Page 1 of Roman and the Hopeless Romantic
Cassie
Just one more page.
Cassie Carrigan glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table, realizing she should have left for her appointment five minutes ago.
But she couldn’t stop now. The book was just getting good, and she didn’t want to go talk about crappy things with her therapist unless she had a firm picture of first kisses in her mind.
She rolled onto her stomach, her feet kicked up behind her as she chose to live in her bubble for a little while longer. In her world of books and love stories, she could pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.
There were no murdered mothers. No absent fathers. She wasn’t the girl who could barely leave the house without having a full-blown panic attack.
She imagined herself in these stories, falling in love with each new book boyfriend.
She’d admit it. Cassie was obsessed with love. It didn’t matter the genre, if the love story was strong, she devoured it.
From gallant heroes in the fantasies to sweet high school boys in the young adult romances or much… steamier reads, they all stole her heart for the hours she lived in their world.
A knock on her door brought her crashing back to reality. “Why do you have that stupid look on your face?” Her older brother, Jesse, grinned at her from the doorway. The dude grinned way too often. It was obnoxious how happy he was all the time.
Shoving her Kindle under her pillow to keep it from his prying eyes, she rolled over and sat up. “I don’t have a stupid look.”
“You do. You’re smiling.”
“Am I not allowed to smile?”
He jumped onto the bed, making it bounce, and lunged for her Kindle. “The only things that ever make you smile are these weird books.”
“They aren’t weird.” She pushed him away.
He laughed and rolled from the bed. “Come on, smiley. I’m driving you today.”
“I thought Dad was taking me.”
Jesse’s smile dropped, and an apology shone in his eyes. “He had to go into the office.”
That shouldn’t have surprised her. Since her mom’s death two years before, he’d all but disappeared from their lives. Sure, he kept a roof over their heads and money in their bank accounts, but Jesse and Cassie were left to raise themselves and their little brothers, though the part-time nanny helped with that.
“Don’t you have school?” Cassie asked as she slipped her feet into her Sketchers.
Jesse was a senior at Gulf City High, captain of the hockey team, and all-around popular guy.
Cassie, on the other hand, was a seventeen-year-old shut-in who took classes online and had a social life consisting of appointments with her therapist.
Yes, she was aware of how sad her life was, but she also didn’t care.
Jesse shrugged. “This is more important.”
The words he didn’t say spoke volumes. If Cassie would drive herself, this wouldn’t be an issue. A few weeks before, she’d borrowed his car for an appointment and gotten a flat tire. She’d waited for him alone in the middle of a rainstorm and had a panic attack. She hadn’t driven since.
She didn’t know what she’d have done if she’d had to ask a stranger for help. Every time Cassie was faced with people who weren’t family, she couldn’t seem to force words past her lips.
Anxiety was a turd.
Jesse kept talking as they reached his car outside their large Florida home. Their dad may not give them much attention, but some would still call their lives privileged.
“Coach gave us the day off practice.” Jesse started the car. “Plus, it’s Friday. What better way to spend it than with my sister?”
She gave him a small smile but couldn’t focus on the words. Outside their home, the world was too big, too foreign, too dangerous. Her breath came in gasps as they pulled onto the main road that wound down near the beach.
