I tried not to think too hard about what it meant that I felt that way. That I felt anything at all for Cassie but especially the big feelings that had grown after her accident.
“What if she isn’t up for it?” Jagger asked from the back seat.
“It’ll be good for her,” Hawk said from the passenger seat.
I watched as Cassie moved around the counter, her bag slung over her shoulder, and felt that weird stutter thing that had been happening in my chest lately, like my heart was skipping beats, like my chest might collapse.
She was so fuckingpretty. Her hair always kind of shimmered, like she was a fucking angel, and the sparkle was back in her hazel eyes, which sometimes looked green and sometimes looked blue, depending on the light and her mood.
And yeah, she had a banging body, one I loved exploring, getting lost in, but deep down I knew that feeling in my chest wasn’t about fucking.
She walked toward the door of the coffee shop and stepped onto the sidewalk, then did a double-take when she spotted us parked at the curb in the G-Wagon.
Her smile was enough to make me catch my breath. “What are you guys doing here?”
The car she’d been renting until the insurance company paid out on her Subaru was parked further up the street because Cassie always left the spots in front of the shop open for her customers even though she got to the shop early most mornings.
“Picking up our mouse,” I said, through Hawk’s open window.
He got out of the car and held the door open for her. “Get in.”
“Where are we going?”
She was already getting in and I liked that she trusted us enough to do that without asking questions.
“Shopping,” I said, putting the car in gear.
“Shopping for what?”
“For our date tomorrow night,” I said. “Obviously.”
I didn’t want to go to the award ceremony honoring my dad, but it was a deal I’d made with myself when I left academia, a deal my parents and I had made with each other: we didn’t agree on much but we still showed up for each other when it mattered.
Which was why Hawk, Jagger, and I were walking down Fifth Avenue with Cassie between us, the sun shimmering off the glass buildings that towered over the city. The late summer heat hadbaked into the city’s concrete and steel, and I was glad I’d left my leather jacket in the car in the parking garage.
The field trip might not have been necessary. For all I knew, Cassie had something to wear to the banquet. But after everything she’d been through I was eager to spoil her — we all were — and the award ceremony honoring my dad seemed like the perfect opportunity to spend money on our mouse.
“Are you sure your parents will want me at this thing?” Cassie asked, her hand in mine as we passed Van Cleef & Arpels.
Jagger and Hawk walked behind us so we didn’t take up too much room on the sidewalk.
City people fucking hated that.
“I want you there,” I said.
I wanted her everywhere all the time, but I wasn’t quite sure how to tell her that.
That cute little line formed on the bridge of her nose, the one that appeared when she was worried or deep in thought. “Geez, that’s super comforting.”
“It’ll be fine,” I said. “They’ll be busy with their big-brained friends."
She sighed. “Okay, but I don’t need new clothes. Especially clothes from Fifth Avenue.”
She side-eyed the Louis Vuitton store like it was a shady pawn shop.
“What’s wrong with Fifth Avenue?” Jagger asked behind us.
“Nothing’swrongwith it. I just can’t afford to shop here.”
