Someone to Stay Page 6

  She opened the door, smiling as she saw Sam standing there, obviously ready to go. Her bike was leaned against the porch; she was wearing her favorite pair of biking pants and a slimming blue tank, her short hair moving gently in the breeze.

  “Hey! Just have to get my shoes on,” Cassie said to her, waving her in. “How are you this morning?”

  “I’m good. Excited to get going. I feel like we haven’t done this in forever.”

  Grabbing her black and pink tennis shoes, Cassie nodded. “It’s been a few weeks at least. How far do you want to go today?”

  “At least four miles, maybe more,” Sam answered. “I was hoping we could cross the bridge and maybe go up 422 to Butler, just keep going until we’re tired. It’s a perfect day for this.”

  Finishing up her laces, Cassie stood. “Sounds good. I’m going to grab my bike.”

  Stepping onto the porch, she made sure she had her phone, water bottle, and keys. She locked the door and Sam followed her to the garage, where she pulled up the door and went to get her bike from the back.

  It was on the tip of her tongue - I think I have a date with Jake Mason tomorrow - but she failed to say it. She wondered when a good time to say it would be; should she try while they were on the bikes? After? Now?

  The thought of saying it now seemed inappropriate. Guiding her bike out of the garage, she slapped the kickstand down to lower the garage door again.

  “So, how was last night? Any visitors?”

  Sam’s question caused Cassie to falter mid-movement, her foot hovering awkwardly in the air. She hoped Sam didn’t see it and kicked the kickstand back up, and lifted herself onto the bike.

  “Oh. Um. Yes, actually. Uh...Jake came in for dinner.”

  She felt Sam’s eyes on her, knowing her face was on fire. She slipped her phone into the pouch attached to the frame and slid her water bottle into the holder, waiting for Sam to say something. Anything.

  “Did you wait on him?” Her tone was curious, not accusatory.

  “Uh, yes. I did. Rick asked me to. Jake, I mean, I guess he wanted privacy. So he sat in the back of the restaurant away from everyone else.”

  “Oh wow! You’ll have to tell me everything. Let me get my bike real quick.”

  She watched Sam bounce away to the porch where her bike was resting. Cassie bit the inside of her cheek, hard. She wondered just what exactly was wrong with her that she couldn’t be honest, that being honest made her feel nervous and ashamed. She felt momentarily like a fraud - she didn’t even know who he was before he came here, and now she was...what? Interested in him? Interested in the way he made her feel?

  She rode her bike over to the street, meeting Sam. They began to ride up the street, the cool morning air brushing against her face, a refreshing respite against her hot cheeks.

  “So, spill, girl. What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “Well,” Cassie said to her, over the sound of their tires rushing over the pavement, the cracking sound of sticks and stones underneath. “We...well, he wanted to talk to me, I guess. I mean, he was hungry too, but when he saw it was me who was going to wait on him...”

  “Wait, what?”

  It burned in her throat. “He asked me out, on a date.”

  There was an incredible pause at this. Cassie glanced at Sam who was looking straight ahead. Not angrily, she noted, but with an expression of complete shock.

  “Are you pulling my leg?” Sam asked finally. “I mean, seriously? He asked you out? What did he say? What did you say?”

  Her words, although not biting, had a strange edge to them that caused Cassie’s mouth to go dry, and she took a deep breath.

  “Sam, before I go any further, please tell me if you’re mad at me.”

  They had approached the bridge that crossed the Allegheny river; cars were lined up at the light, the sun reflecting off of them. Cassie averted her gaze and signaled right, Sam following suit.

  “Cassie...what? Why would I be mad at you?”

  The trek over the bridge always made her legs burn. She had to stop herself from gritting her teeth so she could answer.

  “I don’t know,” Cassie said. “I guess because you were so excited about him coming here, and I barely knew who he was. And now this.”

  Sam laughed, a sort of breathy sound as she pedaled. Cassie looked over the river, the water trailing and curving out of sight.

  “Cassie, I’m not mad. A little jealous, maybe. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But I’m not mad about it.”

  They came to the end of the bridge, making a left along the main road. Cassie liked, but didn’t like, 422 at the same time. There were no sidewalks or bike paths, but the lanes were large enough to allow them to traverse it without much worry; she did enjoy the tree coverage though, and the view of the river as they curved around. It was just early enough that there weren’t many cars, making the ride more enjoyable than normal.

  “So...what happened?”

  Cassie switched gears, lowering the resistance on her bike as the road inclined slightly.

  “He came for dinner, like I said. He started asking me all these questions...like why I worked at the hotel, why I stayed here, what I like to do, stuff like that. He seemed actually interested to know. It was...I don’t know, different? He’s so...nice. Like, beyond anything I would have thought.”

  “Plus he’s hot, too.”

  She let out a short laugh at Sam’s words, allowing herself to agree, remembering his sharp profile, his expressive gaze. “Yes. He’s definitely that.” A beat of silence, as a truck passed them. “And then he randomly asked me out. I was so surprised that I just stared at him, which made him nervous, I think. I asked him what he would want to do...and he said he wanted to go walking somewhere. So, I said I’d take him hiking.”

  “Really? Hiking? Where are you going to take him?”

  “I was thinking Harrison Hills. It’s not that far.”

  Sam nodded, and they continued along the road in silence for a while. Cassie felt that Sam was being quieter than normal, and she felt sick to her stomach. It was irrational and she knew it, but she couldn’t help but feel that she had taken something from Sam, something intangible.

  “It’s cool you get to spend time with him,” Sam said suddenly, as they turned into a neighborhood. The sun was glinting off the windows in a quiet street full of fading vinyl siding and parked cars lining it.

  Tonelessly, Cassie said, “I’m sorry you haven’t met him yet. Maybe I can get a picture for you.”

  Cassie saw Sam turn her head to look at Cassie following these words; her face bore a confused expression and then a concerned one.

  “Cassie, stop,” she said, slowing down on her bike in the middle of the street. Cassie followed suit, perplexed.

  “What’s up?”

  “You’ve got that look - the one that worries me. What’s the matter? Do you still think I’m mad?”

  Cassie eyed Sam warily - at times, it was like Sam could see right through her. She looked down at her hands, gripping the handlebars of her bike.

  “I don’t think you’re mad,” she said quietly.

  “Then what is it?”

  “I -” she faltered, stopping, licking her lips. The words nearly came but died. It was times like these that Cassie wished she could open up, speak her mind. But something indescribable and heavy always stopped her.

  “Cassie,” Sam pressed. “If you don’t tell me what’s wrong, I can’t help you.” Her voice sounded...sad.

  “I feel bad, okay?” Cassie shot back, an unreasonable amount of anger fueling her words. With an incredible effort, she softened her next words. “And yeah, maybe I think you lied a little bit about being upset with me about Jake. I just...I know how you get sometimes. I feel like I took your chance at him away, or something. I don’t know.”

  There was a stark silence that followed this. A car passed them, disrupting the quiet of the street. She watched it pass by, her mouth a grim line.

 
; “Sometimes, Cassie, you allow yourself to get so caught up in what you think is reality that you ignore what’s right in front of you. I was honest with you. I’m not mad about Jake. This makes me a little mad, though. It’s like you don’t take what I say seriously.”

  Sam’s face, usually so calm, was pinched, her cheeks flushing. Cassie watched her, unable to look away. She felt an overwhelming sense of shame, then, knowing that Sam was right.

  “I’m - I’m sorry,” Cassie let out. “I’m not thinking clearly. I - I didn’t sleep so well last night.”

  “Why not?”

  Rubbing the back of her neck, Cassie sighed. “I just had a lot on my mind.”

  “Would you like to talk about it?”

  Cassie regarded her for a moment, the sense of deja vu strong. Just this morning - it felt like days ago by now, though - Jake and she had had a very similar exchange. She had closed Jake off, though, since he was the partly the reasoning for her late night thoughts. Cassie could explain the ones regarding him to Sam. In fact, the idea gave her some sense of relief.

  “Sure. Let’s get riding again, and I’ll...try to explain.”

  Nodding, Sam mounted her bike again.They set off, making it to the end of the street and turning right. They were making their loop back to Cassie’s house, she was sure, by now.

  “I think I’m just...worried about Jake’s intentions, I guess. I mean, there’s a reason you never hear about him, really. He’s never on the cover of those magazines at the grocery store; he’s never on TV unless he’s promoting something. Not that I pay much attention to that stuff, but you know what I’m saying.”

  “Yeah. If you don’t count Alexa, he hasn’t had a girlfriend in years, at least a public one. He’s very private. It’s part of his brand, I guess you could say.”

  Sam’s voice was slightly subdued, but Cassie knew she was doing her best to return back to normal.

  “Who was his last girlfriend?” Cassie asked, not sure if she actually wanted to know these things or not.

  “Hm. I can’t remember her name. She wasn’t in the industry. Honestly, I don’t know much about her, except that it exploded. Like, it was basically a feud that Jake wanted nothing to do with but was dragged into it because she involved a lot of people. There were rumors that she had even gone after his best friend or something. But this was back before he landed his first big role, so it wasn’t exactly national news or anything. Most of it is just rumor.”

  Surprised at this, Cassie wondered why someone would want to cause so much drama. Strictly speaking, Cassie was a very private person herself and didn’t like to broadcast her emotions like some of her other friends and family. Breakups hurt...she knew that firsthand. But she’d never wanted to be vindictive because of them.

  “Maybe that’s why he’s so private?” Cassie asked.

  “Oh, I’d say it’s definitely why. He never used to be quite so excessive about it. There’s so many photos of him and his ex, you know, kissing and holding hands just about anywhere they went. He took her to all the events he attended, that kind of thing. Ever since, he’s always been alone or just gone as friends with someone.”

  Hearing these details, Cassie felt she could understand Jake a little more now. Why he had seemed so reserved, namely, but also the nervousness she’d seen on his face - maybe it had more implications, after all.

  “I guess I just have it in my head that famous actors are all players or something. They just want one thing and they take it and leave.”

  They were rounding back around 422 now, the river again in sight. Sam laughed.

  “You read too much. Obviously, I don’t know for sure, but I’m willing to bet that most actors aren’t like that. If Jake turns out to be that way, I’ll be really surprised.”

  Cassie nodded, but she was sure Sam didn’t see.

  “But the fact that he wants to go hiking with you tells me he’s probably interested in your companionship, too. And if I were to guess, he doesn’t take it lightly.”

  She thought of the phone call this morning with Jake, the gentle quality of his voice so close to her ear. He had sounded so happy to hear from her - had even thanked her for calling him. She supposed Sam was right, more or less. Unless he was acting his entire life, which sounded exhausting, he genuinely wanted to get to know her.

  “Thanks for letting me talk about this. I...I don’t know why I was so worried. To tell you about Jake, to go hiking with him tomorrow.”

  “Worrying is in your nature. I’ve come to accept this,” Sam replied in a teasing tone. “But, Cassie, it’s understandable why you’d be nervous about him. He could be the nicest person ever, but that doesn’t change that he’s an actor. He’s from another world. And in two months...” She paused here, and Cassie realized what she was trying to say before she even said it. “I wouldn’t get too attached if I were you. He won’t stay at the end of his shoot.”

  “I know that,” Cassie said. They were approaching the bridge again, and she adjusted her gears in preparation for it. “Assuming he even wants to continue seeing me after tomorrow, I won’t get too attached. We’ll have some fun, get to know each other. What’s the worst that could happen in just two months? And besides, he’ll be busy most of the time. I bet I’ll barely get to see him.”

  “He will want to continue seeing you. And...you’d be surprised what can happen in two months.”

  Cassie chuckled at Sam’s words of warning. She knew that Sam meant well - it was obvious that she meant to be helpful, to look out for her. But, as Cassie looked beyond the bridge again, she couldn’t see how anything all that drastic could happen in such a short time frame. So what if she had a crush? And if things went well, they shared a few kisses, a few touches? She’d look back on them as a happy memory. It was all she could do.

  “I guess we’ll find out,” she said then. They came to the end of the bridge, turning toward her street. She looked at Sam, whose face had returned to that contented expression she normally bore; Cassie smiled.

  She felt an indescribable lightness, a sensation of peace.

  Everything would be okay.

  5.

  Jake smoothed his hair back, eying his reflection in the mirror but barely seeing it. He was waiting for Cassie to call at any minute.

  Sitting down on the bed and pulling his boots on, he felt a sense of apprehension he hadn’t expected. Today was the day that he could finally spend some time with this girl who had intrigued him so much. He hoped that she was taking him somewhat out of Kittanning, so that the paparazzi would be unlikely to get any shots of them. That was a complication he didn’t need, but he had already come to terms with the fact that it was within the realm of possibility.

  He thought he looked somewhat goofy, with his khaki cargo pants and t-shirt, much looser than anything he wore normally. His stylist would have a fit, he mused, grinning at the look that would probably be on her face if she saw him right now. It was a great thing she was back in London until post-production. There was something freeing in the fact that he could wear largely what he wanted while he was here during his free time; he realized rather starkly that he had worked so much and so hard the past four or five years that he couldn’t remember what free time really was.

  You have free time now, he told himself. At least until tomorrow. Then it’s four AM for you.

  His phone went off; the caller ID said it was Cassie.

  “Cassie,” he said, his lips curving into a small smile.

  “Jake. I’m in the parking lot. I’ll wait for you, okay?”

  “Be there in two minutes.”

  They hung up, and Jake gave his room one last sweep before leaving, checking his pocket for his wallet and room key. Understandably, Cassie didn’t want to be seen going upstairs off the clock in casual clothes. While it wasn’t against policy, per se, it would assuredly invite questions she didn’t want to have to answer - and he had appreciated that. Opting out of waiting for the elevator, he made his way to the staircase.

/>   “Jake!”

  His heart dropped at the sound of her voice. Forcing his face into something that resembled a friendly expression, he turned around and waved.

  “Hullo, Alexa. I’m just popping out for a bit.”

  She was standing at her door, obviously ready to leave, too, her giant handbag hanging from the crook of her arm, resting against her body. “Where are you going?”

  “Just wanted some fresh air.” He tried to think of the politest way possible to extricate himself from this situation, but failed to come up with anything concrete. Her dark eyes flashed as she moved closer to him.

  “Dressed like that?” she asked incredulously.

  His face flushed as he looked down, his tan hiking boots contrasting against the red carpeting in the corridor. He shrugged, trying to look aloof despite her scrutiny. “Ah - yes. I was going to try to find a place to have a bit of a walk.”

  He was expecting something much more than her hurried, “Have fun, then.” She walked to the elevator and jammed the down button, shifting her weight to one foot, hip jutting out. He stared at her for a moment, uncertain if that was it for their exchange, and decided to let it be.

  “See you,” he said, waving, not giving her any chances to say anything else. He pushed open the stairwell door and bounded down the stairs.

  At the bottom of the stairs, he hit the exit door, walking into brilliant sunshine. It was barely ten o’clock in the morning, but the summer heat hit him like it never did back home. He couldn’t remember ever being anywhere like this in summer; not even LA was like this.

  Turning the corner of the building into the parking lot, he saw Cassie sitting against her car, arms crossed. Discretely, he eyed her appreciatively; she was dressed in those form fitting pants that showed off the shape of her legs, her hips. He quickly flicked his eyes up. Their eyes met, and they both smiled.

  Ever cautious, his eyes darted around the parking lot, looking for anyone else. He saw an older woman walking her dog across the street but saw no cameras, no other people loitering about. Walking up to her, he shoved his hands in his pockets.