Four. Three. Two.
Adri will set me up with guys while Jo denies them as a good match.
One.
The door clicks shut behind me, and I open my eyes. The feeling of safety doesn’t last long when I spot the wordsCade Owensscribbled on my notepad.
Not a dream. This is my worst nightmare.
I glance over my shoulder and search for shadows under the door. Andy and Trevor might be lurking and waiting to overhear some juicy gossip.
“They’re gone,” Cade assures me. “No shadows.”
“Get out of my head,” I snap. Bringing my thumb to my mouth, I chew the skin until it’s raw. “You told Trevor we have history?”
He shakes his head, a firm and resounding no. “Absolutely not. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“I have no clue what you would do to me, Cade,” I volley back. “I don’t know you anymore. I’m not sure if I ever did.”
Regret leaches into me when his broad shoulders slump forward and his head falls, but I’m angry. Hurt I didn’t know I still held sits heavily on my chest, and I can’t stomp out the flames right now.
“You’re right,” he says. “I met Trevor, and he reminded me of—” Stopping abruptly, he looks up at me. “It doesn’t matter why I did it. I shouldn’t have said that to him. I’m sorry, Shay baby.”
As if the heater turns on, warmth spreads through me at the nickname. Still, the ice around my heart remains frozen. No amount of nostalgia or reminders that he once was my favorite person can fix this.
I’ve done so much to be taken seriously here, and for what? For my former friend-with-benefits to waltz in and request to work with me? No wonder Trevor looked like he was going to keel over.
“They’re going to think I got the job because I slept with you.”
A slow grin tugs at his mouth. “You have slept with me more times than I can count, but that’s not why I want you to be my agent.”
“Cade,” I warn him, desperate to get away from the topic of us in bed. And in the car. And on the couch. And kitchen counters. My anger burns hot, but the memories are still sweet. “Because I’m a woman and you’re an attractive, talented athlete, that’ll be the assumption.”
“Well, that’s stupid.Theyare stupid.”
“Stupid or not, it’s my reality.”
I never got to tell him how angry I was when things ended. Maybe this is my chance. I’ll have to whisper-scream, but that’ll do.
“You’re right.” The tenderness in his voice makes all the fight leave my body. “I didn’t think about that. I’m sorry.”
Cade stands and rounds the table, closing the space between us in long steps. He’s bigger than he was when he left Clear Lake. More solid, filling his six-foot-five frame divinely with hard muscle and a soft spirit. My nose catches a faint whiff of mint when he leans in.
“You still bite your fingers when you’re stressed.” Pressing his hand against the table in front of me, he smiles. “I missed that about you. I’m glad not everything has changed.”
I start to speak, but he’s already walking away.
My breath hitches when I spot three Hello Kitty Band-Aids in front of me. In college, he carried these everywhere for his little sister, and he became my personal first aid kit.
There isn’t much time to figure out what I’m going to do. If I say no, they’ll—Trevor—will assume we had a thing. If I say yes, I’ll be on Trevor’s shit list for the rest of time.
There’s no winning this game for me.
“What are the odds?” he asks.
I rip open the bandage with my teeth. “What?”
“What are the odds you’ll be my agent?”
