“There’s a little more to it. My ex-buddy is married to my ex-fiancée, and I don’t want you to take my invitation the wrong way.”
“Whoa! Hold the phone. Back up. Rewind. And stop the presses. That was a whole lot of exes for one sentence.” The words the old lady at the watermelon stand had said about Cash needing someone to take care of him were starting to make sense. “Is this what Mrs. G. was talking about?”
“Yeah, she knows Dylan and Chelsea… and the whole story.”
I flash him the timeout signal. “Okay, let’s put the drama on hold for a second and address the elephant on the sidewalk. I thought the only way I was going to get this story out of you was if I won that dumb seed spitting contest.”
“I didn’t say it was theonlyway.” He stopped walking and turned to face me. “You’re my girlfriend now. I’m not going to keep any secrets from you.”
“What? You mean I didn’t have to smash my face into that watermelon?”
“No.”
“I didn’t have to stand next to that melon mangling machine and get sprayed with what I hope and pray was only watermelon juice as he plowed his way through the fruit?”
“In order to hear my tragic backstory? Afraid not.”
“Then why did you goad me into doing it?”
“Because it was fun. And because I knew I could win a dance off you if we did.” He hooked a thumb in his belt loops and shifted his weight to one leg. “There’s more to me than a pretty face, you know.” He tapped his finger to the side of his head. I could only assume he was referring to his conniving brain.
Drat! I wanted to be annoyed at him right then, but how could I? He was looking at me with those big, round eyes after telling me the most important words I’d ever wanted to hear from a man.I’m not going to keep secrets.
After the history I had with the opposite sex, that was huge.
“Okay, you’ll pay for the watermelon debacle later. Right now, I want to hear more of your story.”
“There’s not much to tell. Dylan and I were friends all through high school. We worked together, but apparently, he worked a little closer with the woman I planned on marrying. I found out about them a month before the wedding.”
I gasped. “No!”
“It was too close to the wedding date to get any of the deposits back, so they went through with the wedding with Dylan as the groom instead of the best man.”
I grabbed his arm. “You have to be joking. Tell me you’re joking. They wouldn’t even write something that bad into a cheesy soap opera. Well, maybe a soap opera, but never a prime-time drama.”
“It’s the truth. And it’s why you had to know that since Dylan is one of the judges, Chelsea will probably be there. I even heard a rumor that she’s on the prize committee, too.”
I threw caution to the wind and stepped up to him, throwing my arms around his waist. “I don’t even have words right now. I am so sorry you had to go through that. And doubly sorry you might have to see her at the cookoff.”
He wrapped his arms around me. “It’s all good. It was a year and a half ago. You’re my first dip back into the dating pool.”
I gulped, shocked at this new revelation. That was a lot of weight for me to carry. Mrs. G. wasn’t just blowing smoke. He definitely needed someone to protect his heart, and I hoped I was up to the challenge.
I let go of him and took a step back, searching in vain for pockets to stuff my hands in. Dang these leggings. Didn’t designers know that women sometimes get so nervous they need somewhere to shove their hands to keep them from trembling?
“I appreciate you trusting me with your story,” I said. We started strolling toward our building again. “Don’t worry about things being awkward for me. As far as I’m concerned, those twolove birdscan have all the awkwardness for themselves. They earned every moment of it.”
My hackles were raised. I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to hurt Cash like that. He was sweet, fun, thoughtful, and… had completely cast a spell on me. Goodness, I’d spent too much time over the past two years misjudging him. I made a mental note to kick myself in the drawers as soon as I got home.
“I just didn’t want you to feel like I only asked you to come as a revenge date.”
“Me? A revenge date?” I couldn’t help but laugh at that one. “Trust me, the thought never would have crossed my mind. I’m not the kind of girl that guys date to make their exes jealous.”
“You aresorevenge date material.” He reached out and took my hand, weaving his fingers between mine. “But that’s not what you are to me.”
I looked up at Cash and saw him in a whole new light. He wasn’t the member of a dangerous subspecies of human who went around with nothing better to do than break women’s hearts. He was a human being. Just like me. One capable of being hurt deeply.
I suddenly wanted to wrap my arms around him again and promise to keep his heart safe forever—or at least until the end of the summer. Guilt shot through my gut. He was sharing deep things right off the bat. People didn’t do that unless they were serious about a relationship. I had the sneaking suspicion that he was looking for something deeper than I was.
