26. Cassie
CASSIE
I’ve spent a lot of my life in the sea, or on the beach next to my house.
I bought my house specifically to be next to the ocean, but I’ve never had as much fun as I did today.
Even walking back up the endless steep steps to the parking lot was full of laughter and gentle banter.
The heat hasn’t dissipated at all and a shirtless Robbie with Sammy clinging to his back as he hiked up the hill didn’t even break a sweat. He put us all to shame.
The best day turned into the best evening, with a light dinner on the patio followed by a very thorough dance rehearsal with Ffion where I gave her a crash course in the choreography I used on my latest tour. Minus the ass shaking, of course.
The kids went to bed earlier than us, exhausted from the day spent playing and learning the same choreography over and over and over again. Robbie’s parents were soon to follow, and I headed back to Robbie’s room for the night, but he’s been officially relegated to the sofa in the living room.
I’ve spent the hours since I’ve climbed into Robbie’s bed tossing and turning. Logically, I know he hasn’t slept in this bed for months. We arrived here together yesterday, after all. But I can’t help burrowing my nose in the pillow, desperate to catch any lingering trace of his scent.
Gwen, my savior, had her husband divert their car to a local store, and she picked me up some extra clothes, including the tiniest set of pajama shorts and tank top that I’ve never been more thankful for because apparently the Devil himself has opened up hell right underneath Robbie’s family home.
I’ve been to many places in my life with hot temperatures, double what we’re at now, but significantly those places had air conditioning.
Sleep tries to drag me back under, but I shuffle to the end of the bed, the electric fan slightly too far away.
I lean on my hands, half of my body hanging off the end of the bed, and try to pull the chair it’s sitting on closer to me.
Stretching my fingers, I manage to grab the leg and shuffle it across the carpet.
Sweet, blissful air hits me, and I lie back on the pillows with a sigh. It’s not a top of the line air con, perfectly tempering the room, but with the slight breeze from the open window and the cool air from the fan, it should be just enough to help me drift back to sleep.
Or not.
Almost ready to give up, I grab my glass from the bedside table and drain the last of my water.
Thirst tightens my throat, and I let my head hover in the cool air for a few seconds before I swing my legs out of the bed. I’ve already thrown the duvet to the floor, a single sheet the only thing I can handle on my bare legs.
The Brits were not joking when they said humidity here is like waiting in the pits of hell for judgement. No amount of open windows or plastic fans compensates for thick walls and insulated buildings.
I slowly peel the bedroom door open, my bare feet silent on the carpet as I creep downstairs. Somehow, it’s even hotter down here than it is upstairs. I didn’t think that was possible. Heat rises!
The sitting room door is ajar, and I can’t resist slowing as I pass, barely making out the sight of Robbie’s bare back asleep on the sofa. The windows are open, moonlight bathing the room in a silver glow.
Flushing from more than the heat, I creep past the door. The under counter lights in the kitchen are just enough for me to see by as I run the cold tap. I let my hands rest under the stream for a few seconds, basking in the cool relief spreading across my veins.
“Cassie?”
“Jesus.” I jump almost a half a mile, the water I was cupping in my hands splashing against the front of my pajamas. “I thought you were asleep.”
Robbie pads towards me, clad only in black boxer briefs that leave nothing to the imagination. I dry my hands on a towel and refill my glass. I gulp it down quickly, desperate to soothe the flush that’s taken over my whole body.
It’s just the temperature, I reassure myself.
I tug at my pajamas, the soaked material sticking to my stomach. I pull it away from my skin to dry before glancing up.
“It’s like an oven up there.”
Robbie runs his hand through his hair with a sigh. “It’s the same down here. There’s barely a breeze.”
“What about your fan?”
“Cut out a few hours ago.” He shrugs. “I’ve just been been rawdogging it in there.”
My eyes widen. This heat without a fan? He’ll literally boil alive. “You can have mine,” I tell him, even as my heart drops at the thought of facing that oven again.
He shakes his head with a smirk. “I’m not taking your fan, trouble.”
That nickname again. Every time he says it, it’s like an electric shock to the butterflies that live in my gut.
Shaking it off, I tug at my vest again, pulling it away from my sticky skin. It’s only when I look down that I realize I’ve tugged it enough to expose my breasts, my nipples hard despite the scorching heat. His eyes are dark in the dim light, and although he glances away quickly, I know he saw.
My thighs clench together as I straighten my top.
“I’ll uh…” I brush the stray curl that’s escaped from my bun away from my face. “I’ll bring it down.”
“Cassie.” Robbie stops me with a loose hand on my wrist and sparks erupt along my arm. “There’s no need for us both to be roasting. You keep it.”
“Come upstairs, then,” my mouth says before my brain can catch up.
His chocolate eyes flick to mine, his tongue flicking against his bottom lip. “What?”
I swallow, unable to tear my gaze away from his lips.
“I just mean—” I blink, stepping away from him, his hand slowly dropping from mine. “You can sleep on the floor. I feel bad enough for taking you away from your bed, the least I can do is share some of that sweet, sweet cool air.”
His eyes stay locked on mine as he nods. The moment feels electric, adrenaline buzzing underneath my skin.
“Okay,” he says.
I turn and head back towards the stairs. Robbie ducks back into the sitting room, and I’m glad. I don’t know what I would have done if he followed me up the stairs, my ass in these tiny pajamas waving in his face with every step.
My skin is already flushed, sweat beading behind my neck and at the base of my spine, but the unmistakable wetness between my thighs is proof that this is a terrible idea.
I should go back down and tell him I changed my mind, but I keep the door ajar as I climb back into bed.
From my vantage point, I can just about make out his shadow in the hallway as he climbs the stairs.
He pauses at the top for a few seconds, and I hold my breath.
He’s going to turn around. He’ll realize this is a terrible idea, and we’ll forget it ever happened.
But then the door slowly opens, and Robbie stands there, a pillow under one arm and his sports shorts back on his hips.
I briefly mourn the loss of his tight boxers, but his shorts are so short they’re basically covering the same surface area, gently curving around his muscular thighs and dragging my gaze to the one place I should not be looking.
I sit up in bed and focus on angling the fan towards the floor where I assume he’ll be pitching up.
Silently, he drops to his knees at the foot of the bed, and I turn my attention to the thin sheet covering my body as I cross my legs, a wave of arousal pooling between my thighs.
I inhale a shaky breath between my parted lips, willing my body to cool down. I’m burning up and not just from the heat in the room.
“Goodnight,” Robbie says through the darkness. I can only just make out the line of his shoulders at the bottom of the bed, bathed in moonlight through the half-opened curtains.
“Goodnight,” I reply. I tug the sheet higher up my body, trying to ignore the man less than two feet away from me.
I close my eyes and try to quiet my mind. Think sleepy thoughts, Cassie. Sleepy thoughts, sleepy thoughts…Did he look at my boobs earlier? He must have. I accidentally flashed him. Why did he put his shorts on?
Stop thinking! Sleepy thoughts, sleepy thoughts.
Was that a creak? Is he getting up? Is he moving?
What if he climbs in beside me?
My heart leaps at the thought. He could slide the cover down, so, so slowly. Baring me to him. He could run his fingers across my flushed skin, drifting further and further down.
Another creak followed by a groan causes my eyes to snap open. Before I can think twice, I’ve raised onto my elbows. Robbie is shifting in place. The carpet in this room is thin, and all he has is a pillow and a thin sheet.
“Robbie,” I whisper.
“Hmm?” he replies, his voice thick and sleepy.
“Are you comfortable?”
A pause. “Yes,” he says in a tone that proves he’s anything but.
I shuffle to the right side of the bed. “Get in.”
I don’t dare look at him. I can’t bear the thought of him rejecting me again.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “I don’t move much in my sleep. You won’t even know I’m here.”
I can hear him as he slowly climbs to his feet. “That’s not what I’m worried about, trouble.”
I let my eyes flutter shut and take an even breath. It’s fine. I can lie here and not touch him.
The sheet gently pulls away from my body as Robbie climbs in beside me, his weight making the bed tilt.
I could almost roll over, gravity pulling me towards him.
I freeze for a few seconds as he settles, the mattress bouncing slightly underneath us, and the whirr of the fan is the only noise apart from the heart pounding in my chest that I’m pretty sure he can hear.
“Goodnight,” he repeats in a whisper.
“Goodnight.” I turn to my side, finally able to let sleep pull me under.