Forget About It

by Jessie Harper

  30

  Graham

  Keeping my distance like Cassie asked isn’t easy. There’s the excruciating photo shoot that requires us to pose with the rest of the bridal party. Then we’re forced to stand next to each other for the entire ceremony. I stare at her shoulder and focus on breathing in and out, keeping my hands at my sides so I don’t accidentally reach out to run my fingers along the little patch of freckles positioned next to the strap of her dress. Noah and Charlie provide a welcome distraction after they fidget their way down the aisle and come to stand between us. When they move to stand with Zach and Julia for the vows I go back to my fixation on Cassie’s shoulder.

  At the reception I don’t ask her to dance. There’s no way I could keep my hands to myself and there’s no way everyone here wouldn’t know how I feel about her. Everyone except Cassie, that is, since she never lets me tell her. I spend most of my time entertaining Charlie and Noah, dancing with the contingent of moms, and hanging around the bar. I’m getting another refill when I notice Cassie sitting with one of Zach’s buddies. I linger at my end of the bar, watching them, trying not to let the burning ember of jealousy get the better of me. She’s laughing at whatever stupid thing he’s saying, tipping her head back enough that I can see him peering down the front of her dress. Inside I seethe, but I stay where I am.

  “How’s it going over here? Having a good time holding up the bar?” Julia’s father appears at my elbow. You would never guess he’s as stealthy as he is, but he’s managed to surprise me in many compromising situations since I was a teenager. It no longer catches me off guard that he can materialize out of nowhere, especially when I’m in danger of making a bad decision.

  “Sure,” I tell him, never taking my eyes off Cassie. “Do you need drinks?” I motion for the bartender closest to us as Cassie’s buddy orders a round of shots from the bartender at the other end. They throw them back, Cassie in good time girl mode, her hair spilling over her shoulder. When her sidekick’s hand comes out to brush a curl back from her neck, I have to grip the bar top to keep from moving over to them and ripping his arm off.

  “I do need to keep Frannie in Old Fashioneds,” Steve tells me, taking one look at my face and turning to see what’s got me annoyed. “Which one is that?” he asks before ordering his drinks.

  “Hmm?” I act like I have no idea what he’s talking about, but Steve’s no fool. He follows my line of sight and tips his chin in the direction of Cassie and her new friend.

  “That’s one of Zach’s friends over there with Cassie, right? Which one is he?” Steve leans against the bar as the bartender works behind him, mixing and shaking before sliding two glasses over.

  “That one’s Travis,” I grind out, still working to be the good boy I’ve promised I’d be. It’s getting harder and harder the longer I watch Cassie flirt with someone I know is a horrible choice.

  “That’s Travis?” Steve lets out a low whistle. “I thought we weren’t too fond of him.”

  That’s the understatement of the year, especially right now as Travis scoots his bar stool closer to her, effectively caging Cassie in with his legs. “We don’t like him at all,” I concede, staying where I am, digging my fingers into the edge of the bar so tightly I’m surprised there aren’t permanent marks.

  “Then you should probably go and get your girl.” Steve sips on his drink.

  I turn my face toward him. “Cassie’s not my girl.”

  “Well, she could be if you’d stop waiting around for her to make the decision. Don’t act so surprised. Anyone can see you mooning over her. If angry looks could kill, Travis’d be dead ten times over. And your agent is terrible at keeping secrets.”

  I sigh. Fucking sigh. Obviously I’ve got it bad. There’s no use trying to hide it from the man who’s been the most stable male figure in my life. Steve knows. And if Steve knows then other people know too even if Cassie wants to pretend this is all still a big secret. “She asked me to leave her alone, at least until after the wedding.”

  “And how do you feel about that?” he asks over the rim of his glass.

  “Not great, but I get it. She doesn’t want to add drama to Julia’s wedding.”

  “And how do you feel about that?” Steve gestures toward Cassie and Travis and the ever-shrinking space between them.

  “Also not great.” I take a gulp of my drink. The whiskey scorches as it heads down my throat, but even that’s a welcome feeling compared to the anger slowly building in my chest. I watch as Travis orders them another round of shots and then lets his hand slide to the spot where Cassie’s dress leaves the creamy skin of her back exposed. When he does that, I feel my hands release the bar.

  “Graham,” Steve calls after me. “No fist fights at this wedding.” I give him a nod as he raises his glass toward me. I’ll try to settle this without punching Travis in the face.

  I’m next to them in two seconds, frowning at the offending hand. Cassie looks up, her face clouding when she sees me. I know what I’ve promised her, but I can’t keep myself from grabbing her bar stool and yanking it back to put a little space between them. Travis’ hand falls back into his lap where it belongs. I put my hand on Cassie’s shoulder and leave it there despite the annoyed look she gives me.

  “Hey, Graham,” Travis slurs at me. He’s three sheets to the wind. What the hell is Cassie doing over here with this jerk?

  “You two know each other?” Cassie asks, turning in her seat to give me another pointed look. She’s not happy I’ve interrupted and keeps trying to wiggle out of my grasp. I keep my hand on her. There’s no fucking way I’m going to give Travis another opportunity to touch her again.

  “Yeah, Graham comes to the gym sometimes when we have open sparring and stuff. He’s not half bad.” Travis’ explanation has Cassie raising an eyebrow.

  “You go to Zach’s gym? To spar?” She doesn’t seem convinced. It doesn’t help that I’ve never mentioned this to her. I’m going to have to explain myself later. That’s a conversation I dread having, but for now I’ve got to get her away from Travis and back where she belongs.

  “I used to. I haven’t gone in a while.” It’s the truth, but Cassie scoffs, reaching for her drink.

  “We miss you, man,” Travis tells me as he clamps a hand on my shoulder. “You should stop by when we get back. Now that you and Zach are like brothers-in-law or something.”

  I ignore Travis and his inane comments. Cassie at least has the good sense to roll her eyes at his stupid attempt at a joke. “You two look cozy over here,” I say. “I didn’t know you knew each other.”

  “We met at the engagement party,” Cassie volunteers and slides her hand over to squeeze Travis’ knee. I all but lurch forward to remove her hand. Cool it, Graham. No fist fights. Another promise getting harder and harder to keep.

  “We’re just hanging out. I’m trying to convince Cassie that this is the perfect night for skinny dipping.” Travis gives Cassie a suggestive glance and her cheeks pink up a bit. “We were just about to head down to the beach.”

  “To go skinny dipping?” I can barely get the words out. The idea of Cassie slithering out of her dress and running into the surf naked with Travis has me clenching my jaw hard enough to crack a tooth.

  I’m pretty sure Cassie’s not up for a skinny dipping adventure, but she stays silent. Maybe she’s as shocked as I am that Travis is playing the douche card so early in the evening. Maybe she’s thinking about taking him up on his offer. Regardless, it’s time for this shit to be finished.

  “Actually, I just came over to see if Cassie was ready to go home.” I give her shoulder a squeeze. “I’m pretty beat.”

  Cassie swivels to face me. “You’re beat?” she asks me, narrowing her eyes.

  “Yep. Really beat,” I tell her and watch her head tilt, considering what I’m telling her. “And since I’ve got the only key…” I leave that there for Travis to consider.

  “You guys are rooming together?” He’s beginning to catch on.

>   “Not really,” Cassie clarifies. “We’re sharing a villa but we’ve got separate bedrooms and bathrooms.” She glares at me.

  “Well, if you’re tired, I can make sure Cassie gets home safe,” Travis volunteers. “I’ll take good care of her. Scout’s honor.”

  I’m pretty sure this asshole was never a boy scout. “Thanks, but I think I’d feel better if Cassie came with me. You ready to go, baby?”

  She bristles at this, as expected. I wait for her snappy retort about how she’s not my baby, bracing for a possible punch in the gut and the opportunity to watch her leave the bar hand-in-hand with Travis. He’s waiting too, unsure how Cassie will decide to play things. I know she’s weighing her options, considering how best to handle me and the testosterone I’ve brought over here. If she goes with him, I’ll be right behind them even though I know better. Steve never stipulated that there couldn’t be a fight on the beach. If Travis so much as touches her again—or if he mentions the naked swimming—I won’t be able to control my fists. Already, the hand I’m not using to mark Cassie as my territory is balled dangerously tight. Travis might spend plenty of time learning tricks from Zach at the gym, but I’ve got a good thirty pounds on him, all of it muscle. And I have the added advantage of not being so drunk as not to understand that I’ve stepped in a hornets’ nest. Which Travis doesn’t seem to understand. At all.

  As if reading my mind, Cassie shifts gears. She slides her hand in mine and fakes a huge yawn. “I am pretty tired,” she concedes. “Not beat, exactly, but I could sleep.” She gives me an eye roll. “Zach and Julia are gone already so I guess we’re off the clock.”

  “Yeah, we are,” I agree. “But we still have to get up tomorrow for the brunch in the morning. Can’t miss that.”

  “That is pretty early.” Cassie’s suddenly amenable to whatever I suggest. “We should probably get back to the villa. And I’d hate to have to wake you to get in.”

  We’re the most reasonable people on the planet. Cassie stands, keeping her fingers laced in mine. “Thanks for hanging out, Travis. It was good to see you again.”

  “Sure. We should do it again once we’re back in town,” Travis tells her, glassy-eyed and red-cheeked from the alcohol. Of course he could be sunburned. He seems like the kind of guy to forget the sunscreen.

  “I don’t know about that, buddy.” It comes out more forcefully than it should and I wait for Cassie to react. When she doesn’t even flinch, I take that as permission to plow on ahead. “Cassie doesn’t have too much free time these days.” I stare him down, hoping that he gets the hint.

  It takes a minute, but then Travis’ face nearly explodes in recognition. “Ah, dude. I… I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have… I mean, shit.” He squirms a little in his seat and I enjoy every second of it.

  “No problem,” I tell him. The not-so-subtle subtext being stay the fuck away from her. “We’ll see you tomorrow.” Then I all but drag Cassie out into the night.

  The walk back to our villa isn’t a long one, but as I wait for Cassie to speak it feels like an eternity. I count the waves crashing on the beach to keep myself from blurting out something stupid, but I’m only delaying the inevitable. Cassie won’t want to hear anything but an apology and I’m not about to tell her I’m sorry for getting her away from Travis or for letting him in on our secret. Shockingly she leaves her hand wrapped up with mine until we reach our front door. It’s still warm enough that we could leave the windows open tonight if we wanted to, could even maybe jump in our little pool out back. But those are things a real couple would think about, not two people who are pretending not to even care if the other one exists.

  I pull the key card from my pocket and my fingers hit the tube of lipstick Cassie gave me earlier. The one she needed repeatedly throughout the day, ensuring I knew where she was all the time. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better excuse to follow her around. “I should give this back before I forget,” I say and hand it over. She reaches for the silver tube and her fingertips scrape my outstretched palm. Now we’re facing each other under the light of the porch, both hands touching.

  “Why did you do that back there?” Cassie asks, her hand still lingering with mine.

  “Do what?” There are so many possible things she could object to or question about what just happened that I’m afraid to volunteer too much too soon.

  “Why did you use the safe word?”

  “The safe word?” I feign ignorance.

  “Yes, the safe word. The word Julia and I use as our S.O.S. You told me you were beat. You know that’s the safe word.”

  “Is it?”

  “Don’t play dumb, Graham. I know Julia told you, since you’re all safety first. But it’s for emergencies, not just to get your way.”

  “That was an emergency!” Cassie has no idea how much of an emergency it was about to become if she had run off to get naked on the beach with that douche. “You were about to go skinny dipping with that asshole.”

  “He’s not that bad. Nothing would have happened.” She removes her hand and palms the lipstick.

  “You don’t know him the way I know him.” There’s no way to get her to understand without spelling it out. “He is the worst womanizer of the bunch. You should hear how he talks about the women he sleeps with. Total dick.”

  “And you know this from the times you went to Zach’s gym, right? To spar? Is that what they call it?” Cassie glares. “You never told me you were doing that.”

  “I haven’t done it in a while.” I stall. “And it isn’t like it was some big secret.”

  “Does Julia know you were doing that?”

  It’s a reasonable question, one I could easily deflect, but instead I quickly give Cassie more ammunition. “No, but Steve knew.”

  “Steve? What does Julia’s dad have to do with any of this?” Her other hand retreats and finds its familiar spot on her hip.

  “Nothing,” I lie. “I’m just saying it wasn’t a secret.” This does nothing to make Cassie relax. She swats me away when I reach for her hand.

  “You were going to Zach’s gym and you were talking about it with Steve.”

  “Sure. I mean, not talking about it exactly. I’m sure Zach told Julia. Like I said, it wasn’t a big thing.” I’m starting to sweat.

  “Were you and Steve spying on Zach?” Cassie asks with just a hint of disbelief.

  “No,” I sputter out. “Not exactly.” It had been Steve’s idea. After Julia’s first husband turned out to have a secret life, we both agreed it wouldn’t hurt to check Zach out a little. Not spying exactly, but just getting to know his friends, seeing him away from Julia and her family. The gym was the logical choice. He’d invited me to the informal nights he put together. I’d always declined because hanging out with the guy who was sleeping with Julia? No thanks. But Steve had made the point that I was the best candidate for the job. If Zach was an ass, if he had any secrets, it’d all come out with that group of guys. So I had swallowed my aversion and joined them for a couple of sessions.

  “What do you mean ‘not exactly’? Either you were there to wrestle, which I already know is highly unlikely, or you were there to check up on Zach. I’m not an idiot. You and Steve wanted to keep tabs on him. Get to know his friends, right?”

  “Something like that.” I know I’ve basically just signed my death warrant here. Cassie will be furious at the deception on Julia’s behalf. She’ll rail against the way Steve and I inserted ourselves into Julia’s private life, the way we took advantage of Zach’s good nature.

  “And?” Cassie asks, both hands on hips now.

  “And what?” Again, she could be asking about anything and I know I’m already dangerously close to the edge here.

  “And what did you find out?”

  “They got married today, didn’t they? If I’d found out something scandalous Steve never would have let her go through with it. Zach’s a nice guy. Genuinely nice. I can’t say the same for all of his friends.”

  “I’m sure yo
u were disappointed.” Cassie avoids eye contact and instead focuses on the still unopened door to our villa.

  “Disappointed? Why would I be disappointed?”

  “Because if there’d been a problem you could be with Julia now. That would have fixed everything for you.”

  “Cassie.” I don’t know what to say here. Can’t seem to convince her all of that is in the past. I might have wanted to be with Julia before, but now all I see is Cassie. Only her.

  “It’s okay,” she whispers before finding her voice again. “It’s fine.”

  “No, it isn’t. You aren’t understanding. I was only trying to protect her from what happened last time. I had feelings for her, you know that and I can’t change it, but I don’t have those same feelings now.”

  Cassie looks unconvinced. “But even after she’d rejected you again. Even after she chose someone else, you still tried to protect her. You still went out of your way to make sure she was safe.”

  “Of course.” This is what she’s focused on? “She’s my friend. Hell, she’s my family. I’d do anything to make sure she and the boys are safe. That her parents are taken care of.”

  “It must be nice to have someone to look out for you like that.” She says it sarcastically and I’m thrown.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You and Steve cooked up some sort of FBI level plan to get information about her fiancé and his friends. You race over whenever she needs help—whenever her father needs help. I’ve never had anyone do that for me.”

  “Are you kidding me, Cassie?” I almost shout. “What do you think I just did? What do you think I’ve been doing for the past few months? I’ve been trying to get you to let me in—to let me take care of you. How can you not see that? I was ready to beat the shit out of that guy tonight. That’s got nothing to do with Julia. That’s got everything to do with you.”

  Cassie’s eyes widen and her mouth flies open. She shakes her head. “No,” she tells me. “No.”