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I step into her. I grab her forearm with enough strength that she’s forced to look up into my eyes. “Test me, Cassandra.”
“I love it when your nostrils flare, Toro. You’re adorable when you get worked up. You know you’re the only man I have eyes for.” She snatches her arm from me, only to stand up on the tips of her toes and smack a kiss on my lips. I pull her to me before she can pull away, sliding my tongue in her mouth and marking her with my lips. I don’t release her until we’re both panting.
Her sass, this push, and pull between us. I will never get enough of it.
And, just like every other woman in the United States, Casey might think Damien is handsome, but I also know how she feels about men, and that trumps all. Casey fucking hates men. Trust me, I get my balls busted daily. I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment.
“When are we leaving?” she asks, still catching her breath.
She turns back to packing her things like she didn’t just rock my world with one single kiss.
I adjust my hardening dick in my sweatpants and follow her lead. I quickly finish up grabbing things for a weekend trip. I don’t know how long to expect to be gone. I don’t have a damn clue what I’m getting myself into. I just know that I have to go.
“I’ll call my mom. She’ll know where we need to go to get the test done. We can’t just show up at the hospital unannounced, as much as that’s what I’d like to do. That won’t go over well. I’ve tried that method before and failed miserably. I don’t want to be shut out again. She’s my blood too. She’s my niece. Maybe she doesn’t know me, but I feel like this is something I need to do. It’s something I have to do.” I zip my bag closed and start changing out of my sweatpants into a pair of jeans and a black polo shirt that will be suitable for the flight, and whatever we might encounter once we get there.
“And if you’re not a match?” Casey asks, blatantly, not dancing around the truth.
I consider the answer to that question. That I could do all of this, and not be able to help. That we could be so close, but not close enough. Our family is already broken, it’s been broken for years. What do I have to lose?
“We come home.”
That’s the fucking reality of our situation. I haven’t seen my sister in person in nearly a decade. I haven’t hugged her. I haven’t been there for the important moments in her life. And my brother? The man that was my best friend? I don’t even want to go there again. I can’t go there. I can’t let my mind take me to that place, not right now.
“Just that easy, huh?” Casey sees the truth that I’m hiding. She can see right through me.
She doesn’t just want to go with me because Damien is a professional hockey player. She jokes about his good looks, but there’s nothing there past that. She’s just teasing. What she wants to see? Reconciliation. She’s mentioned it a few or fifty times since I shared my story with her.
She has her own family drama to deal with, but for some reason, she fixates on fixing mine. Years ago, I fucked up. Regret is an ugly thing to have to live with.
“You saw his team there. They’re a brotherhood. He was my brother, but that was a long time ago. They don’t need me anymore. They’re doing just fine without me. I’m doing this for Astria. That’s it. Don’t get any wild ideas.” Like forming a coalition to stage an intervention and try to make us all kiss and make up. We’re past that. That’s never going to happen.
“You’re doing something honorable; you know that?” She closes up her suitcase, placing it on the ground next to our feet, and walks toward me. She stops in front of me and runs her fingers over the lines that crease my forehead with worry.
I take her hand in mine, pulling it down and staring into her palm as if it holds all of the answers to life that I’m searching for. “It’s what family does. It’s what I should have done years ago. I owe it to Astria to try.”
And that’s the truth of the matter. I might have destroyed my relationship with my sister and my best friend, but I owe it to my niece to do what I can to try and help her.
“You’re right, and I’ll try too. I’d like to be tested as well.” Casey says seriously. She laces our hands together.
“Really?” I squeeze her fingers and lean down to meet her at eye level. I shoot for levity, channeling the banter that flows so well between us. It’s familiar and comfortable. Easy. I have a feeling what we’re walking into is heavy, and I’m not ready for life to become heavy just yet. “Your bone marrow is probably black, like your heart. I’m not sure I want that inside of my niece.” She huffs and I smile. Mission accomplished.
I kiss her on the nose before releasing her hand and picking up our bags. I need to make some phone calls.
“Why was I just being nice to you?” She smacks me on the ass as I walk by her with our things, prepared to leave. “This is why I’m mean. Men are pigs.” She mumbles, but she follows me anyway.
If she keeps this up all the way to the airport, I’ll show her mean. She’s a frequent flyer of the Tyler Patterson Mile High Club – members’ only party of one, Cassandra Elyse Stafford.
Hell, I hope she does keep it up. I need the distraction.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Gia
I hear the incessant vibrating of my phone against the granite countertop from across the island. I rush around the kitchen in sock-covered feet to grab it before it goes to voicemail, while also trying not to slip and fall down. I really don’t need to add a broken hip to the list of things we’re dealing with at the moment.
It’s Saturday morning, and Astria and I are taking it slow today. I’m wearing a pair of sleep shorts and one of Damien’s old practice T-shirts. My hair is an absolute wreck that I’m certain only a bird looking for a home might find appealing.
Astria woke up with a headache. A direct result of her overdoing it at practice. She insisted on attending practice. You can’t tell that girl anything, and I don’t have the heart to pull her from something she loves until I absolutely have to.
