“Hey, Cass, it’s okay.” He leaned forward on the couch, his hand outstretched, though he didn’t quite touch her. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.” His fingertips rested on her knee, about as far as he could reach, and Cassidy desperately wished she was in his arms again. The pain inside of her may have been caused by another guy, but it was Brandon’s arms that had held her together in the past when she felt as if she were falling apart. Still, it seemed wrong to ask him to wrap her up when she was about to disclose information to him that very well could make him feel exactly the way she was feeling at the moment.
With another deep breath, she looked him in the eye and slowly opened up. “You were right about Alex.” She watched him start to attempt to decipher what that meant, his eyes shifting slightly with the news. “I had no idea how he felt about me when he was still here, but the note he wrote me while he was dying left little doubt.”
Brandon slowly shifted backward on the couch, his hands coming up to his face, and he ran his fingers down the length from his nose to his chin before he rested on the heels of his hands. “Oh.” His head rocked back and forth slightly. “And... you had feelings for him, too.”
“Not exactly,” she said quickly. “I was your girlfriend. And I loved you. If anything, it was like a celebrity crush. Never, in all of the time that I knew him, did I ever let myself wonder what it would be like if I was dating him instead of you. It’s sort of like Lucy having a crush on Aaron. But she’d never actually try to pursue it because that would be pointless and stupid.”
“I’ve actually seen that girl drool over him,” Brandon reminded her. “Like, saliva, coming out of her mouth.”
“Okay, maybe that was a bad example. I didn’t drool over Alex. I just liked being in his company. I found him fascinating. We were friends, as best as I could tell, and I knew he wasn’t planning on being around forever. So... I didn’t think about actually trying to be with him. I wasn’t planning on breaking up with you to date him or anything.”
“But if he hadn’t died, and he would’ve told you how he felt, would you have?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Cassidy’s answer came quickly. But then, he raised an eyebrow at her, and she dug a little deeper. “I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s not what has me feeling the way I am. I know I miss him—he was a good friend. I think it’s just... the possibility that there may be someone else out there that I haven’t met yet has me wondering what might happen if you and I commit to each other too quickly. You could meet someone else, for that matter.”
“I don’t want to meet someone else, Cass. There’s not a girl alive on this planet I’d rather be with than you.”
“There might be. You haven’t met all of the girls on the planet.”
“I don’t have to meet them.” He was scoffing at her, like she was ridiculous. “God couldn’t create a girl I’d rather be with than you, Cassidy Findley.” His resolve was strong as his eyes didn’t waver from hers, and Cassidy wanted to both kiss him and punch him for being so romantic at the same time, especially since she couldn’t quite say the same thing.
She wanted to, though. “I think you’re pretty perfect, too, Brandon. I just don’t know what the future holds. And I’m not planning on getting married more than once. Unless... you know.”
He nodded. He knew what she meant—only if her first husband died. “We don’t have to get married any time soon, Cass.”
“I know we don’t have to. I just get nervous that... what if I meet someone and you and I are together, and I do start to wonder about being with that guy? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Not being with you hurts me, Cass. I’d rather be with you for a day when you’re my girl than be apart from you to spare the suffering of losing you the day after.”
He was being so sweet, so sincere, she couldn’t help but feel her heartstrings lurching right out of her chest. What he was saying made perfect sense. Why would she put off being with someone she loved now for the chance she might meet someone else later? If that happened, they could figure it out then, right? And did it even matter what she would’ve done if Alex were still alive and told her how he felt? All of that was in the past now. Alex was dead, and this time, he wasn’t coming back.
“Listen, you,” Brandon said, dropping onto his knees and scooching over to her. He reached for her hand, and she gave it to him. “I love you. And I’m sorry I didn’t know how to give you the space you needed to help Christian without giving you too much space. But if you start to feel like there’s someone else... you can talk to me about it. Sure, I’ll be jealous as hell, but I’d rather know what’s going on inside of that beautiful head of yours than have to guess and worry. Unlike some people, I cannot read minds.”
The feel of his hand on hers was warmth and comfort. “Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll keep that in mind. And if you find another girl you think is hotter than me, you tell me, too, so I can levitate her off of a tall building.”
Brandon chuckled, leaning closer to her. She could smell his cologne, mixed with mint and pepperoni, all mingling together to welcome her home. He reached up and lifted her chin, continuing to draw closer. “I love you, Cass.”
“I love you, too.” She was caught in his eyes now and wouldn’t have been able to break free no matter how strong her powers.
“Wanna be my girl again?”
“Yes, please.”
He grinned at her and gently tugged her closer as he closed the gap between them, his lips claiming hers, and Cassidy slid her arms around him, so glad to have finally unburdened herself to the one person she should’ve known would’ve been there for her, no matter how dark the secrets she kept.
