Page 18 of Off The Ice

Okay,thatpissed me the hell off. Reading the text, I gripped my phone until my knuckles whitened, thinking I should probably just leave it be.

But what type of asshole hooks up with a girl the night after his six-year relationship ends? Had he been seeing her before he ended things with Cassie?

Without thinking, I texted back the most important question running through my mind.

LIAM:Where is she now?

A minute later, the answer came in the form of a picture. I clicked on it to see a shot of Cassie sitting on Maggie’s couch. Her blond curls were pulled on top of her head while she stared off vacantly at the TV, hugging a pillow to her chest. I zoomed in, like the maniac I am, and noticed her eyes were red. No doubt from a day of crying over that dick.

I felt something shift in me when I saw she was still wearing the clothes I’d given her last night. Before I knew what I was doing, I sent my reply.

LIAM:Bring her back to my place. I’ll be home late.

I watched the three dots appear, disappear, and appear again.

MAGGIE:I don’t know. She said something about how it wasn’t going to work out.

I clenched my jaw, not knowing anything besides the fact that I didn’t want the girl in that photo to worry about where she was going to stay on top of everything else going on in her life.

LIAM:Well, it is. Just bring her over and make her comfortable.

I stared down at my phone intensely, waiting for confirmation from Maggie. A minute passed, then two, and I felt a strange anxiety course through me. It was ridiculous.

Maggie’s reply came through a few minutes later, and I felt my body finally relax.

MAGGIE:If you’re sure

LIAM:I am.

It was settled. Maggie was going to bring Cassie back, she could take her time recovering from that douchebag in peace, and all would be right in the world.

Feeling more in control of my headspace, I downed the rest of my water, put my helmet back on, and took off for the ice.

This time, the cloud that had been over my mind was gone.

Chapter Seven

Cassie

Idon’t know how it happened, but somehow, I ended up back at Liam’s for the second night in a row, looking far worse for wear after another emotionally traumatizing day.

Something inside me had broken, shattering whatever delusional hope I’d been clinging to about the possibility of Dave and me getting back together.

I’d been stupid to think he would regret it. To think we’d be fine once we saw each other again. I went in with hope in my heart and a grand speech prepared until I saw him.

And her.

In our bed, sleeping.

I nearly threw up.

And what’s worse? He didn’t even know I was there. The two of them slept through the whole thing, even though the soundof my heart shattering should’ve been loud enough to wake the neighborhood.

With tears streaming down my face, I took off, not bothering to grab any of my stuff. All I wanted was to get out of there as fast as humanly possible and never go back.

I sat in my car, sobbing, my heart threatening to burst free from the chest that caged it, while I called the only person I could. At once, Maggie swooped in with a plan. Which is how I ended up calling out of work, driving to her house, and crying on her couch while we watched romcoms all day.

She didn’t try to offer me any advice or words of comfort. She knew I wasn’t ready for that yet. Instead, we sat in comfortable silence as the September sky turned to night, and I realized that Ireallyneeded a plan now that everything between Dave and me was officially dead.

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