Her laughter is quieter this time, a little embarrassed. “Because you apologized to J and Amber, said you were sorry. And because Ev and Shane vouched for you.”
Maybe it’s the phrasing that makes me want to kick something. Vouched for me like I’m a criminal out on probation.
But I’m starting to get it, starting to realize just how bad I screwed up with Jesse and Amber, today more than ever, and… and I can’t help the warm feeling in my chest when I think Shane said good things about me.
Aw shucks. Does that mean he likes me after all?
“Cassie?” Dakota clears her throat. “Does this mean you don’t want to come, or…?”
“I do,” I say, before my courage deserts me. “I do want to come. Shane is going, right?”
“Yes, he is. At least he said he was. I think.” She pauses. “You really like that boy, don’t you?”
I swallow hard. “I do.”
“He seems to like you, too. Why don’t you ask him yourself if he’s coming?”
“I don’t even have his phone number.” And what does that say about our so-called friendship, after all this time? “As for him liking me… not so sure, you know? Anyway… Thank you for the invitation.”
Someone taps me on the shoulder, and I turn around, the cell pressed to my ear, my coffee sloshing in the plastic cup.
“If you wanted my number,” Shane says, head cocked to the side as he looks down at me from his six-foot-two height, dark hair draped over one muscular shoulder, “you could just ask.”
Chapter Five
Shane
She’s staring at me like I’ve grown a second head. Did I hear her wrong? Didn’t she say she wanted my number?
I replay her words in my head and wince.
No, she said she didn’t have my number, and that she didn’t know if… she likes me? Oh, hell. I’m already backpedaling, sure now I’ve put my fucking foot in my mouth.
“Shane.” She puts her cell phone away in her pocket and steps toward me, blue eyes wide. “So it was you.”
No idea what the fuck she’s talking about. I adjust my duffel bag on my shoulder, wincing as the strap digs into the bruises from my fall, and rub a hand over my mouth.
“This is my gym,” I finally say.
She nods. “Yeah. Seth said something like that. Well, I work here now.” She takes another step toward me—then another girl bumps into her from behind, and the cup she’s holding drops, splashing all over the floor.
Next thing I know, she’s toppling over, too, eyes wide, and I make a grab for her. I catch her and twist my body to cushion her fall. We go down, and my back slams down as she lands on top of me.
The air is knocked out of my lungs, leaving me stunned. Then the pain hits, blacking my vision out for a long moment.
Bruises, meet the floor. Floor, meet my bruises.
Ah fuck.
“Shane?” Cassie scrambles off me, a good thing all things considered. Freaking out on top of everything would suck ass. “Oh God. You all right? Crap, your back! I didn’t—”
“’M okay.” I grunt, trying to remember how to breathe and speak at the same time. “You?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m fine, because you took the brunt of the fall, and I’m not saying I’m not grateful, because oh boy I am, but your back.” She bites her lip, fists her hands, and I have a sudden urge to laugh.
Or kiss her.
Not good. In fact I should get off the floor before a flashback hits me. That wouldn’t be funny at all.