Page 54 of Roman and the Hopeless Romantic
The words freed something inside her, and the tightness in her chest loosened.
“It should have been me.” Her dad’s words were so soft she almost didn’t catch them.
“No, Dad. It shouldn’t have been anyone. But we can’t keep doing this. I need you, Dad. The old you, not this workaholic, perpetually tired version. Jesse and the twins need you. Just because Mom is gone doesn’t mean we’re not still a family.”
A tear dripped onto her shoulder, and she looked up to find more making their way down her dad’s face. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him cry, not even at the funeral.
But crying wasn’t a weakness as he seemed to think it was.
Tears cleansed and healed.
Only the strong allowed themselves to weep.
She wrapped an arm around his waist and squeezed.
“Do you mind if I take care of the furniture on my own?” he asked. “I think I need to do this.”
She shook her head. “What are you going to do with it?”
“It’s a bit damaged, but I know a charity that will still take it. Your mom would have loved that.”
“Yeah, I imagine she would.” She smiled to herself as she left her dad to do what he needed to do.
Wiping the tears from her face, she climbed the stairs and entered the bathroom to take a scalding hot shower, feeling lighter than she had in a long time.
* * *
Annie was right.Ridding herself of symbols of her trauma lifted a weight off Cassie’s shoulders. It was like shedding a layer of skin, revealing fresh, unmarred flesh underneath.
She scrubbed her hair, humming to herself as she lifted her face to the streaming water.
That was how she didn’t hear the door opening. She only saw the frozen form of Roman through the sheer shower curtain. A scream ripped from her throat and she threw a loofa at him. He ducked it and sprinted from the room.
Cassie’s heart beat frantically, bile welling up in her throat. Just what she needed when she was finally feeling good.
She bent over, unable to breathe. Reaching behind her with one hand, she shut off the shower. Not bothering to dry off, she stepped out and wrapped a towel around her. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Roman was a dead man.
Stomping from the bathroom, she shoved open his door and sent him a scathing look. “What the hell is your problem?”
He jumped out of the desk chair he’d been sitting in. “Cass… I… I…” Red coated his skin from his neck to the tips of his ears.
“You’re an idiot,” she growled. “Couldn’t you hear the shower running?”
“I had earbuds in. Couldn’t you lock the door?”
“I didn’t expect you home so soon after the game.” Her anger deflated as she looked down as herself and realized she only had a tiny towel covering her. “You know what? Forget about it.”
“Not likely,” he mumbled, probably not expecting her to hear it.
She slammed into her room and kicked the door shut. At least this time, anger replaced the usual anxiety. Maybe that was better? She wasn’t so sure.
She placed a hand over her pounding heart and finished drying off.
By the time she’d changed into comfy pajamas, a knock sounded on her door.
“If that’s Roman, shove off,” she called.
