"Oh my God. This is not a thing. This is just Max Butcher.”
My brows pull together. "And that's why I didn’t tell you?—”
"Because I would tell you the truth."
"No. Because you’re not always right. This is athing.It might just be a kind of friendship, but it's definitely still a thing."
She shakes her head slowly. "Please tell me you aren’t in love with him."
"Okay," I state. "I'm not in love with him."
"Don’t lie to me. I know you are."
"You just told me to tell you I wasn't!"
"I can see it on your little blushing face. I just never thought—" She reaches for the words. "He would?—"
"What?" My jaw tightens. "You didn’t think he would want me?”
"God no! What? He's been fucking you with his eyessince your party. I just thought he'd care enough not to fuck with your emotions.”
"He isn’t." I take a big breath. "He made it clear."
"He just isn’t emotionally available, Cassidy. As much as you think he might be, he isn’t.”
"Thank you for the insight.”
"Cassidy, you don’t know Max like I do. You haven’t seen the things I've seen. He has zero respect for the girls he fucks."
"You don't know anything about Max. Trust me when I say, you're the one who doesn’t know him likeIdo."
"It sounds to me like you two are discussing Max's personal life. Is that right?" We turn to see Stacey standing staunchly in the hallway, both of her hands clutching plastic bags.
Flick glances sideways. "It's Cassidy's personal life as well."
"Leave it, Flick." Stacey walks slowly over to us and places the bags of groceries on the table. "If Max finds out you’ve been talking to Cassidy about him and their relationship, he won’t be happy.”
She folds her arms across her chest. "Well, I don't really care if he's not happy about it."
I murmur under my breath, “Please, continue talking as if I'm not here."
Stacey lowers her voice. “Felicity, be very careful. If Max wants Cassidy, then let him have her. Leave it alone. If you get involved in his personal business, you'll regret it.”
"Cassidy is my business," Flick states.
Stacey rolls her eyes to the sky. "Not anymore, she's not. She's his. That's how it works in his world."
I jump up and my chair slides backwards. “You knowwhat, I have to get some sleep. I have a performance tomorrow. Have fun discussing my life.”
“Cassidy, I just worry about you." Flick follows me down towards the bedrooms. "Max isn’t right for you. Max isn’t right for anyone.”
"Oh my God," Stacey growls. "I'm leaving before I hear anymore." The door swings open and then shuts with a bang.
I swivel to face Flick. "You sound just like Konnor. Max isn’t the person everyone thinks he is." I pause for a moment and we both collect our thoughts before I continue. "He's complex and unassumingly intelligent and funny and... He has these sporadic moments of being so tender and considerate."
She smiles. "You love him."
I swallow past a knot in my throat. "I don’t know how I feel. Can we not label it?"
