36. Cassandra Walker
Ihovered by the bathroom door as I waited for Theo to finish her shower. She was in there for a long time.
Long enough that I seriously considered picking the lock and barging my way in, though, I somehow felt like that would be a massive invasion of her privacy.
She’d used the guest shower instead of the ensuite in our room, which felt like a strong enough message in and of itself.
After an excruciating amount of time, the water finally turned off, and I wrung my hands together anxiously as I waited for her to come out.
When she finally opened the door, she jumped slightly, clearly surprised to find me standing there, waiting for her like some creepy stalker.
She was rubbing at her wet hair with a towel and was in a clean sports bra with a pair of men’s shorts slung low on her hips, showing off every line of muscle that I’d already explored thoroughly with my lips and tongue.
“Theo…”
Her lips pursed, but she didn’t respond. She just brushed past me, and, to my dismay, made her way toward the guest room.
When she told me she’d moved her boxes out of the main bedroom the night before, I’d been surprised and… disappointed.
I’d told Alyssa to move her into the main bedroom. I hadn’t expected her to want to have her own space.
That was why I had initiated the whole texting fiasco.
It had always been a ploy to coax her into my bed.
A ploy that had been all too easily executed.
I knew Theo was obsessed with me… She hadn’t exactly made it a secret. Long before this arrangement, she’d shamelessly hit on me every chance she got.
But now, I was wondering if maybe I’d taken that for granted.
“Theo, we need to talk about what just happened…” My voice almost sounded desperate as I followed her down the hall and into the guest room.
Her meager belongings were still packed in boxes, and she tossed the towel she’d been using to dry her hair on the bed before digging through the only suitcase she had for a clean t-shirt.
“It’s fine, Cassandra. You think you’re the first person to use me to experiment? I’m just surprised. Figured you would at least want to keep up appearances until after the wedding.”
She tugged her shirt on, then frowned at me, running a hand through her wet hair until it was slicked back against her partially shaved head.
“Unless, that’s off now too? You gonna marry Nolan instead?”
I could tell she was trying to keep the hurt off her face, but I could see it, plain as day.
“I’m not going to marry fucking Nolan, Theo.” I stepped closer to her, but she immediately took a matching step back.
I flinched. Literally flinched.
Desperate to get her to listen to me, I tried again.
“He was here to talk about work.”
Theo gave me an unimpressed look.
“He was here to talk about work,” she parroted back, her tone dull and dry.
“Yes. I swear, I missed a client meeting today, and he was just supposed to come by to update me–”
“Listen, Cass. I know I don’t have a law degree or anything, but I’m not a fucking idiot. There’s a bouquet of roses on the counter. You two were clinging to one another and staring into each other’s eyes like you were about to re-enact a scene from the fucking Notebook.”
“That’s not… It’s not what it looked like!”
Theo rolled her eyes, and another shot of that scary, anxious feeling ripped through my veins as she gave me a look she’d never given me before.
She was looking at me like I disgusted her, and I never wanted to see that look on her face again.
“Whatever. I said it’s fine, Cassandra. It’s not like I didn’t know what this was.
I’m just here to help you make partner, and I’m glad I could help you figure out whatever it was you were trying to explore last night, but maybe we just keep it PG from here on out, yeah?
I’m not really into the idea of fucking you if you’re still taking some dude’s cock on the side. ”
My mouth literally dropped open at her words, and my throat tightened as the blood drained from my face.
I expected her to soften or take it back, but she didn’t. She turned away, dismissing me, and I literally swayed on my feet as she hit me with the final nail in the proverbial coffin.
“Get out, please. I need to get some rest. I’m tired as fuck after that workout and being dragged out of bed at four in the morning for no reason.”