“Six months?” Cade reflected, wrapping his arm around my waist as we turned to walk from the train station. “It doesn’t feel like that long. But at the same time, it feels like much longer.”
“I know what you mean,” I chuckled. “Feels like we’ve always been this way.”
“I can’t believe we’re still together,” Cade sighed happily.
“Hey!” I held him away from my side for a second so I could look into his face. “What do you mean by that?”
“I didn’t think this was going to be a thing outside of that cabin,” he said, chuckling at my shocked expression. “You were straight, after all.”
“I was never straight,” I corrected him, slinging my arm around his neck again as we walked. “I just didn’t know it.”
“Right,” he nodded. “And now you’ve had a boyfriend for six whole months. How’s that feel?”
I kissed him on top of his head again. He was the perfect height for that. “Amazing,” I said.
“Even though I’m a massive inconvenience to your life?”
I laughed. “I wouldn’t say massive.”
“Really? You don’t think it’s a massive inconvenience that we can only see each other on weekends and during breaks, and that one of us has to do a huge train journey in order to get to the other one?” Cade cocked his head to the side. “Hmm – could that maybe be because you’re not the one who has to travel?”
I ducked my head a little sheepishly. “It’s not my fault I have practice.”
“You literally chose to join the football team,” Cade said.
“Well…” I trailed off, having run out of excuses. “Hey, do you wanna go see a movie tonight?”
“Smooth transition,” Cade teased me. “Yeah, okay.”
We were getting closer to the campus. It was only a block or so from the train station – useful for all the students who had to travel from outside of town or even out of state to come to college here in Crowhill Cove. I shifted my stance and reached down to hold Cade’s hand. It was something I had insisted on right from the start. I wasn’t hiding who I was or who I was with. Holding hands, kissing, hugging – these were all things I would do with any girlfriend in public, so the same applied to Cade.
“I heard from Brody this week,” Cade said, a change of tone that had me instantly on edge. I gripped his hand harder.
“What did that fucker want?” I growled, instantly on the alert. Did someone need punching again? Because I was only too happy to oblige.
“He wanted to apologize, actually,” Cade said. “I saw him around your campus a couple of times when I came to watch your games, but this was the first time he dared to contact me since the avalanche. He told me he knew he’d been an asshole.”
“Understatement of the year,” I snorted.
“He said he’s seeing a therapist,” Cade carried on as if I hadn’t said anything. “I think he’s been lonely. A lot of people cut him off when the whole story came out. He knows I’m with you and he doesn’t want to try to convince me to take him back. He’s just trying to right his past wrongs by apologizing to people he was bad to, and he says he treated me worst of all.”
“He’s got that damn right,” I huffed. I wasn’t happy with the idea of the two of them talking – what if Brody was just gearing up to hurt Cade again?
“Anyway, I forgave him. It’s a lot of weight off my shoulders, really.” Cade sighed happily again. I liked that sound. I just preferred it when I was the reason behind it, not his ex. “I just wanted you to know because we’ll probably end up hanging out together again. We used to hang out with the same people when I was coming to Crowhill Cove College to watch Caleb, and I still hang with them when you’re playing. If they forgive him, too, then we’ll be back to how it was before we even got together. I just want you to know you have nothing to be jealous about.”
“Well, thanks for telling me,” I said. Cade could have kept it from me to avoid any conflict, after all. Still. The thought of Brody being near him again hung like a stone in my chest. “Maybe his therapist can help him find someone else to treat right this time.”
“Hey,” Cade said, stopping in the middle of the street. We were right about to walk onto the campus. What was he doing?
I turned to face him. “What?” I asked with a frown.
He stood on the balls of his feet, reaching up to kiss me and winding his hands around my neck. “That’s what,” he said when he broke contact, looking deep into my eyes. “I’m not interested in him anymore. It’s you I love.”
“L…” I stared at him. “Love?”
His face went bright pink, but he nodded with a smile. “That’s what I said.”
I blinked a few times, stunned to hear him say it. But there was never any question. The answer was obvious. “I love you too, Red.”
