Ivy by Willa Nash

Author:Willa Nash [Nash, Willa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-03-27T18:30:00+00:00

twenty-seven

Wearing bright red lipstick to a Sunday breakfast was a bit bold, yet Cassia swiped on the color anyway. If Edwin didn’t show, she’d need some bold to sit there and eat alone.

She was going to force herself to stay and eat the café’s famous hash, simply to spite the man who hadn’t bothered to stick around after fucking her last night.

After saying thanks.

God, what the hell had she been thinking?

He’d had a condom in his toga pocket. Edwin had expected her to be a sure thing. What if she had turned him down? Would he have used it with another woman? Would he have slept in some other woman’s bed?

Jealousy and humiliation slithered beneath her skin, making it hard to look herself in the mirror.

Cassia wasn’t a one-night-stand sort of girl. Casual sex made her feel slimy, and the shower she’d taken this morning hadn’t rinsed away the embarrassment of feeling used.

“Such an idiot,” she muttered.

Had it all been a lie? The kiss. The coin tosses. The hours spent in the library.

Damn it. “Why did I trust him?”

Hadn’t she learned her lesson months ago?

She clenched her fists and stood tall. Avoiding her reflection was impossible, and today, despite the coral hair, she looked like Cassie Neilson. Foolish and gullible.

But this time, she wasn’t going to hole up in her room with shame as her loyal companion. No, she was going to walk into that café with her shoulders squared and pretend that if—when—Edwin wasn’t waiting, she was fine. Better than fine, right? She’d earned a fantastic orgasm.

Before she lost her nerve, she marched from the bathroom, snagging her bag from the bed.

The sheets had already been stripped. First thing this morning after putting on some clothes, she’d carted them downstairs to the laundry room. Now she stopped to swap them from the washer to the dryer, then went outside and unlocked her Honda.

Every block she considered turning around. Every mile she drove, this idea seemed like a bigger and bigger mistake. She’d get to the café and her fears would be realized. Edwin had played her.

When was she going to stop falling for these games?

Her heart bounced like a ping-pong ball against her ribs, and by the time she’d eased into a parking space outside the café, she was about to puke. There was no way she’d be eating anything. Yet she pushed out of her car and walked to the restaurant on shaking legs.

After dragging in a long breath, she pulled the door open and aimed her eyes at the usual table.

It was empty.

“Of course it’s empty,” she scoffed, her hopes shattering all over again. “Such a dumbass.”

“Talking to yourself, Red?”

Cassia whirled, and the air rushed out of her lungs. Edwin stood behind her on the sidewalk.

The hood of his sweatshirt was pulled up over his hair, shielding his ears from the chill in the air. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were bluer beneath the morning sun.

Edwin took a step, taking the weight of the open door from her hand.

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