Page 153
A small smile dawns on her face. She nods once. “Okay. You can date me.”
“Really?” My smile is instantaneous.
I feel like pumping my fist in the air. No touchdown in the history of my football career has ever felt close to this.
“Yes,” she says. Then she adds, “When you ask me out, I'll say yes.”
I step in closer, looking straight down at her. “I'm asking now.”
She smiles up at me. “Well, then. I’m saying yes.”
I lean in and kiss her cheek. When I pull back, she’s smiling up at me.
I’m playing it cool, but inside I feel like a stadium erupted, every fan on their feet, the roar of the crowd deafening. My head thrums with the thrill of one word from Cass Carter. Yes.
Chapter 32
Cass
The best love is the kind that awakens the soul.
~ Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook
We’re at my house for a mini baby shower for Emberleigh. Her mom is throwing a bigger formal shower next weekend, but we wanted one with just us girls. Winona’s on her honeymoon. But this baby’s not going to wait, so we scheduled it without her. She FaceTimed a little bit ago to tell Emberleigh she wished she could be here.
Winona and Declan were cozying up on the hammock on his back deck, both of them in gauzy white clothes while everyone here is wearing sweaters.
I know I need to break the news to my friends. I’m making the rounds through the room, picking up scraps of wrapping paper and clearing empty plates. I take a trip to the kitchen and come back into the living room.
“Does anyone want any more of this charcuterie?” I ask.
“Sit down, Cass,” Syd says. “You’re buzzing around like a bee.”
I’m nervous. They don’t know that. And they for sure don’t know why.
“Okay,” I say, taking a seat on my couch.
Everyone’s chatting in side conversations. The main celebration is over.
“I … uh … I have something to tell you all,” I say.
The noise dies in an instant and every eye fixes on me.
“Okay,” I say. “Well … Marcus and I …” I blow out a breath. “It all started innocently. We never intended to let it go this far.”
“Are you pregnant?” Syd asks.
“No!” I shout. “Goodness, no. No. No. No.”
“You’re getting married?” Carli guesses.
“Also no!” I shake my head. “It’s nothing like that. “We were … um …” I take another deep breath. “We were never dating.”
“You weren’t dating?” Emberleigh asks.
“The media caught wind of that photo shoot,” I say.
It seems like a lifetime ago when we took those pictures.
