Home is Where the Heart is(36)

He kissed her quickly before lacing his hand through hers, and then slid his phone out of his pocket. Cassie couldn’t help but glance at his screen, and saw someone by the name of Brielle was calling him.

Cassie could have gagged. How could she be so stupid to actually have sex with Jordan? Of course he was seeing someone else. She should have seen it coming. He was in the NFL and was devastatingly handsome. He probably had a million women wrapped around his little finger, and now she was one of them, which she never wanted to be. She should never have let the situation go as far as it did. Now she would be the one paying for the consequences of their actions.

She was quick to pull away from him, still wearing his shirt as she went back to the kitchen to locate her clothes strewn on the floor while she let him take the phone call.

She couldn’t hear what this person was saying, but from what she could make out when she came back into her room, Brielle obviously missed Jordan enough to call and ask where he was, and how long he was going to be away for, giving Cassie the impression that maybe she was his girlfriend. If that was the case, then why hadn’t Jordan told her he had a girlfriend, instead of allowing things to go as far as sleeping with each other?

Cassie didn’t like being used. She tried carefully to keep her mind off of Jordan and what just happened between the two of them. She couldn’t help but overhear Jordan’s response when he was obviously asked how much longer he was here for. Apparently, he didn’t know yet, but Cassie didn’t see him gaze at her when he said it.

When he ended the call, he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist in an attempt to be affectionate.

“Sorry about that. Now where were we?” he murmured softly, his breath hot against her ear. Cassie couldn't let herself slip back into his warm embrace. She pulled his hands away from her and turned around to face him directly.

“Who is Brielle?” she asked him, getting straight to the point and then went on to elaborate. “I saw her name on your phone. Is she your girlfriend?”

Jordan shook his head. “No. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“But you are seeing her, right?”

Jordan nodded his head. He couldn’t lie to Cassie; she meant everything to him.

"On a casual basis. It’s just physical between us. I can’t see myself committing to an actual relationship with her like I can with you. You’re truly the only one I can imagine sharing my life with.”

He took a couple of steps toward her, but with each step he took, she stepped farther away from him moving closer to the kitchen.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t be with you when you’re with somebody else. It doesn’t matter how you look at it, or whether you love her or not; the fact remains you are still hooking up with some other girl. You feel a physical attraction to her. That has to count for something or you wouldn’t be doing it.”

Cassie left him standing all alone in her kitchen, pondering over the decisions he had made in his life. After a few minutes, she returned wearing her own clothes and handed him his shirt back, their fingers grazing as Jordan took it from her. She still felt that same desire to be with him, but knew she couldn’t risk another broken heart.

“I think you should go,” she told him.

“Well, what about the cookies?” he asked her. He wasn’t going to even bother asking about his offer to have his way with her in her bedroom. Obviously, it was a no-go zone now.

“It’s okay. We got most of them done already, so I can handle the remaining ones by myself,” Cassie assured him.

Jordan followed her to the door.

“Cassie—” he started, but she cut him off with a shake of her head, holding the door open for him.

“There’s nothing to say. What happened was a one-time thing that will never happen again. It was just sex between two people who used to mean something to each other. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less,” Cassie insisted, using words Jordan recited earlier. “I have nothing more to say to you. Please, just go home.”

And just like that, Jordan brushed past Cassie, his face portraying all he wanted to do was sweep her up in his arms and tell her how much he loved her.

When Cassie closed the door without a second glance at her ex-boyfriend, she slowly slid to the floor with her back against it, holding her knees tight to her chest and shedding a tear or two. She wished she hadn’t taken Gabby’s advice, knowing it would ultimately lead to more heartbreak. It was very obvious that she and Jordan were simply not cut out to be together forever.



The following morning, it was a beautiful spring day despite the previous night’s events. Cassie was working behind the counter at Patty-Cake Bakery while Gabby served as a customer, happily chatting to her best friend as she worked. Gabby, didn’t have to start work until midday, and she was making the most of her late start as she perched at the front counter with one leg crossed over the other and sipped on a chai latte and ate a banana muffin that came fresh from Cassie’s oven this morning.