Cassidy
“I can’t let you pick up dinner for me,” Alyssa said, reaching for the check.
I snatched it anyway, keeping it out of her hands. “Last I checked, you only just started working.”
“Yes, and now that I am, I can stop mooching off everyone, including my brother.”
The smallest laugh left my lips. I knew for a fact that she still needed her brother’s help. She might be working at Ellie’s shop to get it up and running, but there was no way she was making enough to pay her rent.
“What was that?” Alyssa asked.
“That was me saying I got this. Trust me, that newfound money is burning a hole in your pocket, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend it. Honestly, this is what friends do for each other.”
“You’ve already helped me so much,” she said, her eyes dropping to the table. “I just…I know I can never repay you for all the kindness you’ve shown me, and I hate that there’s this imbalance between us.”
When I heard the sniffle, I knew I was done for. I couldn’t stand to see another woman cry. I was like a lactating mother. Only, instead of milk seeping out of my chest, I started crying in response. It was a fatal flaw in my DNA.
“Fine,” I grumbled, sliding the check over to her.
When her head popped up with a grin plastered on her face, I scowled. “You sneak!”
“Hey, I do what I have to in order to get by.”
“This one time,” I snapped. “And only because you’re pretty.”
“Why, thank you,” she beamed, pulling out her wallet. “Besides, after these past few years, I need to spend money just this once, knowing it’s all mine.”
“Well, I can understand that, but I still don’t like it.”
“You don’t like anything you don’t have control over.”
My jaw dropped to the table at her words. “Um, excuse me, but I am not a control freak.”
“Uh…yeah, you are,” she laughed. “You never ask anyone for help. Even those cabinets…how long did it take before you let Sam help you?”
“They were bookcases, and it’s not that I wouldn’t let him help me. He stormed in and took over.”
“Yes, like a man.”
“I can do it myself,” I countered.
“And those Christmas lights on the roof…” she said, tapping her chin. “As I recall, that was how you met Sam in the first place. Dangling upside down, wasn’t it?”
I scowled at the know-it-all across from me. “Just because I like doing this on my own doesn’t mean I have control issues.”
“Of course it doesn’t,” she smiled sympathetically. “Although I’m not sure what you would call it then. Obsession? An inherent need to command those around you?”
“I do not command those around me!”
“You just tried to strong-arm me into allowing you to pay for the check!”
“Because I know you need the money!”
“Ah-ha!” she pointed at me. “Control freak!”
The whole thing was ridiculous. I was not a control freak. I could handle someone else dealing with things.
“Look, this whole argument is pointless. I’m single and have no one else to rely on, so it doesn’t matter if I control things because there’s no one there to take over for me.”
“Yeah, and what about Sam?”
“What about him?”
“Well, he’s setting the terms of your relationship. I bet that’s driving you insane,” she smirked.
“That would drive any woman insane.”
Smirking at me, I realized my stupidity in confirming that there was something going on between us. Not that I had to worry about her saying anything. She wasn’t like others in town. She could keep a secret with the best of them.
I shoved back from my seat, ready to head out. Jeff strode over, his eyes raking over my body greedily the way he always used to do.
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the check from Alyssa and shoved it at him. “Stop ogling me and check us out.”
“That’s precisely what I’m doing, Cass.”
The nickname sounded foreign on his lips when Sam had used it so many times before. Only from him, it sent shivers down my spine in a way it never would with Jeff.
“You know what I mean. Stop being a pervert.”
“Hey, you used to love me,” he frowned.
“As in the past,” I reminded him. “And it was puppy love.”
“Hey!”
“Puppies are cute until they grow into full-grown dogs.” I smiled sweetly at him, but he didn’t look any happier about the reference.
“I was desperately in love with you,” he grumbled.
“You were desperately in love with sex. There’s a difference.”
“Yeah, well…”
I smirked at his lack of argument. “The check?”
“Yeah, fine.”
Grumbling, he strode away. I took a moment to thank God that he was back to his normal self and not still lying in that hospital bed, fighting for his life. I may not love Jeff anymore, but he would always hold a special place in my heart.
“Man, you just have them lining up at the door,” Alyssa smirked, tossing her purse over her shoulder.
“Jeff is not lining up. He’s teasing me, which he happens to love to do.”
“Still, what I wouldn’t give for a man to look at me the way they all look at you.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
One was a previous boyfriend, and the other would never commit.
Jeff returned with the receipt, and then we were off.
It was only as I was heading to the door that I noticed the brooding eyes staring at me from across the restaurant.
I tried desperately to ignore them, but the way he was watching me only made me wish he was looking at me like that because he needed me for more than just sex.
Brushing off that thought, I shoved the door open and headed out. I refused to think about Sam anymore tonight.
The cold air smacked me in the face, but I relished the bite on my cheeks. Along with the sting came the harsh reality that I was playing a dangerous game I would never win.
“We should get a movie and—”
A scream tore through the darkness, and as I spun around, my heart pounding wildly in my chest, I found Alyssa in the grips of a man I’d never seen before. With his hand fisted in her hair, he kept her pressed against his body as a knife against her throat.
He took a step back, dragging Alyssa with him just as the door to the restaurant flew open and Sam came rushing out with Jeff hot on his heels.
With a quick glance to make sure I was alright, he turned his attention to the man holding Alyssa.
His whole demeanor changed from tense to downright murderous.
“You thought you could hide?” the man sneered, pressing the knife into her throat. “I found you, bitch. You’re coming home with me.”
Tears poured down Alyssa’s cheeks as she stumbled along with the man, trying to keep from slicing her own neck on the knife. “Will—”
“Shut up!” he hissed.
I took a step back, peering over my shoulder. If I ran hard, I could get to the police station across the street and get help. The man was distracted, barely paying any attention to me.
I caught Jeff’s eye and nodded as he looked in the same direction I just had. With one more step back, I turned on my heel and took off at a sprint across the street.
Bright lights blinded me as tires squealed. My breath hitched in my chest as I realized a car was headed right for me. I dodged back to the sidewalk, but the car followed, its headlights pointed right at me.
I could have sworn I heard my name shouted just as the car made impact and slammed into my hip. Pain shattered my body as I rolled over the hood and crashed into the windshield. My vision swam as I was thrown from the vehicle and hit the pavement with a crushing blow.
And then everything was silent.