Chapter Five
MEREDITH
Oh God. This evening hadn't gone at all how I thought it would. The way he’d slipped into the seat next to me at the dinner still boggled my mind.
How could anyone be so daring? He acted as if the world was his to spin whichever way he wanted.
Though his overprotectiveness when he insisted to walk with me was sexy as hell.
As I was about to slip my phone into my purse, I noticed Everly texted me.
Everly: Hey, call me when you're home. I'm up with heartburn again.
I made a split-second decision. Her house was on the way to my apartment. I could stop by for ten or twenty minutes.
I cleared my throat. “I'd like to change my address."
The driver looked at me in the rearview mirror, clearly displeased. I wasn't his favorite person tonight after having made him wait while saying goodbye to Cade, that was for sure.
"Ma'am," he said lazily, "you can't change the address. You already put it in the app."
"Please? I need to drop by somewhere first."
He huffed again, clearly annoyed. “Fine. Where do you want to go?"
I gave him my sister's address. At the same time, I texted Everly.
Meredith: I'll do one better. I'll stop by.
Everly: Oh, sister time. Good. Derek is sleeping.
It was only nine o'clock in the evening, but Derek worked in construction, so he always woke up early. I arrived at my sister's house fifteen minutes later. She was sprawled on her couch, watching The Vampire Diaries again. It was one of her guilty pleasures.
"Season three, I see."
"Yeah, it's my favorite."
It was mine as well. She was eating one of the muffins I'd bought her today. I sat at the foot of the couch and started massaging her feet.
"I'm also looking at cheap moving companies for our parents," she told me.
"No way. I told you I’m handling that."
"But I can help. I feel so useless all the time."
"Don't even think about it. I’m handling everything with Mom and Dad. You need to relax and take care of my niece.”
Our parents had had a few rough years. After losing their business, they couldn’t make their payments on the house, which was why they had to sell it.
A large portion of the money they made from the sale went into settling the debts from their business.
I was helping them with the rent for the new house until they could get back on their feet.
“But you’ve got a lot on your plate with the new job.”
“I'm warning you, Everly, or I'm taking all these goodies back."
The last thing I wanted was for my sister to worry about anything.
She'd had some absolutely shitty years with fertility treatments, and now she was finally looking forward to some peace and quiet, enjoying the time with her baby.
I hadn't been able to do anything for her these past few years, but I could help my parents. Even though Everly was the older sister, I was used to handling everything, and I didn’t mind in the least. I had this covered.
"Huh? You can't," she said.
"These things are really good," I said, munching on a muffin. It went way beyond not using sugar. They also didn’t use wheat flour. I had no idea what the ingredients were, but it was delicious.
"How were things with Cade tonight?"
"Outlandish. I feel like I'm different around him."
She giggled. "Yeah, it was like that in school too."
"I know, right? I was trying to be a completely different person for him, and yet he never saw me as more than his dork friend when we were young. But now it’s different. I’m constantly teasing and challenging him. Fighting, even.”
My sister yawned. Her eyes were sleepy.
“Why did you let me come over if you’re that tired?” I asked her.
“I’m always tired. I fall asleep everywhere these days. Just stay with me and watch this episode.”
I sighed. “I never can say no to The Vampire Diaries.”
“And you can tell me more about Cade.”
“I still have to wrap my mind around this evening, to be honest. Besides, he’s a competitor, so I’ve got to be careful.”
My sister gestured as if she were zipping her lips. "Okay, I promise not to say anything more until you give me the green light."
"That's unlike you."
"I know, but I've decided to have mercy on you tonight."
We cuddled on the couch like we did as kids. She fell asleep before the episode even ended. I tiptoed around her, covering her up with a blanket that had a pumpkin pattern on it. My sister loved the fall season as much as I did.
I requested an Uber and arrived in front of my building fifteen minutes later. The tips of my ears were ice-cold from the moment I stepped out of the car until I entered the front door. The cold was a big minus of the cozy months.
I put my palms over my ears, warming them up after I pressed the button for the elevator. I wasn’t in the mood for stairs, even though this was the slowest elevator in the world. It always took forever to arrive, but tonight took the cake.
When the doors dinged, my phone vibrated in my purse. I rummaged in my bag but only found it when I was in the elevator. Of course, I lost my signal as the doors closed. Taking it out, I glanced at the screen. My stomach somersaulted. I had a missed call from a number I didn’t have saved.
Oh God. What if something happened to my parents? Or sister?
Don’t panic, Meredith. You have all their numbers.
But what if it’s a paramedic or something?
The second I stepped inside my apartment, I intended to call back, but my phone vibrated. The same number was calling.
I pressed the green button to answer, drawing in a sharp breath as I brought the phone to my ear.
“Hello?” I was sure I sounded panicked.
"Good evening, Meredith."
It was Cade. Relief raced through my body. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten myself so worked up. But how did he get my number?
“Cade. It’s you. So this was your master plan? Bribe your way into getting my phone number?"
"Of course. I actually thought I’d only find your email, but the organizers had your phone number too. You still haven't told me what you've been up to all these years."
"Why would you even want to know?"
"I just do.”
I had no idea what to say to that.
“Cade?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re competitors."
"I know that. There's no clause saying we can't fraternize. Hell, they held an event for that."
"You’ve checked the clauses? I thought you didn't care about rules."
"I don't want to mess this up for either of us."
I respected him for that.
“I just got home. Let me take off my coat.”
“Only now? Did the car break down or something?”
That alpha tone was coming through again. My pulse sped up, and my mouth went dry. I loved this about him.
“No, I stopped by my sister’s house,” I replied, awkwardly holding the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I took off my coat, hanging it up before taking off my shoes. I tiptoed into the living room. My heart rate accelerated just from hearing his voice on the phone.
"How is Everly?" he asked.
"She's pregnant and excited for the baby.”
“Congratulations.”
“She also has gestational diabetes, so I had to find a special bakery to make sugar-free sweets." I had no idea why I told him that. It was Everly's private health matter, after all.
"You always went above and beyond for your sister. I remember that."
"Of course. She's my sister. I always look after her. You were close to your brothers too. Is that still true?"
"Yeah. Especially with Spencer."
I grinned for no reason. "The terrible duo. Jeannie always said you weren't just responsible for her gray hair but also for that of every one of your teachers, and that your mother’s was probably going to turn white before she hit fifty. How is your mom?”
I walked straight into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of my mattress.
There was a long pause, and then his voice sounded completely different when he answered. "She passed away."
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry." I stood straighter, suddenly feeling like I had a huge weight pressing on my heart. "Recently? God, she was so young."
"No. She got sick right around when I changed schools."
His words felt like a shock to me. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I was too busy breaking into the school lab. My family was too busy keeping me out of juvie. I don’t know. I guess I just didn't want anyone to know."
"I'm so sorry." I felt like utter shit. I always prided myself in saying that I'd been his friend, yet I hadn’t known his mother was sick.
"It happened a long time ago, Meredith."
“Losing a parent, is always hard.”
The abrupt change of schools made more sense now. Suddenly I wanted to know what he’d been doing these past few years too.
I yawned and quickly covered it with my palm. "Sorry," I said, smiling sheepishly even though he couldn't see me. "I had a long day."
"Then I won't keep you any longer."
"Oh." I was disappointed. "Giving up so soon?
" I hoped my voice sounded teasing and not needy.
I was all over the place tonight, and I wasn't used to it. I liked to think I was in control of things in all areas of my life: my work, my personal life, my parents’ financial situation—just everything.
But where Cade was concerned, the opposite was true. The man rattled me.
"No. But catching up on all the years in between is going to take a long time. Unless you want to make this a sleepless night?"
The thought was exciting. I considered it for a brief second before shaking myself out of it. Meredith, you're already losing your mind.
I lay down on the bed without slipping under the covers, simply putting my duvet over me.
“Nope. Still sounds like giving up to me,” I teased.
"Not at all. I have your number now, remember? I can use it any time I want."
"I bet you will." Time to end this call before I combust. "Good night, Cade."
"Good night."