Shay grabs her bag and stands. “I should go.”
“Wait.” I ignore the landline and stand too. “Please don’t go.”
“I have to, Cade. We can’t do this.” She takes a step back, as if putting distance between us will make this any easier. “We’ve got no wiggle room for regrets.”
My fists ball up. Not out of anger, but to keep from reaching out for her. “I wouldn’t regret a thing that happened between us. Ever.”
Her frame falters, swaying slightly as she shakes off my honesty. “Take the call. And congrats. You deserve it more than anybody.”
The landline goes quiet as she turns to go. The twist of pain in my gut sharpens as the door clicks shut, but I spot a delicate piece of pink on the ground. I make my way to the door and grab the sticky note.
I’m so proud of you. Big things are coming
I clutch the piece of paper to my chest and stare at the door.
Wanting my agent is dumb, but I couldn’t stop if I tried.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Shay and Cade sittingin a tree. K. I. S. S—”
I slam the volume button on my phone down, cutting off my best friend’s childish song. Having Mallory on speaker is always a risk, but it’s even riskier when I’m at work. Thankfully, my office is sequestered from everyone else’s.
“Mallory Ella Edwards,” I hiss, shifting the phone to my ear. “If I wanted to be teased, I would’ve called Adri. And we didn’t kiss!”
Had it not been for that terrifying landline that broke the spell, I don’t know if I could’ve stopped myself from letting it happen.
No matter how hard I tried, kissing Cade isn’t something I’ve been able to purge from my memory. It’s etched into my brain so deeply that only a lobotomy might dislodge it. The way his hands would alternate between holding my face so gently, then gripping my sides, like he couldn’t decide whether to worship me or consume me. He kissed the way he plays baseball: intense, calculated, and full of passion.
One kiss might have killed me.
“Are you okay?” she asks, all traces of humor gone.
I sigh. “I don’t know.”
“Want to talk about it?”
She’s already heard all about it. Mallory stood beside me when Cade didn’t come home, letting me rant and cry for as long as I needed to. She never rushed my sadness, and for that, I’m thankful.
Still, my next meeting isn’t for an hour and a half.
“Right before we leaned in, I accidentally let it slip that I loved him back when we were together, even though we never said the words. I think that’s what charged the moment up.”
“Ouch,” she hisses. “What was the context?”
It’s not my place to tell her about what Cade’s going through. I know they’re best friends, but I’ll honor our client-agent confidentiality with my life.
“Not important. All that matters is that we aren’t allowed to hang out by ourselves. Public outings and group hangouts only from here on out, because I apparently lack self-control.”
She scoffs. “You’re being dramatic.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” I joke, nibbling on my bloody finger.
“True, but ifI’mtelling you you’re overreacting, you’re probably overreacting. Hold on, Shay.” Children’s voices fill the line, which is to be expected, since Mallory’s at the diabetes camp she co-manages every summer. Once free of the chaos, she yawns. “Is there a chance you want to be with Cade again?”
I flop into my chair. “It doesn’t matter, Mally. My job is the only thing that actually does. I’ll never be able to control a heart or if a relationship works out, but I can control what I do to move up and earn the respect of my colleagues.”
“Shay.” Her voice hits that sweet spot between careful concern and fierce protectiveness. “I love that you love your job, but careers are just as out of your control as a heart is. You’ve done everything you can to be the best agent, and they still treat you like shit.” As if she can see me wince, she softens her tone. “I’m sorry, but it pisses me off everytime you get ignored by those assholes. You’re constantly giving the job your everything, making sure your clients are happy, taken care of, and feel safe and cared for. And that’s not even getting into your actual job duties. The meetings, the calls, the late nights, the early mornings. Your contracts are rock solid, and I’d be scared to negotiate with you. As your best friend, my number one job is to make sure you know how valuable you are. So, I won’t stop telling you that you deserve better from them. And I also won’t stop reminding you that you deserve happiness too.Outsideof work.”
