The last week of the break, Lyla took a trip with her family, so Austin practically lived at the flat with me. He claimed I needed someone to watch over me so I didn’t get lonely, but I knew he just wanted to take advantage of the privacy. However, with my relationship with James still alive, I refused to sleep with him again. It just complicated things more than I wanted to deal with. He didn’t ask why and just understood, like he always did.
On Wednesday, we were curled up on the couch, enjoying a quiet night in, when someone knocked on the door. I grunted at the disruption and rushed over to answer it. There came a shriek, and a body flew at me. The floor rushed to meet us, and I was pinned between it and her.
Curls fell into my face as she laughed. “Ha, ha! I’ve never knocked you down before. I win! For once, I win!”
She sat up while I rolled over, winded.
“Geez, Geri! What are you doing here?”
“Dusty and I decided to visit and surprise you.”
Dusty! I sat up. He stood by the door, staring at Austin on the couch, his expression one of complete horror. Austin leapt up and offered his hand. “You must be Dusty. Cadence wasn’t exaggerating when she said you looked just like her.”
Dusty’s gaze fell to his hand. “Do you live here?”
“No―”
“Are you Lyla’s boyfriend then?”
“No, I’m Cadence’s boyfriend.”
Dusty turned red with rage. I’d never seen him look like Dad until that moment.
Geri slapped me across the face. “What the hell, Cadence?”
“Hey!” Austin hurried toward me. “Don’t treat her like that!”
Geri pointed at him. “You shut up! How dare you presume to be her boyfriend?”
“Austin, get out!” I climbed to my feet.
He grabbed me around the waist. “No. I’m going to stand by you.”
“Austin, please, let me deal with this.”
He caressed my face. “They’re your family―”
“Stop touching her!” Dusty’s bellow made me cringe. He marched over and pulled Austin’s hand off me. “Get away from her.”
I grabbed Austin’s hand and pulled him to the door. “Please go.”
He met my gaze, and I saw his pain. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later, but I need you to go now.”
He chewed on his tongue, then nodded. “Okay. I love you.”
Knowing Geri and Dusty were listening, I hesitated to respond. “I love you, too,” I replied softly. “Please go.”
He nodded. I watched him walk to his car before I shut the door. I didn’t dare turn to face Dusty and Geri. I knew exactly how they would be looking at me.
“You love him?” Dusty hissed in a low voice. “What about James, Cadence? Is this what all that break-up talk was about?”
My face fell into my hands. “Yes.”
He grabbed my arm, pulling me around roughly. “No. Just no. I don’t know who he is, but he has to go.”
“I can’t believe you would do this,” Geri said, tears in her eyes. “It’s not like you. I thought you . . .”
Shoving Dusty out of the way, I rushed to her. I couldn’t lose her again, not like this. Not after I’d done everything I could to avoid losing her friendship. She folded her arms and stepped back, avoiding eye contact.
“Geri, please. There’s just some things you don’t understand. This is way more complicated than you know.”
“No, it’s not!” she yelled. Her gaze lifted and burned into me as tears streaked down her cheeks. “You’re with James. You’ve always been with James, and you’ll always be with James. He . . . you can’t love him!”
I shook my head and grabbed my hair. Then I remembered something I’d told her years earlier. I looked into her eyes. “Do you remember when we were in ninth grade, and I told you I liked a guy named Austin?”
She stared at me, confused, but slowly nodded. “Yeah, I thought he was a lame excuse to not date anyone.”
I pointed toward the door. “That is Austin. One and the same. He’s real.”
“B . . . mmm . . . ah . . .” She seemed unable to form any words. The possibility that someone she thought to be pure fantasy could suddenly be very real had to be a hard concept to wrap her head around. “But . . . how? He lived clear across the country. How did you even meet him back then?”
I shook my head. “I can’t explain it. But, in a way, this whole time I’ve been cheating on him with James.”
Geri’s eyes widened, her confusion growing. “But . . . what . . . ?”
“She’s lying, Ger.” Dusty marched forward and grabbed my wrist. “This crazy talk ends right now. James might think it’s cute, but it just bugs me. This guy goes. Stop being such a slut.”
His words felt like knives in my heart.
“We came to see you because James is concerned there’s a problem here you’re not talking about, and now we know what it is.”
“Austin isn’t the problem! I’m the problem. I thought James dumped me, so I let Austin in. But when I found out it was a misunderstanding . . .” I huffed. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“It’s very simple!” Dusty threw his hand in the air. “Dump him and stay with James!”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” he said with a growl.
“Austin’s . . . he’s . . . I can’t tell you why! If I do, all of this will go away and everything I’ve worked so hard for will be gone.”
Dusty shoved me against the wall. “You’re making no sense. You’re talking to James right now.”
“Dusty, don’t be so rough,” Geri said timidly.
Dusty ignored her and pinned me against the wall by pressing his forearm against my chest and leaning into it. He pulled out his phone and called James.
“Hey,” I heard James say.
Dusty hit the speaker. “James. We’re with Cadence.”
“Cadence?” His voice rose with excitement. “Can she hear me?”
“Yeah, you’re on speaker.”
“Good. How are you, beautiful?”
“I’m fine . . .” Dusty shoved me hard and I winced.
“Hey, what’s going on?” James asked. “Cadence, you sound like you’re in pain.”
“Yeah, she’s in pain,” Dusty responded with a snarl. “I’m inflicting it on her. Do you wanna know what’s been going on?”
Geri snatched the phone, hitting mute. “Dusty, you idiot! Don’t tell him. He’ll be crushed. Let’s just work this out without him knowing. It’ll be better that way. Think about James’s feelings. He loves her so much that this will tear him apart.”
Silence. Dusty stared into her eyes as she gazed steadily back, her jaw clenched.
“Hey, are you still there?” James’s voice rang out from the phone.
Dusty hit the mute button again so James could hear. “Yeah.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. It turns out she has rats. Big, dirty, greedy ones.” He glared at me. “She can’t afford a decent exterminator, so she’s been dealing with rat traps. But they haven’t been working, and she’s been waking up with them in her bed.”
I looked down in shame at his hidden meaning.
“Geez! That is pretty bad. I knew she had mice once, but not rats. I could send some money―”
“No need,” Dusty said. “I’m going to take care of it.”
He pushed harder into me, causing Geri to grab his arm and whisper, “Dusty, you’re hurting her.”
“Thanks, Dusty,” James said. “And Cadence?”
“Yes?” I forced out.
“You don’t need to be afraid to tell me things like that. I shouldn’t have teased you about the mouse. That probably didn’t help. I know you’re trying to be independent and find your own feet, but everyone needs help sometimes.”
“Thanks, James.”
“I love you, beautiful.”
“I love you, too.”
Dusty hung up the phone, shoved it in his pocket, and turned on me. He grabbed my arms and slammed me against the wall again. “You selfish, lying slut! You told two guys you love them in the same half-hour!”
“That’s because I do!” I yelled back.
“No, you don’t!” He grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall.
“Dusty, stop it!” Geri grasped his elbow.
He ignored her. “Now, Cadence, you listen to me. You only love James. This other guy is just a rebellious streak or something. Tomorrow morning, he goes.”
I stared Dusty firmly in the eyes. “I know I’m not being fair. I just need some time, and I won’t be bullied into making my choice either.”
“James is your soul mate.”
I laughed shrilly. “You have no idea! You don’t even know Austin. You don’t have a clue how complex this is. They both could be, if I let them. I need to do this on my terms, not yours.”
“Dusty, let her go,” Geri said.
Dusty tilted his head to look at her. “She’s been lying to us all, especially James.”
“I don’t think she’s lying. I know her, and I believe her when she says there’s more to this than she can explain. I remember her talking about Austin in ninth grade, so this is somehow all connected. There’s always been something weird about the things she seems to just know, and I think this is part of it. Let her go, and let her make the decision on her own.”
Geri was easily the best friend in the world.
Dusty let me go and stepped back, folding his arms. “If he comes around while we’re here, I’ll kill him.”
I sighed. “I’ll let him know.”
A soft tapping on my window woke me. I lifted my phone to check the time, but I saw I had a text. I opened it and read the message from Austin.
I’m coming over.
The tapping came again. Shuffling up in my bed, I pulled the curtains back to see him looking in at me. He popped off the screen while I unlocked and opened the window.
“What are you doing?”
“I had to make sure you were okay,” he whispered. “Your brother seemed really upset, and when you sent me that text telling me to stay away for a few days, I was concerned.”
Without any effort, he lifted himself up and through the window. I felt glad Geri took Lyla’s bed instead of my floor, while Dusty slept on the couch.
Austin closed my window, then sat cross-legged on my bed. “I’ll get the screen later.”
“Austin, Dusty will kill you if he finds you here. He’s seriously pissed at me. He’ll have no problem with―”
He cut me off by kissing me, lowering me underneath him before breaking away to whisper, “So, what’s going on?”
I sighed. “It’s complicated.”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “I’m listening.”
I groaned. “It’s just . . . you know about my high school boyfriend, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, they want me to be with him, which is completely understandable because they both love him, especially Dusty, who sees him as a brother. It’s just, it tears me apart, you know? I love you so much, but they don’t see it because all they see is . . .” I paused, knowing I had to be careful with what I said. “He’s a good person, Austin, and he’s always treated me well, so they see me with him, and that’s it.”
He buried his face into my shoulder. “What can I do?”
“I don’t know.” I ran my fingers through his hair. I shut my eyes and remembered the years of marriage we’d shared and how happy I’d felt. “You mean everything to me—you’ve always meant everything to me. I wish I could explain that without hurting them.”
He rolled onto his side, pulling me up against him as our legs entwined. “Why don’t we all do something tomorrow? We could go out to Rottnest and do one of the biking trails?”
Dusty wouldn’t be eager to agree, and I felt hesitant because of James. But if I wanted to get a clear gauge on if―under the new circumstances―my family could accept Austin, this would be the time.
“It would have to be handled carefully,” I said. “And don’t do any boyfriend things. We’ll just be friends, okay?”
“Okay.”
We fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Thwack!
“You filthy pervert!” Dusty hollered. “Sneaking in through the window during the night!”
He hit Austin with my textbook again, but Austin grabbed it and jumped to his feet. Dusty backed away, sensing Austin’s superior strength, but he kept his glare firmly locked on Austin. “She’s not yours!”
“You need to get off her case and let her make her own decisions!” Austin said with a snarl. “How old are you, anyway? Seventeen, right? What makes you think you have any right to control your older sister?”
“What makes you think you have a right to jump in bed with her?”
I rushed over and forced my way between them. “Stop it!”
Dusty’s arms wrapped around my waist, and he swung me around, blocking off Austin. “You stay away from her!”
Austin tore him off me and pinned him against the wall. “I don’t want to fight you. Cadence explained to me what’s going on, and I’m going to respect your feelings on this, but you need to respect hers. I’m in love with her. I’m not going to give up without a fight, no matter what you say.”
Geri’s hand wrapped around mine. I squeezed it, knowing she understood that I felt torn. Austin was just as bold and in love with me as James.
“Cadence,” she whispered in my ear, “I’m so glad I’m not in your shoes. I wish I could help you.”
Austin released Dusty and walked into the living room. “Now, let’s make this a pleasant day, shall we? I was planning to take us all biking out at Rottnest Island, so, Dusty, go get some comfortable shoes on, because I’m going to kick your trash out there.”
Dusty’s gaze flew up, and his nostrils flared. He had the same competitive streak as me, and Austin just slapped it in the face. Austin, sensing he had pushed Dusty’s buttons the same way he pushed mine, smirked and pulled off his shirt. With Austin’s chest exposed, Dusty stood taller and stuck out his chest. Being nowhere near as big, he held his shirt down as Austin walked by us and into my room to grab his clothes.
“Oh my gosh,” Geri said, wheezing. “He’s so built.”
Dusty threw her a filthy look before grabbing his clothes and rushing into the bathroom.
Geri followed me as I returned to my bedroom, and stared at Austin’s chest. “Wow! How can I make Dusty get one of those?”
“Diving,” Austin and I said in unison.
Geri cleared her throat, and offered her hand. “I’m Geraldine Turner.”
He took her hand and gave her a crooked smile. “Austin Jones. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Oh my gosh,” she squeaked. “I think I’m falling in love, too.”
He laughed, and just for effect, he kissed her hand. “You are quite lovely yourself, but alas, my heart is already taken. I have a thing for blondes, after all.”
I scoffed. “You do not. You dated a brunette and a redhead before me.”
He lifted me off my feet. “Yes, and they never quite made the cut, did they? But you, oh, you dazzled me from the moment I laid eyes on you.”
My heart skipped a beat as he moved closer to kiss me.
“You did that to James, too,” Geri whispered.
My heart fell, and I turned away from the kiss.
Austin kissed my cheek instead and said, “Well, she’s incredible.”
I blushed as our eyes met and he smiled.
The boat ride out to the island was silent. Dusty sat back, smoldering, his glare burning into Austin’s back. Geri sat between Dusty and me. She kept shuffling while refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
Austin pulled into a dock. We alighted and followed him toward the bike rentals. Once we had our bikes and a map, Dusty shot off, determined to beat Austin to our picnic place. Austin sighed and mounted slowly. “He’s really determined to hate me, huh?”
“It’s not you,” I answered.
He shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to take some shortcuts to keep him in his place.” He gave me a quick peck on the lips before hurrying away.
Geri and I moved much slower. She wanted me to hang back with her so she could talk to me, and I was more than willing to oblige. Once we’d mounted our bikes and made our way across the island, she spoke. “I don’t really know what to think about you right now.”
I sighed. “I know. I really believed James had broken up with me. Then, when he called me apologizing, I tried to break up with him, but when I went to do it, he just . . .”
“I understand,” she said after a pause. “I didn’t want to like Austin when I saw him with you last night. In fact, I hated him. But he’s nice, and just as good for you as James. But I love James, and you’ve always loved James. So . . . what are you going to do?”
For a moment, I considered calling for my angel, but I remembered him telling me it wasn’t his place to tell me which choices to make. “What do you think, Geri?”
She groaned. “I’ll always say James, but it’s not my choice. When I saw you and Austin together earlier, and the way he looked at you, and you him, I knew your love was real. So maybe you should choose him? But then again, you and James have exchanged that same look hundreds of times.”
“You’re not helping me at all.”
She chuckled. “I could offer myself up as a sacrifice, but I don’t think Dusty would be too happy with that.”
I laughed and hurried to change the topic to her relationship with Dusty. Her whole face lit up as she went on and on about it, and we laughed at how my dad had no idea how to react to it. He’d always been protective of Geri, since she was in our home so much, but seeing her with his only son sent him into a fierce internal conflict. He didn’t know which one he needed to protect the most, and usually just yelled at them both and walked away.
When we arrived at the beach, Dusty sat in the sand sulking with his knees under his chin while Austin set up the picnic.
“What’s up with him?” Geri asked.
Austin smirked. “I beat him by almost five minutes.”
“He really is just as bad as you, Cay-Cay.” She walked over and sat beside him.
Austin’s index finger ran down my arm. “Everything good between you and Geri?”
I nodded, smiling. “She’s the best friend in the world.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. “You only deserve the best.”
He nibbled on my earlobe, making me giggle.
Dusty shoved him, knocking us apart. “I’m hungry, woman-stealer.”
Austin pursed his lips, but didn’t respond.
When the day was finally over, and Austin dropped us off at the flat and went home, Geri wrapped her arm through mine as we walked inside. “Cay, I love you no matter what.”
My chin quivered as tears welled in my eyes. “Thank you, Geri.”
“I don’t,” Dusty said, folding his arms as he flopped onto the couch. “I pretty much hate you right now.”
His words stung. I pulled away, slamming the door to my bedroom behind me.