All In (13 page)

M
ind blowing sex
.

Who would’ve thought that she’d be having mind blowing sex with Maddox Paul?

The past 48 hours had been a whirlwind, and no matter his reassurances, anxiety still reigned over her. Every ache in her body served as a reminder of their weekend activities—and their lack of actual conversation.

They needed to have a conversation.

Cass got to the office right at 9am, hoping that the need to get straight to work would relieve her of Lo’s attack. Her friend had texted her at least a dozen times asking for details, and Cass was either preoccupied with carnal activities or just unsure of how to answer. She didn’t want to share details. This was between her and Mad. They had barely talked about what was going on, with all the sex keeping them from delving into whatever this was. And Lo would want to know what this was. Cass didn’t have an answer.

I took less than a minute for Lo to barge in, Cass realizing that she may be saved from a public announcement, but she was in no way saved from her friend’s wrath.

“You are a selfish bitch, you know that?” Lo shut the door and stared at her, hand on hip and all.

“Lo-“

“Oh, no. No. You don’t get to give me some bullshit excuse. I let you cry on my shoulder. I put you into sexy dress and ‘fuck me’ pumps, and then…nothing. Nada. No stories. No answer. For all I know, that idiot could have kidnapped you and hid you away in a house in the mountains, hobbling you so you can’t run away…”

“Stop reading Stephen King, Lo.”

“Shut up. Shhhhhh,” Lo continued, waving her hand at Cass. “No. You listen up, Missy. You will go to lunch with me today. You will tell me everything. You will then hear my verdict.”

“Verdict? What?”

“Oh, the jury’s still out on you two, honey. And this silence? Oh, hell no. That does not bode well,” Lo pursed her lips, her hard eyes meeting Cass’ raised eyebrows. Her friend was losing it.

“If I agree to lunch, you’ll agree to let me do my work?” Cass asked, taking the opening her friend was giving her. Lunch was a few hours away, and if Lo left her alone, she might be able to fit in some time to come up with how she would explain Maddox to her.

Lo nodded, tapping her foot.

“Done.”

“Noon,” Lo demanded, as she opened the door.

“Noon.”

* * *

A
t 9
:15 Cass’ phone buzzed.

M: Baby girl, I miss you.

Cass smiled. She answered honestly.

C: Miss you, too.

M: You’re too far away.

C: I’m in an office down the hall, crazy man.

M: That’s too far away.

C: And where would you have me?

M: You have to ask?

C: No office nookie.

M: That’s cold.

C: Frigid Bitch Queen at your service.

M: I’m throwing that crown away.

C: Not going to happen.

M: It’s going down.

C: Well, someone is.

M: Cass!

C: You set it up.

M: Too many things are up now.

C: Bad man.

M: And you love it.

She paused. The old Cass would’ve said, “You know I do,” but that response felt so loaded now. She sighed.

M: Cass?

The buzzing brought her back to reality. She’d waited too long.

C: Yes?

The flirting bubble deflated.

M: Just making sure.

C: Of what?

M: That I have your attention.

C: Haha. You’re a complete and utter distraction, bad man. Now I have to get back to work before my boss fires me.

M: Yes, he’s a ruthless dick.

Cass smiled.

C: Completely.

* * *

L
unch came faster
than Cass realized, and she hadn’t had much thinking time. Her internet project was on the verge of falling behind, and she spent most of the morning developing a plan to keep it on track. The developers were running into snag after snag updating the interface from ancient to cutting edge, and it was taking its toll. It didn’t help that Phil was trying to dictate things he knew nothing about. The man was great at infrastructure, but web design? He was an idiot, and she had her team working like dogs to make sure no one looked stupid when he presented things to the senior partners.

By the time she grabbed her purse to head out with Lo, Cass was edgy and frustrated—emotions she was having trouble setting aside so she could think clearly enough to deal with the interrogation she was about to face.

The one thing she could count on, though, was Lo’s sense of self-preservation as she read Cass’ facial expression.

“He’s a dick,” Lo stated as they got in the car.

“What?!” Cass exclaimed. “He-“ She stopped herself. “Oh, Phil.”

Lo laughed. “Of course, Phil. We’ll discuss the other dick later, but I’m supposing we have to get this dark cloud over your head to calm the fuck down. He’s being a controlling ass.”

Cass laughed. “More so than usual,” she sunk down into the passenger’s seat letting anxiety’s grip loosen from her muscles.

“What did he do today?”

“What didn’t he do?” Cass mumbled then rolled out the number of ways her boss was wronging her and her team. His condescension, ridiculous requests, and lack of flexibility on their timeline. “I think he’s looking for a way to fire me.”

“Girl, he’s looking for a way to fire us all. He wants a whole new regime. His regime. Then he can have everything his way,” Lo agreed, but not necessarily making her feel any better. “But you know Maddox won’t let him.”

“But Mad isn’t here all the time. He’s not in control of Phil like he was, and he’s not-“

“Honey, Mad isn’t going to fire you. He’s not even going to let Phil fire you.”

“I know. But eventually…”

“We’re all going to leave anyway,” Lo said what Cass had been thinking.

All she could do was nod.

“What happened this weekend?” Lo asked, changing the subject to something that wasn’t any more comfortable. Cass closed her eyes and sighed.

“Can I order my burger first?” Cass asked, her voice weak and pleading.

Lo laughed. “With a side of margarita?”

“Oh, honey, with a pitcher,” she laughed.

* * *

T
he red vinyl
of the booth squeaked as Cass sank into the seat, and the waitress took their orders quickly. They may have joked about margaritas, since they had to return to work, but she was sure Phil would definitely fire her if she showed up three margaritas shy of a tequila bottle. Still the shakes at this burger joint were no joke. There was a chocolate mocha banana shake on its way accompanied by a turkey burger. She knew it was a sin against the term “burger,” but she had to trim a couple of calories off her meal somewhere.

“You ready to dish?” Lo asked, sipping her lemon water.

“No,” Cass answered honestly.

“Well, you’re gonna.”

Cass sighed.

“What do you want to know?” Cass asked. She really didn’t know where to start.

“Let’s start simple. You had dinner?”

“Yes.”

“And it went well?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t kill each other?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, I can tell this is going to be fun…” Lo trailed off, letting out her own sigh.

Cass looked at her friend, realizing she was being hard on her, and guilt smacked her in the face. Lo never held back from Cass. She put her heart out there, telling her anything and everything about her love life. Sometimes it seemed like she was sharing too much, but she trusted Cass implicitly, and Cass realized she was a terrible friend in that she never returned that trust. Lo had never once, in all the years she’d known her, betrayed her. She knew how Cass felt about Maddox, and yet she never told anyone about it. She hid it as well as Cass—probably better. She’d rarely opened up to Lo, one of the biggest admissions coming just two nights before, and now she had left Lo hanging. It wasn’t fair to her.

“I’m sorry. I’m not good at this. You know I want to tell you-“ Cass admitted.

“Do you? I mean, it doesn’t seem-“

“Lo! I want to tell you. It’s just hard. It’s so, um, so…new…so surreal.”

Lo remained silent, allowing Cass to work up her courage.

“Dinner was amazing. Well the end was amazing. Maddox was, oh, I don’t even know. He took me to Marceux.”

“Shit. Really? How’d he even get a table? That place has a mile long waiting list!”

Cass laughed. “You know, I was so nervous, I didn’t even ask!”

“Well, go on,” Lo prompted.

Cass closed her eyes. “It was gorgeous. When they say it’s a private dining experience, they mean it. I swear, Lo, I thought he was going to end it right there.”

“But he didn’t, did he?”

“No, no. Quite the opposite,” Cass took a long draw on her much needed shake, the sweetness soothing her nerves.

“He finally admitted he’s madly in love with you?” Lo smirked.

“Oh, good grief, no!” Cass coughed, almost choking on her banana mocha goodness. “That would’ve been the perfect way to completely freak me out! Too much, too fast. It’s already too much, and I don’t even know what it is!”

“Too much? What happened after dinner?”

“Well, there might have been a lot of wine and bubbles…”

“Girl! You had drunk sex!” Lo whisper exclaimed.

The corners of Cass’ lips turned up as she took another sip of shake and said nothing. She knew the silence would drive Lo mad, and she sort of reveled in it a little.

“Cass! C’mon. You had sex right?”

Cass nodded, her eyes glittering as she remembered that night, the next morning, and the entire day before. Her aches, glorious aches, wouldn’t let her forget.

“You had good sex!” her friend reached out and smacked her hand. “Dish, girl!”

“It wasn’t good-“

“What?!” Lo’s voice carried, and a few heads turned their way. Cass shook her head.

“Shhh. Listen. It wasn’t good. It was fantastic. And not a little fantastic…” Cass leaned forward. “Mind blowing, life altering, never going to be the same fantastic.”

Lo laughed. “Oh, girl, you are so in deep! And I’m so proud of you!”

“But Lo, it was one weekend. We’ve been friends for so long. I don’t know-“

“Shut it down now, Cassidy. Shut those voices down. I know you. You’re going to talk yourself out of this. You always do this. Maybe not yesterday. Maybe not today. Maybe not even tomorrow. But honey, you’ve got to just let go of all that doubt.”

Lo reached across the table and grabbed her hands.

“Look at me,” Lo said, and Cass met her very serious gaze. “You deserve happiness. You deserve every goodness you’ve ever desired. I know I tell you this all the time, and most of the time you totally ignore me. But don’t ignore me now. Don’t pretend to be okay. Talk about it. Tell me your doubts, but don’t let them take root. Not this time.”

Cass smiled at her friend, grateful for everything she was offering.