“At the risk of scaring you off, I’m here to stay, Cassi. I’m not afraid to skip a thousand steps with you because here,” he says, resting a hand on his chest, “I’m already there. I’ve been here for some long it actually scares the shit out of me because how is it possible that I literally fell in love with someone at first sight?”
The breath is stolen from my lungs as he shakes his head.
“Don’t act surprised. I fought it for as long as I could, and failed miserably, but the truth has always been there. I haven’t even known you for a fucking calendar month and I don’t care. I love you, and I want you with me always. No matter what that means or looks like.”
“Nico,” I whisper hoarsely as emotion overwhelms me.
“You don’t need to say it back, in fact, please don’t. I don’t need it. I just need you to know that I’m here, and you will always have a home with me. Always.”
I practically slam myself against him. We’re inches apart butit’s too far. My lips press against his as he holds me in place. Holy fuck this is crazy. It’s insane, honestly. Love? Impossible. This fast? Under these circumstances? The more I sit with it, though, the better it feels. Don’t get me wrong, I can still completely recognize that this whole thing is absolutely batshit. I just really don’t have it in me to care.
Chapter Twenty Six
Nico
I’m fucking pissed. I was guaranteed that I would have the necklace by Sunday, and now here I am Sunday morning, dropping Cassi off at the airport, sans necklace. I slipped off this morning before she woke up to grab it, and when I arrived, they told me that their courier had been delayed. I was unreasonably pissed off and stormed out of there in a fucking foul mood. A mood that seemed to practically melt away the instant I stepped into the brownstone and smelled Cassi’s perfume in the air.
“I’m sorry again about your surprise being delayed,” I say as I hold her hand in mine in the back of the car.
She looks to me with a sweet smile as she shakes her head.
“And I told you, you don’t need to get me anything. I also wouldn’t have even known there was a surprise to be had if you hadn’t told me, so all of this weird misplaced guilt is on you.”
I let out a sharp laugh at that and kiss the side of her head. True.
“I’ll have it for you the next time I see you. Maybe I can come to Seattle?”
“You do have a fancy jet at your disposal,” she smiles.
“I’ll talk to Virginia and see what she can do about my schedule this week, after I deal with Carly.”
Cassi’s nose wrinkles at that as she looks out the window. Yeah, my sentiments as well. See, it’s not as easy as us just breaking up. We live together, have for a few years now. Our lives are intertwined and just because I don’t want to be with her anymore doesn’t mean I want to leave her out in the cold.
I’ve thought over what I’m going to say and how I’m going to handle things a million times over, but like Cassi said, this will not be going well. At all.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Cassi
Ihated leaving Boston. I swear, each time that I came back to Seattle made me hate it more and more. I felt more displaced, more alone, and no, it’s not just because I haven’t had a full conversation with one of my best friend’s in over two weeks and haven’t spoken to the other since our blow out.
Pulling the hood of my jacket up, I rush towards the building for shelter because of course it’s raining. It’s spring in Seattle, that’s all it does is rain. When I step inside my first class of the day, I find that I’m one of the first people here. Of course, I didn’t beat Naomi. She’s always early to everything. No matter what.
For a moment, I debate on sitting away from her. I mean, we haven’t talked. We haven’t hashed things out. We are most certainly not good. When her eyes meet mine, and she offers me a timid wave, I decide to extend an olive branch.
Hiking my backpack up on my shoulder further, I move through the class before taking a seat beside Nay, leaving an empty seat between us for Ari. I’m extending an olive branch, not lending a whole goddamn tree.
“Hey,” she says first.
“Hey,” I greet before looking down at the paper laid in front of me.
Advanced Photography. Who said this was going to be an easy a? Arianna swears that we did but honestly, I remember her begging and pleading us to take it so we could all have at least one class together. The fact of the matter is, I’m not a fan of photography. That’s Ari’s thing. Naomi is pre-med and me…I’m…me. I’m the drifter of the group, the one that doesn’t know what she wants to have for breakfast let alone what to do with the rest of my life. I started college because it was what I thought was expected me, but now I’m a junior with no declared major and no fucking clue.
Wow, that was a little morose for a Monday morning.
“How was your break?” Naomi asks.
“Fine,” I say as I turn to her. “You?”
