In fact, everyone in their small circle had more or less settled down in the last year.
Everyone except Cade.
It wasn’t that he didn’t date. Okay, maybe he didn’t. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in women. He was. Actually, there was one in particular he’d been messed up over for the last, oh, fifteen years or so. He was just waiting for the right one to come around to the idea of being with him.
He thought of Daphne, her wicked smile and devilish attitude, the way she’d draped her arms around him so sweetly . . . and then he thought of the time she’d OD’d in his arms, limp and cold, her lips tinged with blue.
Maybe marriage and a happy-ever-after just wasn’t in the cards for someone like him. He pushed a handful of chips into the center of the table. “Raising you, Jon.”
“Bastard,” Jon said with a grin, and the topic returned to cards once more.
Cade checked his phone discreetly as the others put in their bids. Daphne was supposed to text him when she was out of her practice session. The last time they’d talkedvia hastily typed textsshe’d told him she had long dance-routine numbers she had to endure for her upcoming concert and this weekend were dress rehearsals. But she wanted to do something for his birthday, she’d said. She’d buzz him and let him know her schedule.
But that was days ago, and Daphne had never called.
And here he was, thirty and alone. That should have told him something right there. That when it was convenient for Daphne, she liked Cade around. And when it wasn’t . . . he wasn’t even on her radar.
Maybe someday he’d learn. With a small sigh of disgust, Cade tossed another set of chips into the pot. “In.”
When poker wrapped up for the evening, Cade found himself walking out with Reese, who’d won the majority of hands that night and had also been celebrating the success of his celebrity cruise line and his plans to partner with a movie studio for character cruise lines based off of popular TV shows and movies. He was in a great mood as they walked out, while Cade was quiet, lost in thought.
“Hey, man,” Reese said, catching Cade’s attention. “Everything all right with you?”
“Always,” Cade said, smiling. Really, he didn’t have much to complain about. Business was great, his charities were having a record year, and he was healthy. There was nothing that should make him discontent or unhappy.
And yet, he felt unsettled. Moody. Envious of his friends and their happiness, perhaps.
“You’re just kinda quiet lately.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Just thinking. Nothing important.”
“You busy this weekend? Me and Audrey are heading up to the cabin. Hope that’s okay with you.”
Cade’s getaway cabin? Where they’d met? He grinned. “You know I gave you carte blanche when it comes to that place.”
“Yeah, Audrey’s been having a bad week. Hormones.” Reese grimaced. “Thought I’d bring her back to the love nest and let her relax this weekend. You’re welcome to come.”
And be a third wheel? Watching as they cuddle? He was happy as hell for Reese, but he had a hard time looking at healthy, joyful Audrey, because every time he looked at her, he saw Daphne. Or rather, who he wanted Daphne to be.
Because once upon a time, Daphne had been plump and beautiful and lighthearted. And he’d loved her. Now? Now he didn’t know how he felt. Obsessed, maybe. Desperate? Maybe that, too.
He checked his phone again. Still no text from Daphne. No missed calls. Nothing. Damn it. He knew she was busy, but he was, too. Didn’t she give a shit? At all?
“Hey? Hello?” A hand waved in front of his face.
“Sorry.” Cade gave Reese a sheepish look. “Just distracted lately.”
“Cabin? This weekend?”
Cade shook his head. “Pass. You and Audrey have fun. I have plans.” Hopefully.
“You’re spending time with Daphne, aren’t you?” Reese’s tone was disgusted.
For a moment, he thought about denying it. He knew Reese didn’t understand Cade’s fixation with the pop star. Maybe he thought it was a fling that Cade was hoping would resurge again. But the truth was, Cade had been in love with Daphne since he was fifteen, when they were both trailer rats without a nickel to rub together. And now that she was in trouble, it was hard to just cut her off and wish her the best. Not when they’d slept together eight months ago . . . and then she’d tried to kill herself. Hell, he was still messed up over that himself. So he said, “She needs me.”
“She needs a reality check,” Reese said.
“It’s difficult,” Cade told him. Difficult to talk about, and difficult to understand. Sometimes he got it. He understood why she’d succumbed to the fast-paced lifestyle. Like Daphne, he’d grown up as trash. The poorest kid on a dirt-poor block, he’d run barefoot with the neighborhood kids and had always kept a close eye on the Petty twins, pretty redheads a few years younger than him. Daphne Petty had been his first kiss, his first love, his first, well, everything. She’d been so specialtalented, funny, smart, and with a way of drawing people in and making them notice her. When Cade left for college on a scholarship, he’d asked Daphne to wait for him. He’d make his way in the world and he’d come back and rescue her from their small town. Except Daphne hadn’t waited. She’d met a music producer, and the next thing Cade knew, the girl he’d been in love with was on the radio. She’d slimmed down to nothing, dyed her hair an outrageous shade, pranced around on TV in bikinis, and sold millions of albums.