Steven disagreed, “No, it's nothing like that. I just understand them, that's all, and they’re so much easier to deal with. Kids don't lie very often, and you know where you stand.”
Cassandra pressed her lips together, not sure how to thank him in a way that didn't make her all teary eyed and embarrassed. It had been really hard since they moved to Hartford, hard for her to adjust to being single and just being an only parent. Watching someone else do it for even a moment, made her realize that it didn't always have to be her, even though it felt like it.
“I was surprised when you dropped by.”
“I tried calling you, but you don't really answer your phone these days.”
Cassandra waved him off and said that it wasn’t personal, but she didn't even know where her phone was. Steven saw it on the coffee table in the living room when he first came in. He told her and she shrugged. “I guess there's not much use for it now. Everyone I want to talk to is right here with me.”
Steven seemed to like that answer and he had a great grin on his face. “I don't know why, but every time I'm around you, I can't stop smiling.”
Cassandra took it as the compliment it was meant to be. She still wasn’t too comfortable with compliments, but she believed Steven when he said them. He said it because he meant it, not because he wanted to butter her up. It was one of the many traits that she loved about him, but it was also the one that scared her the most. Not because she was afraid of what he would say, but because he expected the same level of honesty from her and that was a little harder to subscribe to.
“What are you really doing here, Steven? I'm sure you didn't come here for Taco Tuesday and a couple of hands of War.”
Steven agreed and said that he had come because he mainly just wanted to see her.
She shook her head. “You know you're not a very good liar, right?”
Steven grinned and said that he didn't mean to lie. He just didn't know how to ask her.
“The best way is just to ask. What's on your mind?”
“I wanted to know if you had talked to your brother yet.” Steven finally managed to get it out.
Cassandra looked away and she had a bit of a grimace on her face. “I meant to, really I did, but it was a little bit harder than I thought it would be.”
“Do you not want to tell him?” Steven asked slowly. He was on edge by the look on his face.
“No, it's not that. I just don't know how to tell him. You know what might happen, and I'm just afraid that I won't have a brother again. The two of you are best friends, but we're blood. He has turned his back on me before, so why wouldn't he do it again?”
“I would hate to think that he would stop talking to you over it.”
“Yeah, but we both know that he can. From what I hear when I left, things were really bad. What happens if he doesn't forgive me, and doesn’t forgive you? You're going to lose your best friend, and I’m going to lose my brother. I just have to keep wondering is all of this is worth that. It feels like it when I see you with Dennis. I think that this is what should happen, and I really like where we’re going, but I have to wonder if we are just kidding ourselves? How could we ever be together, if it was going to cause so much misery for the people that we loved? It doesn't seem fair and the more I think about it, the more selfish I feel. It’s not a good feeling, knowing that we could potentially ruin the life of somebody that we love.” It was a lot to take in, Steven had to understand that.
“What do you want to do?” Steven asked, though he likely knew the answer just like she did. What they should do, if they weren't so wrapped up in themselves, was they should call it off. They'd only been together a couple of times. If they just did a quick break, it didn't have to be that big of a deal.
“I don't know,” Cassandra finally relayed. Between the two of them, neither one of them really had much of an answer. That was fine, Cassandra was okay to deal with uncertainty, but she finally admitted the truth. She was not willing to give them up. Cassandra didn't want to give Steven up and not just because they were good together, but because she wanted to feel the way he made her feel.
There was also the fact of how good he was with Dennis. Dennis had really grown to like Steven very much. How could she walk away from all of that? Steven was just standing there, awaiting her answer and the only one that Cassandra had, the only one that really mattered, was that she cared about Steven. They were meant to be together, how she knew that didn't matter. If she was right or wrong didn't even matter, because that's what she believed in her heart.
“Maybe we should tell him together, but does it have to be right now?”
Steven agreed that it didn't have to be right then. He must have liked the direction it was going, because Cassandra was more than ready to move on to something else. She was shaking inside, sure that Steven would give her what she needed and when he pulled her in close, Cassandra knew that her guess was right. It was a good thing too, because since giving into her body’s desires, all she could think about was Steven. When he pulled her in for a kiss, Cassandra practically melted. There was just something about the way he held her that always got to Cassandra.
They would have to deal with her brother soon enough. It wasn't going to be pleasant, but for the moment, Cassandra could push it away and think of something else. She could just feel for a little while and enjoy what their forbidden love felt like. It was bittersweet.
Chapter 41
Luke
Everything started out well enough. Luke woke up and had a few texts from Aaliyah that he responded to right away and then he got up and got ready for his day. Everything was going the usual way. He took his shower, got ready, and went out front to start his truck. The truck didn’t want to start. He would have been better off just staying home. His truck not starting was a sign of what was to come.
When he finally got his truck fixed, he was about an hour late for a meeting that he had. It was important, of course, and two other people that he was meant to meet did not want to wait. They were not as forgiving, and he then had to meet them on their turf, which was twenty minutes out of the city from where he was right then. He tried to keep things as positive as he could, but it was hard though.
At lunch time, the restaurant he stopped at messed up his order three different times, before he literally had to leave because he was not going to get what he wanted. Even then, as he ate the wrong burger, he tried to be positive. It was just really hard to, considering.
Then, since everything really was going to shit, Luke decided that maybe he was better off just going home. He finally answered the phone. Steven was calling. He didn't know what Steven wanted, but he had called multiple times that day, so there had to be something on his mind.