Inevitable

Chapter Twenty-Two

Pillow Talk

As the second film began, I asked Hilary to keep an eye on Oliver for me while I excused myself to use the restroom.

I weaved through the clusters of people resting on blankets and folding chairs when I heard a muffled voice calling my name in the distance. I turned, hesitantly, unsure if it was meant for me and saw Mark standing on the other side of the massive lawn right beside a scowling Mackenzie.

The blood drained from my face, my stomach churned. Whipping back around I tried to push myself faster through the crowded area without tripping over the dozens of limbs laid out on the grass.

I didn’t want to deal with him, and by the look on his face, I had a feeling whatever he wanted, it wasn’t good.

“Cassandra!” his infuriating voice blared louder.

He was catching up to me. Adrenaline began coursing through my veins. My head began to throb. Why did he want to talk to me all of a sudden? And why the hell was he with Mackenzie and not Julia? I’d spent countless hours debating why it was best to keep my mouth shut and not say anything to Julia about my past with him. Mark may have cheated on me, but I wanted to hope, for her sake, he wouldn’t do the same to her.

I quickened my pace so much that I was sprinting, my heart beating erratically. I sucked in a giant breath; mere feet from the bathroom door, and blew it out in a giant puff as relief washed over me. I rushed inside.

The first open stall was all I could see—everything else was a blur. I made a beeline straight for it and slammed the door. With trembling fingers, I slid the bolt in place.

While struggling to catch my unsteady breath, I dropped my head, and rested my hands on my hips. Seeing Mark while around Julia and Logan was tolerable, but this was different. There was no one here for him to put on a show for and try to impress.

“Cassandra?” His voice filled the restroom and my head shot up.

I heard a woman complain about it being the ladies’ room, but then the main door creaked shut.

I took a small step away from the door. The back of my knees bumped into the porcelain bowl. Damn it! What did he want? As quietly as possible, I bent down and peaked under the door, staring straight at a pair of size twelve combat boots. They stood sorely out of place against the dull-pink floor tiles.

I inhaled sharply. “Go away!”

“Cassie, we need to talk.”

“Then you should have tried at the farm…while your girlfriend was around.” I hissed through the door.

I was no longer his naïve little Cassie. I watched his feet step closer, stopping directly on the other side of the stall door.

“Why the hell are you hanging around with her brother? I’ve heard all about him.” He snorted. “Logan’s only using you for sex, you know.”

My blood boiled. How dare he? “Go to hell!”

“Look, I like Julia, all right. And having my ex-girlfriend hanging around just because she hopes she can fuck my girl’s brother into monogamy is kind of a bitch.”

“How did I ever love you?” I muttered, feeling more sad than angry. Was I really that blind?

“Can we just come to an agreement on this, already?”

“Agreement?” I snapped. The anger rushed back through me as if it had never dispersed.

“You do whatever you want with Logan, I won’t get in the way, but can you just not hang around when Julia and I are there?”

“Screw you!” I thrust open the lock and pushed the stall door open, smacking him hard in the chest with it in the process.

With tightly pursed lips and squinted eyes, I stalked toward him. I felt my nostrils flaring, blood pounding in my ears, ready to let him have it when a loud pounding on the restroom door rang out.

“Did you lock the door?” I gasped, staring at him wide-eyed.

“I just wanted to talk to you, damn it.” He ran his hands through his hair, groaning. “I loved you, Cassandra, I did, but I fucked it up.” He stepped closer, his expression softening. “I just want us both to move on and be happy. Julia’s a sweet—”

The pounding on the door vibrated through the room louder than before, followed by Luke’s voice calling my name.

I narrowed my eyes at Mark, too angry to form any further words. Instead, I brushed past him and unlocked the door.

Luke was on the other side, his fist mid-knock—more like pound—and his eyes full with distress.

“Is everything all right?” Luke stared warily past me, to Mark.

“Yeah, thanks,” I grumbled. The weight of the situation left me exhausted.

Luke gave a threatening glare back at Mark before placing his hand on my back, and leading me away to our spot in the grass.

Once we neared the blanket, Oliver resting his head against Hilary’s legs as a pillow, I slowed and turned just enough to give Luke a small appreciative smile. No words were needed; he returned the smile with tenderness in his eyes and watched me sit back down beside Oliver.

Hilary leaned over and whispered, “We saw Mark follow you. You want to talk about it?”

I shook my head. “No, there’s nothing to say.” I kept my gaze straight ahead on the Bumble and Rudolph flickering on the big screen.

With Scout snuggled tightly in my arms, I walked beside Luke who had a sound asleep Oliver slung over his shoulder. Six whole cartoons held the young tot’s attention and it was just past eight, the sun setting for the older movies to begin. Oliver had passed out during the final film, which was a relief.

Luke walked around the car and placed him in the backseat in the booster Logan placed in my vehicle. Once he latched the seatbelt around Oliver’s waist, Luke shut the car door and looked over the top where I was standing on the other side.

“Thanks for helping me get him back. I couldn’t bear to wake him up. He was exhausted,” I said. I leaned down, placed Scout in the backseat with Oliver, and shut the door.

“He had a lot of fun,” Luke said walking around the car. “Caleb tells me he’s the son of one of your friends.”

“Yeah, his dad had a business trip tonight.” My stomach knotted as he stood there smiling, his hands in his pockets. Thinking of Logan sent a sudden, distressing wave of worry through me. Did he make it to New York safely? I hadn’t checked my phone. I then began to wonder what he would have to say about my incident with Mark.

Surprisingly, I would rather talk to him about what happened than Hilary. He always listened to every single word I had to say, no matter how much rambling I did, and he never showed even the slightest bit of judgment in his eyes.

“I’m glad I came out today,” Luke’s gruff voice pulled me from my thoughts of Logan.

I nodded, smiling awkwardly, dangling my keys through my fingers. “Yeah, it was fun. I’ve haven’t watched The Little Drummer Boy since I was a kid.”

Luke leaned forward, and opened my door for me.

“Have a good night, Cassandra.”

“You too, Luke.”

I climbed inside, giving him one last friendly smile before waving once to Hilary and Caleb across the street, their hands intertwined.

Once I was home, I carried a sleeping Oliver inside the house and placed him softly on the couch. Scout jumped up beside him and cuddled into his side while I covered them both with a warm blanket.

I couldn’t help smiling, looking down at them. They were absolutely adorable and perfect. With a silent yawn, I walked down the hall to my bedroom and yanked my sweater over my head, tossing it into the hamper. Opening my dresser drawer, I reached in and randomly pulled out the first pajamas my fingers touched.