, I’d thought a couple of suitcases of clothes. I peered around my spare room that was apparently now Cass’s training room, wondering why I was actually surprised.
This was Cass, the man who never did anything by halves.
The spare bed and furniture had been dismantled and stored in the garage, and Cass’s bulging cases were shoved in my bedroom, ready for him to unpack and stow things away in my—or apparently our—closet.
“Perfect.”
At Cass’s holler, I marked the wall, then passed down the hoop. By this point, I’d given up on rolling my eyes or even attempting to question what was going on.
Steamrolling was Cass’s thing. Even though he’d deny it. And most of the time—like now—I let him get away with it. That didn’t mean I didn’t fight the good fight and shut down his eagerness when the situation called for it. But this, I’d given him.
How could I not when he was in golden retriever mode?
Add in Mikey—when he was home (I’d organized childcare for a few hours this morning)—following him around, loving the changes and Cass’s attention, and this was one I’d lose.
Not that I truly wanted to stop him.
Having Cass in my space was not a hardship. Hanging out with him, living with him, I was here for it all. The man was my favorite person—barring my devotion to Mikey. And that he’d gone all in with this marriage thing we were navigating, hell, I couldn’t find fault in his commitment.
That didn’t mean that if he said I’d not leveled the hoop correctly again I wasn’t going to cause him some serious pain.
“Drill.” I held out my hand, latching on when he passed it to me. I held eye contact, saying, “You’re sure this time?”
“Yeah. It’s right.”
I raised my brows in challenge. He’d said that for the last three marks, which I’d gone ahead and drilled holes into, only for him to say the hoop wasn’t level.
“It is, definitely.”
“Fine, but if it’s not, tough shit. Up here’s looking like a pincushion.”
“Nope, it’s good.”
I huffed out a breath and angled to face the garage wall. The ladder wobbled.
“Shit, sorry. I let go.”
“If I fall, you’ll be waiting on me hand and foot, and I’ll kick your ass.”
“Uh-huh. Not sure you’re fast enough to catch me.”
“You may be quick, but I’ve got stamina. Your itty-bitty short bursts of speed would get you nowhere in a chase.”
“You get in any awesome Hollywood police chases recently in our bumfuck-nowhere town?”
I didn’t need to look at him to know he was grinning widely. Asshole. “I’m totally flipping you off right now,” I muttered, trying to control my lip twitch.
“You’re so talented. Racing for donuts, defeating bad guys, all while being an ace at drilling.”
My “Fuck off” earned me a loud laugh.
Trying not to snicker, I made the hole, then passed him the drill before taking the hoop back off him. “You got the electric screwdriver?”
“Yeah.” He stood on the bottom rung of the ladder and angled up to pass it to me, his head all but pressed to my ass. “I swear, if you let one rip….”
A grin split my lips. It would be oh so tempting.
But this was also Cass, and honestly, when it came to asses and, specifically, their bodily functions, I never quite knew how he’d react.
While we could joke about it—often with him leading the way—there’d be times it would be too much for him to handle.
I loved and respected him too much to put him in that position.
Sure, he acted like the joker jock and played up the whole aversion to literal shit and bodily functions with his teammates and other friends, but I knew the truth.
I understood how, despite the laughing, his heart would be going a million miles a minute and how close he would be to feeling nauseous.
Phobias were a hell of a thing. Cassius’s was just more complicated and personal than most.
“You’re safe. Promise,” I offered, pushing sincerity into my voice.
“I’ll just admire from up close, knowing I’m safe,” he teased.
I snorted out a laugh. “You do that.”
I focused on fixing the hoop into position. Once the screw was tight, I passed the screwdriver back to him.
“All done.”
Seeing Cass move off the ladder, I stepped down and away, the two of us backing up to see my handiwork.
“Good job.”
I side-eyed him, my movement pulling his attention to me.
“It is.” He raised his hands as I turned toward him.
“No corrections? No getting out the level?”
“Nope. You nailed it. Well, screwed it to perfection.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t hold back my grin. Cass happy was one of my favorite things.
“Right, so all done. That it, or…?” I left the question hanging.
Since he’d moved in yesterday—I was still unsure if that was official or not—he’d been a man on a mission, getting his belongings set up and in place.
Sure, I was still tripping over boxes and cases, but I could handle it. It had been years since we’d lived together or spent longer than three weeks living side by side. It would be an adjustment, but difficult? Never.
“I’ve still got the closet to organize, but the gym’s all set up. I don’t need to sort anything now if you want to do something together.”
I checked the time. It was coming up to lunch. Mikey was in childcare this morning. I usually pulled him out when not on shift, but getting Cass settled needed our focus, and chasing an almost three-year-old around would have made that impossible.
“Lunch out, and then we can collect Mikey?”
He stayed with a registered at-home childminder when I worked, though occasionally, Mama T and Pop would look after him.
While Mama T took early retirement—thanks to a demanding Cass—Pop ran stock portfolios from home.
That they insisted—and loved—taking care of Mikey was incredible.
I was hella grateful for their love and support.
“Sounds good.”
Even though I suggested lunch, I also kinda dreaded whenever I was out with Cass. Not only was he a successful basketball player, nationally recognized, but that he was local meant extra attention.
Eagles fans could be hard-core at the best of times. I was sure Zumbrota residents felt like they owned a piece of Cass. That he was one of theirs. One of their own.
It meant a meal out could go one of two ways.
Either locals would leave him alone with a smile and a nod or they’d be clambering for a selfie or autograph and usually a long conversation.
I suspected that was the same for most professional athletes and their fans, but in the past, folks around here tended to feel like they knew him personally. That Cass was their friend.
“You sure you want to go out?”
Cass’s question snapped my attention to him. “Why’d you ask?”
He shot a quirked brow and an “are you serious, I know all your expressions” look at me.
Since he really did, I huffed out a breath. “I just hate the touching and folks feeling like they can get all up in your business.”
His features softened. “I like when you get protective.”
I tutted and rolled my eyes for good measure. “Excuse me for not wanting grabby assholes trying to wrap around you to get a photo.”
His sweet smile morphed into a self-satisfied smirk. “It’s a good thing I have my cop husband with me, then. You’ve always been like my own personal bodyguard. Now you have the added status of husbutt.”
“Husbutt? Really?”
“Yep.” A cheesy wink was shot my way. “Let’s just head to the Coffee Mill.”
When I hung my head in defeat, Cass chuckled and slung his arm around my shoulders.
“Dude, there’s what? Four thousand residents or something who live here?
Three-quarters of those have to be at work or school.
Plus, it’s not like everyone doesn’t know who you are, Sarge.
What exactly do you think’s going to happen? ”
Was I being a reluctant asshole? Most definitely. But it was all those reasons that made me hesitate.
Likely every single busybody in town would know we were married by now. Cass’s agent had also organized a press release, which I’d approved of with a grunt, that was published yesterday.
Not that I wasn’t grateful that we’d managed to keep the wedding under the radar, which meant we hadn’t been hounded by paps.
Us stepping out together in my town made the marital status between us real. This was our first time going public.
I had expectations that our heading out for lunch would turn more than a few heads.
“Fine, but if I have to call in Jack—or worse, Chief Nelson—for crowd control, I’m taking away your gummy bear privileges.”
For real, the cops at my station were all good people, but they’d never let me live it down if they were called in to save the day.
I held back my sigh, but there was nothing I could do about the tightness of my false smile.
It was great that everyone and their dog were congratulating us on our marriage, especially considering when growing up, our community wasn’t quite as progressive as now. But still, I only managed two interruption-free bites through the entire meal.
“Thanks, Mrs. Maldone.” Gracious as ever, Cass was all smiles as he spoke to our old second-grade teacher. “I can promise you I’m the lucky one.” After shooting her a charming smile, he winked at me, his eyes practically twinkling in pleased amusement.
“To think you boys are finally a family. It’s just wonderful,” she gushed.
My heart fluttered at her words.
Not only was it impossible to be resentful when she was being so genuine and kind, but also the meaning behind her words hit their mark.
Cass had always been my family, and now that we officially were was a hell of a thing.
The bell above the coffee shop door tinkled, drawing Mrs. Maldone’s attention away. I took the moment to stare at Cass. Wide-eyed, I looked at his plate, urging him to hurry up. A small group was entering, which would mean even more residents stopping by our table.
While I was aware that it made me sound ungrateful and like a grumpy asshole, especially since the positive response was so incredible, I just wanted a semblance of normality.
With only two more days before I was back at work, which would put me front and center of the public, a need to hide away with Cass and Mikey was a siren call I couldn’t and didn’t want to ignore.
“Ooh, it’s Leanna. She—”
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. M. We have to get going to collect Mikey. We can’t be late.” Cass shot me a “see, I’ve totally got this” look and then Mrs. Maldone a charming smile, one he saved for folks he wanted to win over.
It worked. It did every time.
Pink-cheeked, Mrs. Maldone smiled and nodded. “Of course. You two go and get that precious boy of yours.”
Grateful she gave us a free pass to escape, we stood quickly and headed on out, saying goodbye to so many residents, I gave up registering exactly who was around.
Once outside with the light breeze brushing against my skin, I inhaled deeply.
I loved our small town. There was a real sense of community that I appreciated.
When I moved back here after Paula’s passing, it had felt right.
Almost serendipitous that a job position became vacant.
It helped that my asshole parents had moved fifty minutes west a few years back.
While still a little too close for my liking, at least they weren’t in my immediate jurisdiction.
Cassius’s strong hand gripped my shoulder as he wrapped his arm around me. “You doing okay?”
I bobbed my head, trying to get my thoughts and feelings under control.
“It’s not like you to want to flee like that.” His voice was soft, a thread of concern weaving through his words.
It wasn’t.
I chose to come home. Chose to be in an environment where folks had an opinion about your life. And between Cass being a star athlete and me being one of the two town police sergeants, it made us prime targets to gossip.
Considering all that, I couldn’t quite grasp what my issue was. Why I felt the need to hide away with Cass and Mikey.
Aware Cass was side-eyeing me, waiting for my response as we headed to his SUV, I offered, “Let’s just get Mikey and head home.”
Half expecting Cass to call me out, I exhaled in relief when he nodded, saying, “Okay. We can do that.”
As he dotted a soft kiss on my temple, my pulse spiked. The gesture was something Cass had done a million times, but with the pounding in my ears and hitch of my breath, any doctor would have been concerned for my health, worried about imminent heart failure.
Me? I wondered why I was behaving so ridiculously.
Stepping away from me—and thank god unaware of my meltdown—Cass headed to the driver door. The locks disengaged. I focused on the click and the sound of Cass opening and closing his door, taking the time to shake myself out of my reaction and the thoughts trying to crawl into my mind.
Not a chance in hell that I’d think back to that kiss. The one following “I do.” The one that made my head spin and left me wondering, What if?
I was not living in a fucking Avengers movie, for Christ’s sake.
Getting myself under control and giving myself a stern “stop being a fucking dramatic dick” talking-to, I tugged open the door, deliberately making eye contact with Cass.
I ignored how he looked at me like I had two heads and instead focused on how much the man at my side was my best friend. Late-night talks, whispered and sometimes hollered conversations, and above all else, love where it mattered. My relationship with Cass was all that and more.
“Now that the hoop’s up, you want to play around when we’ve got Mikey?”
If Cass was surprised by my question after how I’d quietly studied him, he didn’t show it. Instead, a happy smile formed quickly. “Absolutely.”
He put the SUV into Drive and pulled away, heading toward the babysitter’s house.
The closer we got, the more I relaxed.
It was this, hanging out, being with my two favorite people, that helped everything make sense. Playing B-ball, spending time with Mikey, maybe starting up the grill tonight and having a couple of beers—yeah, all my favorite things.