Page 73 of Roman and the Hopeless Romantic
Cassie
Cassie had never cancelled an appointment with her therapist before. Not for illness or any other reason.
But yesterday, she found herself on the phone with the receptionist doing just that.
Because she hadn’t wanted to talk. They’d been talking for two long years. The last month saw her reaching for pieces of her life back, and she was so close.
Annie couldn’t help with this next part.
Cassie’s phone buzzed for what felt like the hundredth time that morning.
Annie: You can do this.
She’d texted Annie about her plans for the morning and received a lot of motivational messages back.
I can do this,Cassie thought to herself as she stood in front of the mirror. Gone were her usual yoga pants in favor of dark-wash Jeggings. Sure, they were still leggings, but no one could tell.
A yellow baby-doll shirt hung past her waist. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d worn a shirt that wasn’t either an old hockey t-shirt or a button up flannel shirt.
Grabbing the faux-leather jacket she’d hardly ever worn from the hook in her closet, she shrugged it on and fixed the collar.
This outfit belonged to someone not afraid to venture out into the world, someone who was seen by other people.
“Hey, sexy lady!” Hadley called.
Cassie whipped around to find both Hadley and Charlotte grinning to her from the doorway. She’d called them over but hadn’t told them what she wanted to do—or at least, try to do.
Nausea rose in her just thinking about it.
“You look beautiful.” Charlotte eyed her up and down. “But what’s the occasion?”
Hadley flopped onto Cassie’s bed. “Yeah, we’re used to the slug-wear normally adorning your way-too-perfect frame.” She powered on Cassie’s e-reader, her eyebrows shooting up. “Ooh, our girl is naughty.”
Cassie swiped the e-reader away from her and shoved it into her desk drawer. “I… ah… need your help today.”
“Anything, Cass.” Charlotte lowered herself into the desk chair. “What’s up?”
“You guys are my friends, right?” She held her breath, waiting for the answer. There’d been a time when the only people she wanted to hang with were Roman and Jesse. Over the past two years, she was on her own most of the time. She’d never really had girlfriends before and didn’t know if her brother’s girlfriend counted.
Charlotte’s brow creased.
Hadley grinned.
Neither said a word.
“If I wanted awkwardness, I’d go find Roman.” The words burst out of Cassie before she could call them back.
She hadn’t spoken to Roman since the conversation with her dad, managing to avoid him despite living in the same house. She’d lied to her dad about her feelings for the boy living in the next room, but what could she do about it? She wouldn’t be the reason he had to go live with his parents.
Hadley’s grin widened, and she stood, crossing the room to Cassie. Draping an arm over her shoulder, she squeezed. “I’m going to pretend I’m not offended you had to ask.”
Charlotte stood to join them. “It used to be just us, me and Hads. But now there’s Jesse, Roman, and yes, you too.”
“Now.” Hadley gripped her shoulders, forcing Cassie to look at her. “I hear you were once quite diabolical in your plans. Let us have it.”
Cassie swallowed, her pulse hammering at her temples. “I… want to go to Target.”
Hadley and Charlotte shared an incredulous look.
