“You know exactly what,” I said, cutting into the first potato. “I’ll tell you later?”
“Oh, that,” she said and chuckled. “Yeah, that is really weird.”
I groaned, growing more concerned. “I take it you are in a place you can’t talk about it?”
“Yep,” she said. “I’m still at home. Now, what did you need to talk about?”
I sighed. I wasn’t sure if talking with Cassidy was such a fantastic idea. Especially after Cadence assumed she and I were dating. But she was excellent at listening and providing advice… and that was something I really needed at the moment. But then again, she was being very aloof in our conversation. Anything remotely close to her personal life she dodged.
“I’ll tell you in a minute,” I said, taking the bacon out of the pan and setting them on a plate covered with paper towels. I smirked to myself as I had just done the same thing to her that she had been doing to me. It wasn’t planned, but it worked out well for me.
“Haha,” she said.
I sighed. “I’m worried about you.”
“Hang on,” she whispered.
I sucked in a breath as a pinch entered my forehead. I wasn’t sure if she was about to end the conversation or find another excuse to put it off.
“Okay, did you still need help?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said giving in. I added a few more pieces of bacon to the pan before continuing with dicing the potatoes.
“And?” she asked, dragging out the word in a sing-song voice.
I sucked in a deep breath and on the exhale said, “I told you about how I was staying at my cousin’s cabin to keep an eye on things while they were away.”
“Yeah. For the whole winter,” she said. “I remember. What about it?”
“Well, one of Ezra’s roommates has a sister,” I said, adding another pan to the stove and pouring some oil into it.
“Is that so?” she asked, sounding more serious. “And here I thought we were exclusive.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, stammering. My mind backpedaled through all the time spent between us, desperately trying to make sense of what she had told me. “Exclusive? We were never exclusive, Cassidy. We were barely even what could be considered as dating. Besides, I thought we agreed on just being friends?”
She sighed. “We did…”
“Okay,” I quickly added. “So, what’s the problem? Why are you bringing this up now?”
She burst out laughing over the line. I pulled the phone away and shook my head. I added the potatoes to the oil. “Ha. Ha. Very funny Cassidy. Love the sense of humor. Thanks for the heart attack.”
She continued. I decided to put her on speaker and flip the bacon one more time. When the sound died down, I took the call off of the speaker and returned the phone to my ear. I asked, “Are you done?”
“You’re too easy,” she said.
“That’s what she said,” I added and smirked. “Seriously, though… I think she’s the one… actually, I know she is.”
“Wow,” Cassidy said, voice flat. “That was quick. I thought you had to have sex for the mating thing to take effect?”
“You do,” I said and stirred the potatoes before flipping the bacon. “And we did.”
“Ahhh…” she dragged out the word and fell silent.
“You still there?” I asked, pulling the phone away long enough to make sure the call hadn’t been disconnected.
“Yes,” she said. Her voice sounded as though she was talking in a tunnel. She sighed and added, “Now I can fill you in on the stuff I had been going through.”
“Finally. What changed?” I asked while grabbing a bowl for the eggs.