My throat felt tight. She had a full goddamn list about all the things she actually liked about me that weren’t just about how good I fucked her, but the actual, real parts of myself I’d always worried weren’t enough. The quiet kindness, the showing up, the trying to make things better wherever I could, since no one had ever really done that for me.
She saw it. She sawme.
I dragged my hand through my hair, trying to figure out how to say what I was feeling. “Wow,” I whispered instead, unable tofight the smile tugging at my lips. “Sounds like you might have a crush on me, Stella.”
She bit her lip, her eyes dropping for a second before lifting to meet mine again. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “It sounds like I do.”
For a moment, neither of us said anything. The weight of what we’d just admitted to one another hung between us, fragile and precious.
“So,” I said finally. “Now what?”
She scooted onto her back and rolled onto her side, her head nestled against the crook of her free arm. “I think … I think we should see if this could actually be something. Take it one day at a time.”
“Okay.” It was the easiest thing I’d ever agreed to.
“But we can’t tell Colin,” she added quickly. “Not yet. Not until we know for sure.”
I winced. “So about that …”
Her eyes widened dramatically. “Cade. What did you do?”
“It’s not what you think,” I rushed to assure her, settling down onto my mattress and mirroring her pose. “But I drove Colin home, and he wouldn’t shut up about what happened. He was all like, ‘Hey, now that my sister knows you had the hots for her, do you think it’s going to be weird?’ Then, he got this really exaggerated frown on his face and exclaimed, ‘Oh shit! What if she winds up falling for you now that she knows? You better not break her heart!’”
“Oh my god,” she groaned. “I love my brother dearly, but that man sometimes acts like he’s not playing with a full deck. What he knows about actual heartbreak could fit on a stamp.”
I shifted the phone to get more comfortable, pulling my blanket up higher. “He’s a good guy. We both know that. But he’s also got this massive blind spot when it comes to things he doesn’t want to see. Willful ignorance, I guess you’d call it.” Ithought about all the times Colin had waxed poetic about love, about finding The One, about how he knew exactly who he was meant to be with. “He’s so gung-ho about theideaof love, but sometimes I think he doesn’t really understand what that actually looks like.”
“You think he’s wrong about Cassidy?” she asked, her brows furrowed.
I shrugged, even though Stella probably couldn’t see me well through the screen. “I think he’s built up this idea of who he’s supposed to be with, but I worry the reality won’t match up. I’ve tried to warn him, but …” I let out a sigh. “But that's his journey to figure out, I guess.”
She hummed in agreement, tucking the blanket tighter around her legs. “Well, at least he’s thinking about your happiness. That’s something.”
“Yours too,” I reminded her.
She rolled onto her back, holding the phone above her face. “And did you promise not to hurt me?”
I pressed my free hand to my chest, right over my heart, even though it probably looked dramatic as hell on camera. “I said I’d rather cut out my own tongue than hurt you, Stella.”
Her expression softened. “Cade.”
“I mean it,” I said. “Whatever you need from me to feel safe, to feel comfortable and supported in this, I’ll do it. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to treat you like those other men have.”
She stared at me for a long moment, and I watched something shift in her face. Like she was letting herself believe me, even if just a little.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“Okay?”
“Yeah. Let’s do this. For real. You and me, Murphy, against the world.”
I grinned so hard my face hurt. “What about if it was just me against you?” I waggled my brows suggestively.
“Don’t make me regret this, Cade,” she teased.
“I won’t,” I promised. “You’re stuck with me now.”
She rolled her eyes, but I caught the way her teeth sank into her bottom lip, trying to hide a smile. “Lucky me,” she said dryly, but her voice was warm.
