I laughed again and nodded. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I have a collection of murderous impersonators at my back?”
15
***Cash***
Istood outside of Cass’s house, hands shoved into my pockets after knocking. I’d drawn the short straw for making contact. The last thing I wanted to do was be the first one to face Cassidy but we’d built a solid relationship as brothers by sticking to the rules of the straw.
The front door opened and a tall woman dressed in a lot of glittery material with huge blonde hair stepped out of the house. She shut the door behind her and grabbed me by the collar before I knew what was happening. “You listen to me, you little shit. If you make my niece cry again I’ll cut off your dick and make your brothers eat it. Got me?”
I stumbled back when she shoved me away and stared up at her with a mix of awe and horror. She was strong. And hated me. And… She thought we’d made Cassidy cry? I swallowed down everything I wanted to say but a polite, “Yes, ma’am.”
A few seconds later Cassidy stepped outside, face twisted like she was walking to her own death. Once again I felt the sameconflicting feeling I felt each time I saw her or even thought about her. I was angry, protective of Savannah, and…a little lost for words at just how beautiful she was. It wasn’t great.
“Have a great time, honey. Remember what I said last night. One call. That’s all it’d take.”
Cassidy shot a quick smile at her aunt and then rushed past me. “If Elvis comes back over, just text me. Love you, Aunt Jolene.”
“Love you more, doll. I’ll hang a sock on the door. How about that?”
Cassidy was climbing into the truck faster than I could turn away from her aunt. I’d never seen anything like the older woman and I was a little starstruck. And terrified. The look on her face said she meant what she said about cutting my dick off. I nodded to her and rushed to get into the truck behind Cassidy. She was crawling across the seat and her ass was nearly sticking out of the bottom of her jean shorts.
It didn’t take my dick much to get excited about her. He hadn’t gotten the memo that she was awful.
Hayes pulled away from the curb before she could get her seatbelt on and I saw the dirty look she sent the back of his head. She was a contradiction of attitude and behaviors and I wasn’t sure which was real. She’d taken the shit we’d thrown at her the day before like a champ but had been harsh about our house, harsh enough to have the three of us self-conscious enough to try our hand at cleaning. She seemed quiet and sweet one moment and wickedly smart and sharp-tongued the next.
“Are you going to ask where we’re going or do you just get in the truck with men so often that you don’t care?” West was pushing too hard but he’d been more of a dick than ever since the injury.
I saw Cassidy take a deep breath but whatever she’d been trying to do to calm herself down failed. The next minute she’dgrabbed a football from the floorboard and chucked it at his head.
“You can insult me all you want about my actions and the ways I messed up but you’re not going to keep implying that I’m a whore. I slept with one person before going up to your room, asshole. One. Can you say the same? I bet not. I’m pretty sure that everyonebut mein this truck has a body count that would horrify most people so fuck off. Go back to calling me ugly or a bad person but don’t fucking call me a whore again or so help me god I’ll put the tip of that football down your throat.”
West turned in his seat to glare at her. “Oh, no. Are you getting jealous again? Is this how it started with Cole? Are you going to be clinging to us for the next six years now, monitoring our body counts and scaring away every other woman?”
I saw the moment Cassidy shut down. A flash of hurt crossed her face before her gaze went blank and she looked out the window. “Good one.”
West stammered, clearly expecting more fight from her. When she gave none he growled and turned back around. “For fuck’s sake.”
“Can we just call a fucking truce for now?” I didn’t like Cassidy but I wasn’t into making women cry. I didn’t like the way we were reacting to her. “We have to go out in public and pretend to like each other so maybe we just stop going after each other for five seconds?”
West turned back and I could tell he was going to be an asshole again. “Just tell me something. Were you picturing him when I was eating your pussy?”
Hayes swore and I groaned. “West… Jesus.”
Just when I thought Cassidy was going to call her scary aunt to murder us, she met West’s gaze with pain radiating from hers. “No. For the first time in a long time I didn’t think about Cole.I was excited because I felt something for someone other than him.”
The silence that followed her admission was painful. I shifted in my seat, unsure of how to respond. West turned back to the front of the truck and adjusted his hat. Hayes didn’t make a sound.
She turned that pain-filled gaze on me and I watched her bottom lip tremble. “I’m sorry about a lot of things but I can’t apologize for what happened between us because it was real for me. It felt…right.”
My stomach tensed. That was the word I’d used that night. The word that I was pretty sure had sent her running. Had she felt it, too? For real?
“I know better now. None of you have to worry about me falling in love and becoming obsessive. Rest easy. As pathetic as you think I am, I’m only willing to love someone who doesn’t love me back one time in my life.” She shook her head and let out a harsh laugh. “You just missed your chance.”
Hayes parked and the three of us sat there, unsure of how to go forward with the fake date but Cassidy had none of our hesitation. She jumped out of the truck and walked around to the front and stood there with her arms wrapped around herself.
“Hey, West?” Hayes didn’t take his eyes off of Cassidy.
“What?”
