Page 24 of Roman and the Hopeless Romantic
“Cass, what are you doing?” Roman followed her.
She peered into the dark, and he tried to find what she was looking for. A chair slid back against the glass, pushed by the wind.
Before he could stop her, Cassie yanked open the door. Freezing rain pelted them both, and Roman cursed as she ran into the storm.
“Cass!” Roman ran out after her, his clothes soaking as a torrent of water pounded him. Lightning lit the sky, illuminating the rising pond. “Cassie!” He doubted she could hear him over the rain, but he saw her trying to drag porch furniture toward the door.
He ran to her side. “Leave it! We have to get inside.”
“No,” she screamed. “I can’t.”
Realizing she wasn’t budging, Roman lifted the opposite end of the couch she was dragging, and together they carried it to the door. Once it was inside, Cassie darted back out for a chair.
Something flashed in the grass beyond the concrete deck they stood on. “Cassie,” Roman yelled to no avail. She shoved another chair into the house before whirling around and freezing where she stood.
An alligator lay in the tall grass only feet away, hidden by the stormy night. Lightning flashed, illuminating its scaled body and black eyes.
Still, Cassie didn’t move.
Roman approached her as rain whipped him in the face. He took her hand and pulled her back to the door. With slow steps, she walked backward, not taking her eyes from the reptile watching them.
By the time they stepped back inside, both of them breathed heavily. Roman shut the door and latched it. His heart beat rapidly in his chest as he looked back out into the night, unable to see the gator.
Cassie bent over with her hands on her knees. Around them, soaking wet deck furniture dripped water onto the tile floor.
“Roman,” Cassie wheezed.
He closed the distance between them and crushed her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“I’m sorry.” He was so relieved she was okay, he didn’t recognize how monumental it was that she was speaking to him.
“No deck furniture is worth the risk of running out into a storm and tangoing with a gator.” He rubbed her back, not ready to let go yet.
“I had to.” She pulled away. “You wouldn’t understand.” Turning on her heel, she walked across the room, leaving a trail of water in her wake.
“Then make me understand.”
She didn’t turn to respond as she reached the stairs and started climbing.
“Cass.” He hated the desperation in his voice, but seeing her out there stole whatever strength he had. “Please. I can’t do this anymore. I need you to talk to me. When I saw you out there… that wasn’t okay.”
She whirled around to face him once they reached her room, her cheeks reddening. “No, do you know what’s not okay? Three people going shopping in Tampa for porch furniture and only two returning. Getting a delivery of that furniture just days after you were ripped apart, and the constant reminder of what happened.”
“The furniture… you bought it the day—”
“I cowered for my life as my mom died? Yeah, we did. See, Roman, maybe all this time I haven’t spoken to you, you’ve been spared. You don’t want to know any of this. No one does.”
“I’m not just anyone, Cass. I was your friend just as much as Jesse’s.”
She shook her head. “It’s a waste of time trying to be my friend. If you weren’t so stubborn, you’d see that.” Stepping into her room, she gave him one final sad look before shutting the door in his face.
Roman leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his sopping hair. A chill raced through him. She was wrong. Nothing about Cassie was a waste of time. She’d always been better than the rest of them—smarter, more fun, happier.
Those were the most words she’d said to him in a long time, but each one hurt. She was right about one thing. Hearing what happened to her wasn’t easy, it caused him pain to think of what she’d gone through.
But he’d listen to anything she said as long as she stopped the silence. He could handle her scorn, her annoyance.
But being nothing to her? Being forgotten? That was something he couldn’t take.
