But Nash was already glancing at the screen, his body tightening.“Gotta take this one,” he muttered, lifting her off his lap.He rose, raking a hand through his hair as he disappeared toward the kitchen.His voice drifted back, rough with irritation.
“What?Hell no, she can’t have a phone—she’s ten years old…I don’t give a shit what her friends have…That’s not what we agreed…”
Cassie sat up slowly, tugging the shirt down.The warm mountain air spilling through the open windows suddenly felt twice as thick.
“…because I said so, that’s why.She’s your kid, Addy, not your goddamn friend—”
Cassie’s chest tightened, pulse ticking up.What the fuck had she done?What was she still doing—
“…my money, my rules…Don’t threaten me with lawyers you can’t fuckin’ afford…Let me talk to Junie…Fine.Fuck you, too.”
Cassie shot to her feet.Definitely time to go.
Slipping into the hall, she hurried up the stairs, into Nash’s bedroom—already yanking off his shirt.She found her boots by the door, and her dress tangled in the sheets.Margie’s jacket was under the bed.Her phone, though, was missing.
Panic flared; she tore at the bedding, pawing through sheets, rifling corners that didn’t even exist.Where the fuck was it?
“Cas?”Nash called from the doorway.“Cassie—”
“Don’t.”Her voice was tight, barely contained.
“What the fuck is goin’ on?”
“I need my phone.”She dropped to the floor, arm reaching under the frame.“Where is it?”
“Cas, stop.”He crouched beside her, catching her arm.“Talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”She yanked free, scrambled up, ripped at the sheets again.“I just need my fucking phone.”
Nash rose with a hard sigh.“Phone’s in the living room.Coffee table.”
She froze mid-motion, fists still twisted in fabric.Dropping everything, she shoved past him into the hall, his steps following close behind.
“Cassie—what the hell’s goin’ on?”
“Nothing.I just need to go.”
“Go?You were ready to fuck a minute ago.”
She cringed, even as heat flashed beneath her skin, stupid and immediate.
“Yeah, well, now I’m thinkin’ straight.”She snatched her phone off the table and turned—only to find Nash blocking the exit.
“This about Addy?You hear me on the phone and suddenly you’re runnin’?”
“No.”Her grip tightened around the phone.“I just need to go.”
“Bullshit,” he spat.“You don’t flip like that unless somethin’ sets you off.”
“Or maybe,” she bit out, “I don’t typically stick around to listen to my one-night stand argue with his wife.”
Nash’s jaw ticked.“Ex-wife,” he ground out.“Sure as hell sounds like you’re pissed about Addy.”
“No.Jesus—I’m not pissed about anything.I just need to—”
“You sure you ain’t pissed?’Cause you keep workin’ that finger—”
And just like that, she was ten times angrier.Partly from the intimacy of the observation, sure, but mostly because he could still read her faster than she could shut herself down.
