Page 26 of Roman and the Hopeless Romantic
Cassie
Cassie didn’t take her eyes from Roman as he spoke to Jesse on the phone, nodding his head. The small circle of candlelight set his face aglow.
She shivered as a droplet of water from her hair raced down her spine. The wet strands were twisted in a knot on top of her head, but she wished she’d thought to dry it after her trip into the storm.
She glanced back over her shoulder to the doorway through which she could see the furniture. It was stupid to hold on so tightly to such mundane objects, but she hadn’t been able to stand the thought of it getting broken.
Though, by the state of it, she may have been too late.
Annie liked to tell her she should hold on to the good memories of her mom and not the day she died, but it was hard to separate the two when the helpless feeling from that day had never gone away.
Roman sent her a smile as he continued talking to her brother. Cassie couldn’t believe she’d spoken so many words to him tonight. If that wasn’t a win, nothing was.
He pulled his phone away from his face and set it on the table. “Jess doesn’t want to drive in this, so he’s going to stay at Hadley’s with Charlotte.”
She nodded, glad her brother was at least safe.
“They lost power too. He said he tried to call you.”
Her words fought to escape, and she swallowed down a lump in her throat. “Upstairs. My phone is upstairs.”
He nodded. “I’m going to go get it, okay? We should have both our phones.”
She handed him the flashlight. He flipped it on, and the beam of light cut through the room, making dust particles dance in the air.
Roman ran up the stairs, his thundering steps matching the beat of her heart. She reached under the couch cushion, trying to find her Kindle that had fallen down. Her fingers pulled it free. The stories it held gave her a comfort, a sense of normalcy. Cade was inside the device living his love story as if the world was a good and bright place where nothing bad happened.
She powered it on, and the screen lit up like a beacon in the dark, drawing her in.
“Cass,” Roman’s soft voice pulled her out of the book trance.
She looked up at him, trying to figure out when he’d returned. He sat beside her. “I can tell when you’re really into a story.” He gave her a half-smile. “It’s like nothing else exists in the world for you.”
She shrugged, unsure if he considered that a good or a bad thing. Jesse once told her she needed to start living in the real world again, but she didn’t see why.
“Hey.” Roman nudged her with his knee. “I get it. It’s like when I play hockey. It’s all I think about.”
She studied him for a moment before her words dislodged. “But you’re terrible.”
He laughed in shock.
Cassie’s entire face flushed, but she hoped he couldn’t see it in the dark. “I didn’t mean you. You’re not terrible. You’re kind of amazing. But your team… you guys only started winning when Charlotte joined and—”
Roman reached over and clapped a hand over her mouth. “Through two years of silence, I never imagined I’d want you to stop talking.” He grinned.
“Mgmmmm.”
“What?” He moved his hand.
“Can I have my mouth back?”
His gaze darted to her lips before meeting her eyes again. “As long as you keep talking to me, Cass, you can have whatever you want.”
“I thought you wanted me to stop.”
“I changed my mind.” He leaned back into the couch. “So, about my hockey team. Take it back.”
“Take what back?”
