Roman and the Hopeless Romantic (Gulf City High Book 2) Page 10

  Roman took off running, finally snatching it off the ground. Cassie panted as she caught up to him. “Thanks.” She set the sunglasses back on her face.

  He held the hat out, watching her push long, chocolate hair out of the way as it swished around her shoulders.

  She wore a simple pair of old jean shorts and a black sweatshirt, much different from what most of the girls at school would choose. Even in the chilly February air, they’d want to show off their bikinis.

  Cassie offered him a shy smile, her hands clenching the rim of the hat as she put it back on her head.

  Without thinking, he reached forward and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She stilled. “You can’t do that.”

  He pulled his hand away. “Don’t say that.”

  “I’m just being honest.”

  “Right, like your therapist told you to be.”

  She nodded, her eyes drifting to the vast sea. Waves crashed on the shore, providing the backdrop to a perfect Sunday afternoon.

  “Is it working?” he asked.

  “I think so. I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”

  He smiled. “Yeah… I’m glad.”

  She returned his smile before looking away again. “Me too. Look, about last night. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re… sorry?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know what came over me. I shouldn’t have put you in that position. It won’t happen again.”

  “Oh, okay. Good?” What else was he supposed to say? She was sorry for kissing him.

  She went on. “I just don’t want things to be awkward between us.”

  “What’s awkward? It’s not like you tried to hide in your room all day or anything.” He laughed.

  “Okay, I know. Totally my fault. Can we try to be friends?”

  “Cass… I’ve always been your friend. Even when you shut me out and put this wall between us, that didn’t change.”

  Her lips curved up. “I’ll rephrase then. I want to be your friend again. I think I’m ready.”

  He slid his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side, a grin splitting his lips. “Cassie and Roman, together again. Watch out world.”

  She groaned. “I don’t think I’m ready for the world yet. But this is a step forward. Maybe one day I’ll be able to take another one.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I think my mom would have wanted that.”

  Before Roman could respond, Jesse yelled up the beach. “Roman! Cass! We need you.”

  This was what was so urgent? Jesse had to be kidding.

  “We’re going to race.” Jesse’s face lit up in excitement. “It was Hadley’s idea.”

  Roman shot Hadley a glare. Of course, it was her idea. That was why it was more than a simple footrace.

  Hadley shot him a grin. “It’s not my fault Jesse got all annoyed when I said you looked to be in better shape than him.” She shrugged as if she hadn’t known her words would egg him on.

  Jesse continued. “We’re going to race from the edge of the parking lot to where the markers are down the beach.”

  Roman eyed his friend. “What’s the catch?” It wasn’t a far enough distance to just be a footrace.

  Hadley’s eyes sparkled as she looked at each of them. “You have to carry someone on your back.”

  “Let me get this straight… you want me to run while giving you a piggyback ride?”

  She laughed. “Nope. I’m the judge.” Mischief flashed across her face. “Cassie will be your partner.”

  Cassie’s face paled. “What… no…”

  Charlotte crossed toward her. “Come on, Cass. It’ll be fun. The boys have to do all the work.”

  Cassie’s eyes stayed wide, but she nodded. None of them understood why she’d trusted Charlotte since the day she met her, but Roman was glad to see someone else watching out for her.

  They lined up parallel to the edge of the parking lot. Charlotte climbed onto Jesse’s back.

  “Come on, Cass, just like old times.” Roman gave her a lopsided grin. “We can beat them.”

  She walked around behind him. It was a familiar position because he used to give her piggyback rides from the time he could first lift her. They were pros.

  Cassie wrapped her arms around his shoulders and jumped. He caught her legs at his waist, holding her in place. She rested her chin on his shoulder for just a moment before whispering in his ear. “Let’s beat them.”

  A grin slid across his face. His competitive Cassie was back. “You got it.”

  He hoisted her weight higher and waited for Hadley to drop her arm. When she did, he took off, the sand making it harder to run. Cassie bounced against his back, her laughter ringing in his ears propelling him on.

  He’d give anything to see the genuine smile he knew was on her face. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard her laugh like that, but he didn’t want to let her down. Glancing sideways, he noticed Jesse only a step behind him, Charlotte clinging to him.

  Pumping his legs faster, he sped up, never loosening his grip on Cassie’s legs.

  Hadley cheered them on, jumping up and down near the finish line.

  Almost there.

  “Go, go, go!” Cassie screamed.

  His chest heaved. He was used to running for hockey, but not with an entire person weighing him down. His heart hammered against his ribs as he tore past Hadley, only a few steps before Jesse.

  His knees gave out, and he stumbled, trying not to drop Cassie. He pitched forward, unable to stop himself from falling. Cassie landed on top of him, stealing the breath from his lungs.

  She didn’t move for a long moment before scrambling off him and turning him over. “Roman, are you okay?” Her voice floated in and out of his mind.

  “Roman,” she said again, slapping his stomach.

  Finally, his lungs expanded. “Stop hitting me. I’m alive.”

  She swatted him again. “Jerk.” Next time she tried to poke him, he grabbed her arm and hauled her down on top of him, digging his fingers into her sides.

  Laughter burst out of her. “Laffy Taffy!”

  That was their safe word when they were younger and would have epic wrestling matches. She’d loved Laffy Taffy, the gross banana ones.

  She didn’t roll off him, their faces hovering only inches apart. He’d have given anything to close that gap, to repeat the night before.

  But that wasn’t what she needed, so he broke the connection and rolled her into the sand.

  When he sat up, he found Jesse, Charlotte, and Hadley all watching them.

  Roman stood and dusted the sand from his shorts before extending a hand down to Cassie. She pulled herself up, seemingly oblivious to the eyes on them.

  But that was probably a good thing.

  15

  Cassie

  Valentine’s Day. The day everyone fell into one of three camps.

  1. They were in love and spent way too much money on a Hallmark holiday.

  2. They were single and surrounded by obnoxious happy couples.

  3. They didn’t care about a stupid made up holiday.

  Cassie wanted to be number three. She told herself she was number three.

  But then she sat alone in her room with no company except her fictional men and the pictures on her wall of her mom.

  She walked over to study them, imagining what it would be like to have her there. For almost sixteen years, her mom surprised her with chocolate-covered caramels for Valentine’s Day. Okay, they weren’t a surprise when she did it every year.

  But the act made Cassie feel loved.

  Since then, her dad let the day pass without any acknowledgement of her mom’s favorite holiday. Jesse never put much stock in a day that celebrated love, though this year he’d better do it for Charlotte.

  Only Cassie lived with hearts in her eyes and cracks in her heart. Her fingers worked the buttons on her plaid shirt before she stepped into her slip-on shoes. Fridays meant going to see Annie, but she didn’t know who was taking her. Maybe
Mary.

  One of these days, she had to start driving again. Just the thought of it sent a chill racing up her spine. Only five days ago, she’d clung to Roman as he raced down the beach, laughing and trying to keep her hat on her head. For a few hours, it was almost like she could be herself again.

  But then they’d gotten home, and she’d retreated to her room, exhausted from all the peopling. Yet, she couldn’t wait to tell Annie about her week. She spent each evening hanging out with Roman and her brothers in the living room, watching hockey or movies. Her silence didn’t return. When she was with them, there were no nerves, the anxiety belonged to someone else.

  Tying her hair back out of her face, she grabbed her purse and yanked open her bedroom door. As she took a step, her toe hit a box on the ground.

  Peering down, she brushed her bangs back to read the name on the top. Godiva.

  Her lips curved into a smile as she bent to pick it up. She pulled off the envelope taped to the top and pulled out the card.

  Just like Mom used to buy.

  Holding the card between her teeth, she pulled off the top of the box to find rows and rows of chocolate covered caramels. They were the only kind of fancy chocolates she liked, a fact her mom knew. Each year, she had to order a box special to make sure it was right.

  Only one other person could have known to do this.

  Dad.

  To some people, it may have been a small thing, but to her it was everything. The man who kept to himself, out of his children’s lives, remembered something so specific.

  He was aloof, sometimes cold, but maybe there was life left in him yet. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. Closing the lid, she held the box to her chest and descended the stairs.

  Mary puttered around the kitchen, finishing the boys’ lunches. Jesse and Roman were already gone for the day.

  “What do you have there?” Mary asked.

  Cassie set the box on the counter and smiled. “Caramels like my mom used to give me.”

  The office door opened, and her dad walked out dressed in a suit and tie. Cassie couldn’t stop herself from crossing the room and wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug. “Hi, Dad.”

  He patted her back. “Morning, Cass.” He looked to Mary in question.

  “Don’t ask me.” Mary laughed. “I’m just happy the girl is smiling.”

  Cassie’s dad pried her off him and held her at arm’s length. “What’s wrong? You look like you want to cry.”

  Cassie wiped her eyes. “Nothing. This time what matters is what’s right.”

  “I’m not going to pretend I understand that, but are you ready? I’m taking you to your appointment.”

  “Yeah, I’m ready.” She couldn’t remember the last time she smiled so much at her dad or smiled so much in general. She always believed life shifts could be felt. Her entire world changed when her mom was struck with that bullet… and it ripped open her soul.

  But this time, the change was more subtle. Damage happened with the force of a bludgeon. Healing came with the calm of a glassy sea.

  She snagged a caramel on the way out the door, but when she bit into it, it wasn’t her mom taking up her thoughts. Her mom was gone, but maybe her dad wasn’t as far away as he seemed.

  The ride to Annie’s office was quiet, but the comfortable sort of quiet that existed between them.

  “Thanks, Dad.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid from the car.

  “Cass?”

  She turned back to the car.

  “It’s nice to see you happy again. It reminds me of your mom.” His lips curved up into an unnatural smile.

  The lightness inside her didn’t go away as the receptionist showed her into Annie’s office. It must have shown on her face, because Annie smiled. “I take it the honesty thing has gone well?”

  Cassie threw herself on the couch, remembering the first thing she’d done in her honesty assignment—ask Roman to kiss her. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” In a single week, she’d mended things with Roman, talked to Jesse about their mom for the first time in a while, and actually hugged her dad. It was a start.

  She told Annie everything, leaving nothing out. By the end, Annie’s smile stretched from one ear to the other. “Cassie, I don’t know if you realize how big of a leap you’ve taken in a single week. You’ve been coming to me for almost two years now, and this is the break we’ve been waiting for. You tackled your first big wall, now, we head for the second one.”

  Cassie sat up. “Can’t we just be happy with this for a while?”

  “Our aim is to always move forward. This week, I have two assignments for you.”

  “That seems like a bit much.” She was happy staying at home and reveling in her recent success. But that wasn’t what her dad paid Annie for.

  “You and I have spoken of a lot of things in your life and the night of your trauma. It’s time to push the event into your past.”

  “I don’t want to forget.”

  “This isn’t about forgetting, if that were even possible. Find something that reminds you of what happened and get rid of it. Remove it from your life. I don’t expect it to erase your memory. It’s more of a symbolic gesture. Once you are able to let go, the event can become more of a memory and less of a present trauma.”

  Cassie breathed out slowly. “I think I can do that. No, I know I can. I’m ready.”

  She nodded. “I know you are.”

  “What’s the second task?”

  Annie tapped her pen against her notepad. “Say yes.”

  “What?” Cassie stilled her fidgeting.

  “It’s time you become a part of the world again. Like the honesty assignment, this is about not letting your worries and your fears guide your words or actions. I want you to accept the next invitation you receive to go out in public—granted it’s with someone you trust.”

  Cassie couldn’t breathe. Public? Where anything could happen?

  “Remember your breathing exercises.” Annie’s voice barely penetrated her panicking mind. “Calm yourself, control the nerves.”

  Cassie followed her directive until her breathing evened enough for her to push out the words “I’ll try.”

  Annie smiled. “That’s all I can ask.”

  Their time ended, and Cassie practically ran from the building to find her dad waiting for her. His familiar form hunched over a newspaper in the driver’s seat of his black Ford Escape.

  She climbed into the car, and he folded the paper.

  “How did it go?”

  The question surprised her. Her dad didn’t show much interest in her sessions except to pay the bill every month. But what had Annie said last week? Something about her dad calling her.

  She offered him a tentative smile, thinking of the assignments Annie gave her. She swallowed down the emotion thickening in her throat. “Good. It went good.”

  If she managed to succeed this week, it would be a miracle.

  16

  Roman

  The cheerleaders burst into the classroom for the third time during the day. They’d interrupted homeroom twice and now Chem.

  Such was the way at Gulf City High on Valentine’s Day when every eye was on the people walking around with chocolate roses clutched in their hands.

  Roman wished Cassie went to their school so he could send one to her. That would set the school buzzing. Because the elusive Roman Sullivan never sent roses to anyone.

  Charlotte leaned over to kiss Jesse when a red-headed underclassman placed a rose on her desk before moving to Roman’s where she set two.

  Roman groaned. It was the fourth and fifth rose he’d received. Two had been unsigned, one was from the head cheerleader he’d once had a hookup thing with.

  He opened the tiny card attached to the first.

  Hope you like chocolate. Hoping for a rose from you. <3

  - Tricia Garret

  The underclassman who’d just put it there. She finished passing out the ro
ses and looked back at him, waiting for him to say something.

  “Uh, thanks, Trish.” He gave her a lopsided smile.

  Red flooded her cheeks, and she ran from the room.

  Hadley bumped Roman’s shoulder. “I think you just made the poor girl’s day.”

  Roman sighed. “She doesn’t know me.”

  “That’s the point. If she did, no way she’d have her little crush.”

  “I think that was an insult, but I’ll let you have it.” He’d been lab partners with Hadley since Jesse ditched him to fall head over heels for Charlotte. Not that he was complaining. Hadley made class a lot more entertaining.

  “Who is the other one from?” Hadley tried to steal it, and Roman swatted her hand away.

  “This morning needs to be over.” He opened the card.

  Roses are red.

  Violets are blue.

  Roman Sullivan is kinda coo.

  “Coo isn’t even a word.” He searched for a name but there was none.

  “Guess whoever sent it is just awesome enough to make up their own words.”

  He turned to look at her, but she refused to meet his eyes. “This one is from you.”

  She snatched the rose. “Okay, fine. I wanted to make sure I got a chocolate fix today and would have looked pathetic sending it to myself. So, I bought it after school yesterday hoping you’d get it in Chem.”

  “Wow.” He couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re a ridiculous person.”

  She pulled the foil off the rose. “Yes, but a ridiculous person who now has chocolate.”

  “How did you not get any roses today? Half the school is in love with you.”

  She shrugged. “Correction. Half the school is terrified of me.”

  He couldn’t refute that. Being friends with Hadley was like living on a roller coaster, lots of highs but also scary free falls. He couldn’t imagine what dating her was like.

  Her mouth was full of chocolate when she spoke again. “You give anyone chocolate today?”

  He shook his head. He hadn’t sent any roses, but he wasn’t exactly telling the truth. Before leaving the Carrigan house this morning, he’d left a box of chocolate covered caramels in front of Cassie’s door. Her mom used to get them for her every year.