From Ashes
Page 12I stood up to help when she started clearing the dishes, but Tyler stepped in front of me before I got far. “I’m serious, man, she’s mine.”
“I heard you the first time.”
“You sure about that?”
I glanced back at Cassidy. “Yeah, I’m sure. But you’re the one who brought her here; you can’t expect me to never talk to her, or offer my help when she’s making us food. If we’re all gonna live together, you need to get over the fact that I’m gonna be friends with her.”
He remained quiet and smiled, waiting for Cassidy to return to the kitchen. “I couldn’t care less if you’re friends with her. Just don’t forget that I’m the one who’s been there for her every day for the last eleven years. Not you. I still see how you’re looking at her, I’m not f**king blind, Gage.”
CASSIDY
“I’M KIND OF tired, I’m going to bed. Thanks for showing us around today, Gage.”
Tyler stood and walked over to me. “Want me to come with you?”
I shot a quick glance behind Ty to Gage, who was openly glaring at his cousin. “No, you guys need to catch up, I’ll see you later.”
“Sleep well, Cassidy,” Gage said.
Tyler hugged me and Gage winked when I looked over Ty’s shoulder at him. Seriously, this guy was so confusing! I walked to the bathroom I shared with Tyler to wash my face and brush my teeth before slipping into some pajamas and crawling into bed. I could hear the boys talking and Gage started laughing, warming my entire body. I sighed and flipped onto my side. I didn’t understand him at all. First, he had a girlfriend, then he’d almost kissed me last night, and this morning I could have sworn he was flirting with me. Then he got upset when we wanted to go out this morning and Tyler told me that when he went to talk to him about it, Gage said he didn’t want me living here, but tonight in the kitchen he kept finding a reason to touch me and wouldn’t stop smiling at me. What the heck? I didn’t know how to even act around him.
I must have fallen asleep, because I felt a little groggy when Tyler slipped into the bed later that night.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said softly.
“It’s fine, I meant to wait up for you. I guess I was more tired than I realized.”
He pulled me close to his body and wrapped his arms around me. “You’ve had a long last three days, you needed to sleep.”
“True. Did you guys have fun talking?”
“Yeah, it’s good to see him again. It’s been a long time since we hung out.”
“I’m sorry I’m ruining that; you really shouldn’t have brought me, Ty.”
He leaned back a little so he could see my face. “Cassi, I’ll take you with me everywhere I go. And don’t worry about Gage, he’ll get over it eventually. I’m sure it’s not you that he doesn’t like, he just said it’s going to mess up his relationship with Brynn having a girl live with him.”
“No, you won’t. He’ll get over it, and I want you with me, okay?”
I curled into his chest and nodded. “Love you.”
Tyler leaned back again and tilted my face up to his. “I love you too, Cassi.” His lips fell onto mine and I scrambled back, pushing against his chest as hard as I could.
“What the hell, Tyler?!” We slept in bed with each other, but we’d never actually kissed before.
“I’m sorry! I thought you wanted me to.”
“What? Why would I want you to?” Oh my God, seriously, what the hell just happened?!
He sighed and relaxed his hold on me. “I don’t—I don’t know what got into me. I’m sorry, that was really stupid.”
“Is that why you brought me to Texas with you?”
“No, it’s not, I swear. You’re my best friend, I would have never left you there. I’m sorry, like I said, that was really stupid.”
“No! Cassi, come on, don’t do that. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, it hasn’t just been a long three days for me. It’s been even longer for you. I think we’re both too tired and we aren’t thinking clearly.”
“Cass.” He sighed and got out of the bed as well. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking doing that.” He hugged me loosely and stepped back. “Please get back in bed.”
“It’s all right, I promise. I’m just going to sleep out there tonight—I think it would be best for us. I’ll be back in here tomorrow, okay?”
“I’ll go out there, you can stay in the bed.”
I put my hand on his chest and pushed him onto the bed. “I’m way shorter than you; that couch was practically made for me. Good night, Ty, see you in the morning.”
Chapter Three
GAGE
I COULDN’T SLEEP. I already hated thinking about what probably happened between Tyler and Cassidy, but having Tyler tell me he was about to go screw her made it that much worse. I’m sorry, not screw her, bang her. Like it was no big deal, just announced, “I’m gonna go bang my girl,” and left without another word. A girl like Cassidy needs to be loved and worshipped, not banged. I knew he was just trying to get a rise out of me—I doubted he’d treat her with such little respect to her face—but I fell right into his trap, ’cause now there I was wearing a freakin’ hole in my floor pacing back and forth. And what happened during dinner? I thought I’d been making progress in the kitchen, she’d started flirting with me again, bantering back and forth and smiling like I was the most interesting person she’d ever talked to. Then dinner started and she went right back to being polite and uninterested. I swear I was getting whiplash with this girl.