I kept my head turned away from him. I didn't know how to tell him I wanted to be alone.
“Cass?”
“I think I'm going to go home tonight, I’m tired.” Ray went silent, and I felt his hand slip off my knee.
“Whatever, Cass. Go home.” I could feel the disappointment in the car.
“Please don't be like that, Ray.”
He didn't respond, just stared ahead. All that was on my mind was Brody and how he lit me up like the fourth of July when he had kissed me tonight.
The first thing I did when I got home was put the kettle on, then pulled all the blinds closed across the back of the house. It was cold tonight, and the glass from the windows and sliding doors was just magnifying that temperature. I needed to build a fire and was happy I had brought in lots of wood before leaving this morning. Missy came running and greeted me in the kitchen, meowing like crazy.
“You must be hungry, huh, Missy? Sorry, I'm so late,” I said, giving her a pet and grabbing a can of food out of the fridge for her. She danced happily around my feet as I put food in her bowl and set it down on the floor. I watched as she attacked it viciously.
Once I had everything done, I looked at the clock. It was only nine-thirty but felt so much later. I grabbed my laptop from the table and curled up in my favorite chair with a blanket while I waited for the fire to finally start to heat the house. I needed to get some words out tonight, and I hoped it would provide a distraction from the thoughts running through my mind. The store had been so busy today, and it had taken away from my plans of writing. However, there hadn't been any quiet time, which wasn’t a bad thing, but with my deadline looming, I needed to get this book written. I was starting to feel super stressed which wasn't going to help matters.
The TV droned on in the background while I reread the few paragraphs I had written the night before. I needed to get into my characters heads. I was just about to start writing when my cell pinged with a message. I had a good mind not to answer it, I needed no more distractions, but when it went off again, then again, I felt I had no choice. I had the alarm company who monitored the store set to message my cell phone if anything was wrong and three messages in a quick period had me wondering. I grabbed it from the table.
As soon as I saw that the first two messages were from Ray, annoyance set in, but when I saw the third message, a surge of heat ran through my body as my heart began to pump a little harder. A soft smile formed on my lips as I reread the message from Brody. I was going to reply, but instead, I dialed Brody's number, a funny flutter floating in my stomach.
The phone rang a couple of times, and I was just about to end the call when I heard him pick up. As soon as his deep voice came over the phone, I felt it travel straight to my center.
“Hey, Sexy.”
“Is now a good time?” I said, ignoring his comment.
“Anytime is a good time to talk with you.”
“What are you doing here, Brody?” I had to cut right to the point, I couldn't risk getting hurt again.
“I got a transfer.” the line went quiet. “I went to see you down in Greyfield, but you moved.”
“I didn't have much of a choice. Things got pretty tough for me.”
The line was quiet for a moment. “Because of me?”
How was I supposed to answer that? Indirectly, it had been because of him, but I didn't want to put all the blame on him. Lying in bed for months on end with no will to do anything had also put me in that position. I thought for a moment.
“It was many reasons, not just you.”
“I see, I'm sorry, Cass.” The line went silent again. I could hear him breathing so I knew he was still there. “So, did you ask that ass why he lied to me? He never did answer me.”
“Brody, Ray is a good man. I'm sure he was just protecting me. Don't read into it, okay?” I didn't know why I was defending Ray’s actions, I wanted to know as well why he had lied to Brody.
“Sort of hard for me not to. I didn't like the smug look on his face tonight.”
I did my best to ignore that comment. I wasn't about to get into it with him. “When did you move into town?”
“Last Saturday. I'm living at the fire station until I can find a place, so until then, this will be my new home.”
“What do you mean you're living at the station? Don’t you have anywhere to stay?”
“No, not yet, the transfer was really fast. Of course, with Christmas coming, it’s near fucking impossible to get hold of anyone who owns any rental property up here, they’re all on vacation.”
“Brody, you can't live at the fire station until after Christmas.”
“Sure, I can, what else do you suggest I do, Cass?”