Despite growing up together, Catherine Simmons and Mattis Reed were never close.
Cat was inseparable from Mattis' younger sister, Chloé, while he was busy running around on the football field.
But when Cat's new dream drags her across the country du...
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Those damn eyes.
Big and bright, catching in the light in a way that makes them go from forest green to emerald. Cat keeps me locked with her gaze, and my pulse rises with each passing second. If I don't do something soon, I might pass out.
All the fantasies of my sister's best friend that I've tried to suppress this past week come back with a vengeance, threatening to cause a physical reaction that might make the diner throw me out for public indecency.
"Er, do you want to get out of here?"
I break eye contact, breathing in through my nose as I think of every turn-off in my repertoire, trying to get the situation under control.
"Sure." Cat's voice is cautious, confused. When I succumb to the desire to look at her, something like hurt flashes in her eyes.
I get up from the table and pay our bill before I do something stupid, like holding her hand again.
Taking her out to dinner might not have been the best decision I have ever made. But I needed to know if our conversation at the party last week was a fluke. A result of alcohol and surprise. Well, I can now confidently say that alcohol had nothing to do with it.
I could talk with her for days. It's unlike any conversations I've ever had with girls. Even with Daniella, it was never like this. While Dani was just a casual hookup last year, she is probably the closest I've come to dating someone, and still, our conversations were always surface-level.
We mostly hung out around other people at my house or at various parties. It's an unwritten rule that wherever the football players go, the cheerleading squad follows. Those scenes never really invited more in-depth talks.
And whenever we actually had a few moments to ourselves, our mouths were usually busy doing other things.
After two years of fucking everything that moved, the constant revolving door of chicks had begun to wear on me. I was tired of trying to figure out girls' intentions, attempting to weed out the love-crazy ones from the casually interested. With Dani, it was easy. We both knew exactly what was going on, and we'd fallen into a routine of regular hook-ups.
Eventually, though, I'd gotten fed up with listening to all the drama with the cheerleaders, and I'd called it off.
For me, it was a clean break.
To Dani... not so much.
Her turning up tonight was a calculated risk. The diner is pretty popular amongst Columbia students - but I'd expected the girls to join their teammates at the party.
I was a little afraid she would scare Cat off, but she can stand her own. She didn't even flinch when Dani stared her down. I'm sure it pissed Dani off to no end, but I found it kind of hot.
After paying, I escort Cat to the car, sliding into the driver's seat. Turning the key in the ignition, I glance at Cat. "You want to go to the party?"
