Chapter 16

Cassie

The water streamed down the outside of my bedroom window, and I stared out, watching the clouds moving overhead. It had been raining all night and into the morning, and the ground was soaked through. My father had called the crew off, figuring it would be much too dangerous to be working in those kinds of conditions, what with climbing on slippery wood and standing on rooftops during the lightning. I was sure the guys were happy to have a relaxing, rainy day inside, but I felt like I was going insane. I had woken up thinking I was going to see Scott but then found out that I wasn’t going into work. My father even gave me the day off from the office, telling me I had been working so hard and I deserved some rest. I wanted to rest, but I wanted to do it in Scott’s arms, not in my bedroom at my parents’ house.

I paced the floor back and forth, thinking about the nagging feeling in the back of my mind, like something was wrong. I dismissed it, figuring it was just the rain, the sound of the ominous thunder shuttering overhead, shaking the glass in the windows. I walked over to my nightstand and grabbed my phone. I scrolled through and called Scott.

“Hey, there,” he said on the other end.

“Hi.” I smiled. “I’m glad you’re up.”

“I woke up for work, and when I found out it was canceled, I couldn’t go back to sleep,” he said.

“I was thinking about you,” I said sweetly.

“Oh yeah? I was thinking about you too,” he said.

“Can we see each other?” I asked.

“Yeah, actually. I think we need to see each other,” he replied. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“Okay,” I said, worried now. “I’ll be over there in twenty minutes.”

“Just come in. I’ll unlock the door,” he said. “And drive safely. It is really coming down out there.”

“I will,” I said. “See you soon.”

Immediately I went into panic mode, running around my room trying to find clothes to put on. He didn’t sound like his normal cheery self, and the fact that he said we had things to talk about was even more alarming. I grabbed my raincoat and headed down the hall, pausing at the sound of my father’s voice.

“Cassie,” he said from his office.

“Hey, Dad,” I said, pushing the panic back. “I thought you were at the office.”

“I didn’t want to go out in the storm, so I’m working from home,” he said. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Oh, uh, I’m going out shopping with Whitney,” I said. “She needs a dress for this thing she has coming up, and I figured I would tag along. We haven’t done much shopping this summer.”

“Buy yourself something nice while you’re out,” he said. “And be careful out there. It’s really coming down.”

“Thanks, Daddy. I will.” I smiled and turned to walk from the room.

I shook my head, feeling guilty for always lying, but I had bigger things to think about. On the drive over there, my stomach churned, not knowing what I was going to be walking into. If my father had found out, then he wouldn’t have let me leave like he did. Whatever it was, it had sent me into a tailspin. I pulled up in front of Scott’s little blue house and sat in the car for a minute, my nerves getting worse and worse by the second. I gripped my hands, noticing they were shaking. I had never been this crazy over someone telling me they needed to talk, but then again, I had never felt this way about a man. I was feeling even more nervous than before now that I was at Scott’s place. Part of me wanted to run, didn’t want to hear the bad news, but the other part of me couldn’t even think of bailing at a time like this. I was going to have to face the music, whatever it was, and take things one step at a time.

I looked out the window at the house, seeing the streams of water washing over my passenger window. My mind flew off on its own, thinking about every possible scenario. Maybe Scott had had enough of the sneaking around and wanted to end things. Maybe he had met someone else, someone not so high maintenance, someone he could be in public with, see a future with. Maybe my father had found out and didn’t say anything to me, instead taking all his aggression out on Scott. My mind spun in circles, trying to remain calm but finding more and more scenarios to jar it awake. I needed to calm myself down and go inside and find out whatever it was that was so important. Maybe I was misreading the signs altogether and it was something good. That was doubtful given my track record, though. I could never seem to find a happy place when it came to having a relationship, mostly because they had to be secret.

I really, really liked Scott, and I was falling in love with him fast. It was just the beginning for the two of us. I was sure that in time I would figure out a way to bring our relationship to light and not have my father lose his mind. Until then, though, I wanted to keep what we had intact and growing stronger. Everything had been fine the last time I saw him, or at least as fine as it could be under the circumstances. There was no way he could have changed his mind that quickly. I knew he felt as strongly for me as I did for him, and that in itself was a testament to the fact that what we had was too good and too pure to give up on. No, I had to not give up already. I had to face whatever it was and then put us back together.

Deep breaths filled my lungs as I centered myself. I opened the car door and made a run for his front door. I grabbed the handle and walked in, shaking myself off. Scott looked up from the table and smiled sweetly before walking over and taking my raincoat. I looked into his eyes, shivering slightly from the cold rain, trying to find an answer.

“Okay, what is going on?” I asked. “You sounded like it was something bad on the phone.”

“Come here,” he said, sitting me down in a chair and taking a seat across from me. “So, here is what happened. Every Wednesday night I go out for drinks with my best friend, Landon, so it wasn’t abnormal that I did that last night. When everything first started getting more serious with us, I told Landon about it. I didn’t tell him that we worked together or who you were, but I did tell him your name. He was happy for us.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to figure out when the bad was going to come in.

“Last night he brought a buddy along with him for me to meet, telling me we worked at the same site,” he said. “When his friend walked in, I nearly shit myself. It was Carl.”

“Oh, God,” I said.

“Yeah,” he said, frowning. “Everything was fine. I was behaving myself, and then Landon, not knowing, started to ask me how we were doing. Then, before I could stop him, he said your name.”

“In front of Carl?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I caught up with Carl and tried to convince him that you were not the Cassie we were talking about, but he wasn’t having it. He told me that if we didn’t end things, he was going to go straight to your father and tell him what was going on. I seriously considered killing him right then and there, but I was in a crowded room, and I figured it would only make things worse if you had to tell your dad you were dating a man in prison.”

“Oh, wow,” I said, sitting back in my chair. “Oh, wow.”

“I know,” he said.

“Yeah, this is not good at all,” I replied, shaking my head.

“I’m so sorry.” Scott put his head down.

“No.” I sighed. “This isn’t your fault. It’s not, really. I am the one who feels like I need to hide my own life from my father. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me for getting you into this mess.”

He smiled. “But I like your mess.”

“You know what,” I said, slapping my hand on the table, “I am twenty-four years old. I shouldn’t have to hide my relationships from my father. I should be able to make my own choices without the fear that he is going to retaliate. My father, when he finds out, is going to have to accept it for what it is. I can’t keep allowing him to dictate my life like this. I won’t allow him to dictate yours either. He needs to let me go, let me grow up and make my own choices. I won’t allow him to punish you or me for wanting to be together. This has to stop at some point, and if this is how he finds out, then so be it. My life has never been as beautiful as it has been since I met you. I want to be with you, and I am not willing to let Carl or my father stand in the way of that.”

I got up and walked around the table, kneeling in between his legs. He brushed a piece of wet hair out of my face and smiled at me sweetly. I put my hands in his and leaned up, kissing him deeply. He pulled his arms around me and brought me in closer, breathing deeply as our tongues intertwined. A droplet of water ran down my forehead and onto my nose, transferring onto his sweet skin. This man was everything to me, everything I wanted in my life, and I couldn’t let my father dictate whether or not we could be together. I pulled back and looked into his eyes.

“I want you in my life,” I said. “And I don’t want to let my father interfere with that anymore. He needs to understand that my choices are mine alone. He needs to know that no matter what he thinks, I am going to carve my own path in this life.”

“I know,” Scott whispered, wiping the rain from my cheek.

He pulled me back into him and pressed his lips heavily against mine. Desire and passion burst forward and surrounded us. I stood up and climbed onto his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck and opening my mouth. He slipped his tongue inside, tasting the sweetness of my lips. I turned my body, straddling him and wrapping my legs around him tightly. He ran his hands up my thighs and over my waist, his heart pounding so hard in his chest that I could feel it against my breasts. I pushed my hips down against him, feeling his cock harden slightly between my legs. He pulled back and looked at me strangely for a moment but shook his head and leaned back in, kissing me again.

I felt relieved almost that this had happened, knowing that everything was going to turn out all right in the end. Scott and I were together like I wanted, and I wasn’t going to let Carl or my father stand in the way any longer.