“I love him,” I whispered to myself as my heart fluttered in my chest to the same rhythm as the butterflies in my stomach.
Lake:You’d have to get up too early.
Cage:You still haven’t answered my question.
Lake:The sun won’t be up.
Cage:And???
I trapped my lips between my teeth and took a deep breath.
Lake:I’d love for you to take me to the airport.
Cage:Time?
Lake:My flight leaves at 10:05 so you’ll need to be here by 7:30.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE KISS
CAGE
Icouldn’t containmy laughter. She thought 7:30 a.m. was early.
“Something funny?” Kevin, my massage therapist, asked as he kneaded the hell out of my calves.
“Yeah. I’m taking a friend to the airport in the morning, and she thinks it’s still dark out at 7:30. I wonder what time she normally wakes up.”
“Friend? A she?”
“Officially, yes.Sheis a friend.”
“Unofficially?”
I stared at my phone screen. “Unofficially, I can’t stop thinking about her. I met her right after my dad died. It was just one day, but she made one hell of an impression on me. I saw her at Banks’s birthday party. She lives in the apartment across from his and… I don’t know.” I shook my head.
Cage:How do you like your coffee?
Lake:I like it as tea, honey– no milk.
Cage:See you in the morning. I might even bring the sun with me.
Lake:I fear you’re making fun of me.
Cage:Never.
“What about Kelsey?”
“I broke up with her the night of the party. We weren’t that serious, so there wasn’t any drama or shit like that. But it was impulsive and I’m not impulsive. I saw this girl holding quite possibly the ugliest cat in the world, and she was all-over-the-place crazy, yet I found it so damn sexy.” I laughed just thinking about it. “She doesn’t follow football so she had no idea what I do.”
For some reason I liked that she didn’t follow football.
“She ran into her apartment and grabbed a permanent marker and a box of generic cereal then asked me to sign the box.”
Kevin laughed. “That had to be a blow to your ego, like she was trying to acknowledge your fame to not offend you.”
“Actually, it had the opposite effect on me. She doesn’t seem like the type who tries to impress anyone, yet she’s one of the most impressive people I’ve ever met. Crazy, but impressive. Anyway, she was leaving to go on a date and it messed with my head. I tried to enjoy the party, took Kelsey home, and ended it.”
