Dray Read Free Page B

What’s up?” My eyes had hardly adjusted from the bright sunlight reflecting off the white sand, but as I stared past Scotlyn into the house I saw a familiar silhouette standing behind her. My muscles tensed and I swallowed hard. Scotlyn slid past me without another word. I stepped inside.
    Cassie was always tiny and petite but never vulnerable. She’d replaced her glasses with contacts, and her hair was no longer dyed black. The light brown color suited her better. I had memorized every angle and curve of her face and seeing her now it was as if she’d never left. “How have you been, Dray?”
    “What are you doing here, Cass?”
    She sighed loudly. “Happy to see you too, Dray.”
    “I’ve been here all along. You could have seen me at anytime.”
    A sad laugh escaped her lips. “Ironic. For a year, I stood behind the counter at Freefall waiting for you to notice me. I was always there, and you always looked past me. But I’ve never looked past you, Dray.” Her voice broke. I hated it when she cried. She knew she always had me in a corner with tears. My throat tightened as if someone had punched me in the neck.
    “You left me.” It was the same stupid, fucking sentence I’d been repeating in my head over and over again as if it had been tattooed on my brain. “Nothing had ever been stable in my life until you, Cassie. When you left, it felt like someone had pushed me off of a cliff.”
    She stepped closer but not near enough for me to touch her. The familiar scent of her perfume filled the air, and I closed my eyes for a second trying to remember what if felt like to hold her. She’d always felt frail and perfect in my arms.
    “You called it off before I left. I took the internship to better myself. It was for us, but you were so fucking pigheaded,” she broke into a sob. She wiped clumsily at a tear and shook her head. “I told myself I wasn’t going to cry. How do you always manage to make me cry?”
    “I don’t mean to, Cass. I’ve never wanted to hurt you.” I stared at her and my own agony seemed mirrored in her expression. “I learned from a young age to put up my defenses early. I knew once you left, you’d be gone for good. Breaking it off was my way of dealing with it.”
    “I had no intention of leaving you for good.” A sad laugh spurted from her lips. “I worked hard to get your attention, Dray, because I was fucking nuts about you.” She sucked in a long breath. “But now I know it just wasn’t meant to be. I’ve been offered a job at a prestigious magazine . . . in New York.”
    This time I took an invisible punch to the gut. “So, why did you come here?” The pain of her leaving still felt like a fresh wound, and, now, she’d stung me again. I couldn’t keep the ice out of my tone.
    “Because for some stupid ass reason I thought telling you in a text would be harsh. But, apparently, I’ve wasted my time. I’m done here.” She attempted to storm past me. I reached out and took hold of her arm, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at her face.
    Like a heartbroken coward I stared down at the ground. “Is there someone else?” I needed to know. I found the courage to lift my eyes to her.
    She bit her bottom lip, which was more response than I needed. I unwrapped my fingers from her arm, but she didn’t move.
    “I have never cared about anyone like I have for you, Dray, but while I was away, I realized that everything about our relationship was lopsided.” She turned and headed for the sliding door.
    “Three times,” I said quietly.
    She stopped and looked back at me. “What?”
    “Three times, that’s how many times you tap a pen on your chin when you’re thinking hard. Not two, never four, three times exactly— every time.” Her bottom lip trembled. I wanted to kiss her, but I’d lost that privilege months ago. “You’re wrong if you think I’ve ever looked past you, Cassie. I saw you every time.”
    Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I wish you the best,