It felt so good to see her best friend tonight when she needed her the most. Cassie knew she would have had to cut her date short to do so, which was strange for Gabby since her dates were never cut short for anything. They usually continued on into the next morning, if they went well enough to do so.
“Gab, did you cancel your date for Jake and me?”
Gabby chuckled, choosing to disregard whatever facial expression she knew Nick was giving her right now. They hadn’t exactly talked since the night Nick spontaneously decided to proclaim his feelings for her with a kiss, but she knew they both ought to move on with their own lives. Nothing would come from an actual relationship between the two. Gabby thought it was blatantly obvious when she didn’t return those feelings back to him, despite the fact she was more than a little jealous when she saw him dancing with someone new at the carnival.
Could they not try and remain just friends anymore? Was it too much to ask for?
Gabby shrugged her shoulder like it was no big deal. “There’s always next time. I only have one godson and best friend who mean the world to me.” Then she leaned into Cassie’s ear, whispering so that no one else could hear what she was about to say next. “Besides, it really wasn’t going that well. I don’t think I will be seeing him again.”
Cassie’s eyes shined when she heard that comment, and Gabby knew what she must have been thinking. It was a little too obvious not to know what was running through her best friend’s mind, but she wouldn’t dare go there right now. She had too much to think about at this point. To Cassie, it was good to know that maybe her two friends did in fact like each other as more than just friends. Maybe she had reason to believe they could make it work as a couple.
“Ted...I forgot him,” Cassie mumbled. “Jake can’t go to sleep without him. When he wakes up from surgery, he’s going to want Ted.”
While the others looked at her like she was going crazy, Nick understood what she was talking about and stepped in to console her.
“It’s okay, Cassie. I will go and get his teddy bear.”
“Thank you,” Cassie said relieved, handing Nick her house keys. “You should find it in his bedroom.”
“Don’t worry,” Nick reassured Cassie. “I’m sure I will find it. Don’t stress too much; Jake will be fine. He’s strong like his parents.”
Cassie knew Nick had a point, but that didn’t make her worry any less than she was. Jake was her baby. She would always worry about him, particularly when he needed her the most.
Gabby stepped in, putting her best foot forward. “I’ll go with you. He’s my godson too,” she told her friends, looping a strand of black hair around her finger without so much as a look in Cassie’s direction. She didn’t need Cassie reminding her that maybe she did feel something for Nick. Whatever she was feeling had nothing to do with liking him as anything more than a friend, whether Cassie agreed with her or not.
“Let’s go,” said Nick, spinning his car keys around his finger while he stuffed the keys Cassie gave him into his jeans pocket, choosing to not look at Gabby as he turned and headed down the long white corridor. He figured the drive to Cassie’s house would be awkward enough without adding glances in her direction. Nick wondered why she had decided to come along. Was she looking for some alone time?
Nick wondered what on earth they would talk about, or would they spend the entire fifteen-minute trip it took to get to Cassie’s place and then back again in silence? It wasn’t like they had shared an actual conversation between just the two of them since that night when he had made the mistake of proclaiming his real feelings for her. He knew not to make that same mistake again. Gabby didn’t like him like that. She didn’t reciprocate the same feelings as he felt for her. They were just friends.
Cassie was thankful for her friends for having her back. She didn’t know what she would do without them. When Nick and Gabby walked away, it was only then Cassie finally noticed Brielle there. She wasn’t standing right behind Jordan, but standing off to the side by herself. Cassie thought she might be feeling out of place, and she had every right to feel like she didn’t really belong there.
Cassie would never say it to her face or anything, but it was the truth. Brielle didn’t belong there. She didn’t know her or Jake, and Brielle obviously knew she shouldn’t have come with Jordan, and Cassie couldn’t understand why Jordan would bring her here. Was there a possibility he actually felt something real for this woman?
But she couldn’t allow herself to think about the woman the father of her child could be dating right now. She needed to be strong for her son and had nothing to say to her right now, so she gave her a smile that Brielle returned benevolently. Well, at least she seemed nice enough.