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I shrug again but this time he takes my chin and gently pulls my eyes up to his.
“Tell me,” he demands in that sweet voice that he knows will get him exactly what he wants.
“I’m afraid they hate me,” I admit.
“Why would they hate you?” he questions and from the genuine concern in his voice, I know he honestly has no idea why they would hate me.
“Because I left. Because I hurt you when I went with Steven.”
His name is like acid in my mouth but Cash just takes my jaw and gently kisses my lips before laying his forehead on mine.
“You have nothing to worry about—”
I go to interrupt him but he kisses me once more to shut me up.
“They never blamed you for what you did. They blamed me.”
I furrow my brow because that makes no sense.
“They all knew how I felt about you, they all told me to man up and tell you before it was too late and I didn’t. What I felt when you left is not on you, baby. My heart breaking was my own doing, not yours, okay?”
God, could he get any more perfect? I nod, falling a little bit more in love with him.
“Okay,” I whisper, kissing him lightly and getting up off the bed, and heading into the bathroom to have my own shower.
“So, you’re good with going to Drew’s tonight?”
I nod, knowing that he wants me there and right now I will do just about anything for this man. He gives me that sexy smile that causes my knees to weaken and then heads back into the closet. As I close the bathroom door behind me, leaning back and closing my eyes, I think back to the text messages. I know I need to tell Cash about them. But I don’t want to ruin his dinner tonight, so I make a promise to myself to tell him tomorrow.
Cash
I know something is bothering her. I saw it the second I came out of the bathroom and saw the way she was staring at her phone. I see it again as we get in the car and drive toward Drew’s house for dinner; that faraway distant look I know all too well. It’s taking every ounce of my self-control not to pester her into telling me what’s bothering her. Every curt smile, every small flinch I see in her causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. Yet that small voice in the back of my head that remembers old-school Hannah, reminds me that I can’t push her. Yelling at her or forcing her to give you any kind of information she doesn’t want to tell will only lead to silence and being kept in the dark. So, I do the only thing I can right now, I sit beside her in my truck and drive her to my best friend’s house.
“I can feel you staring at me,” she mutters, her eyes never leaving the passenger side window as if what she’s looking at might disappear if she turns her head my way.
“Is it a crime to want to look at you?” I tease, hoping that gives me the opening I need but all I get in return is some side-eye and then she goes back to looking out the window. “Baby, I know something is bothering you.”
She opens her mouth to say something and I know it’s to tell me to fuck off, but I hold up my hand to stop her.
“Before you get mad at me for asking, I’m not going to ask what’s wrong. I just want you to know that I understand and that I’m here when you’re ready.”
The silence that follows is almost deafening but when she turns toward me, gracing me with that sweet smile that made me fall in love with her all those years ago, I know I said the right thing.
“You know, if you keep this up, I might just fall even more in love with you.” The teasing tone in her voice tells me that she is not ready to hear just how in love with her I already am, so I slightly tilt my head and give her my very best smile.
“That’s the plan.” I wink, going back to driving and chuckling to myself when her mouth hangs open and we continue on in blissful silence.
Chaos.
That’s the only way I can describe the dinner we are currently sitting through. I knew before we even got here that Hannah would fit right in, I knew that she would slide right back into where she belonged even after all these years, but what I didn’t expect was the blast from the past that came with her being around again. Hours of old stories coming to light as every single one of my friends decided to tell the tale of what I’ve been up to these past five years.
“So how did you guys meet Lucas since I know he wasn’t around when I was here last?” she jokes, sadness flickering over Lucas’s face and I berate myself for not explaining more about Lucas’s situation before coming here.
“I knew the guys from summer camp over the years.” His eyes flicker between Mark and Max, who are the ones that introduced us. “After a while, I moved up here to get a fresh start and decided to meet up with them again.”
Hannah smiles, completely oblivious to the turmoil behind his eyes. To be fair, we’re used to that look, the one he gets every once in a while, when we’re all around, talking about our families, but for Hannah, this is all new so all of that just washes right over her.
“You have no idea how mopey this dude was when you left. I honestly thought I was going to have to take him to get checked out,” Mark says through his last mouthful of food.
