Becoming by Jourdyn Kelly

CASS WIPED HERpaint coated fingers on the front of her shirt and tilted her head. She was on her third painting of the day and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. Cass checked her watch to make sure that was still true. She couldn’t trust her stomach to tell her because she was always hungry.

She shook her head, bringing herself back into focus. Today had been a good day so far, production-wise. After a brief two-day stay, Aunt Wills was gone, and Rebecca had left fairly early that morning for meetings. Cass had the house to herself and she was taking full advantage of it. She would have most of the day to spend here in her studio working on canvases for Eve.

Cass carefully removed the still wet painting from the easel, replacing it with a fresh one with a smile on her face. This. This is what she loved to do. This made her feel alive. And now that she had someone like Rebecca to share her life with, Cass felt as though she owned the world. She had always been a pretty happy person. Now? She looked back at the painting that stood in the corner, covered by a sheet. Now, she knew what happiness truly was.

The tip of her brush dipped into the paints on her palette, mixing them expertly until she found the color that matched the one in her head. Art had always come naturally for Cass. Ideas would pop into her brain and practically shoot out from her fingertips. The only time she struggled was when Rebecca left her. Since she came back and they’re together, not even the prospect of being on display at a Sumptor Gallery could faze her now. Just as she was making her first stroke, the doorbell rang.

“Shit.”

Cass hesitated. Stay and paint or answer the damn door? In the end, it was her stomach that made the decision. If she took a break now, she could fix herself a sandwich and be able to put in a few more hours in her studio before her sexy girlfriend got home. That thought put a pep in her step as she made her way to the door.

“Rand?”

Cass’s normally well put together best friend looked frazzled. Mascara ran down splotchy cheeks, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her hair disheveled. The redhead pushed her way inside.

“Close the door.”

Frozen in confusion, it took Cass a moment for things to register in her brain. “What happened?”

“Close the damn door!”

Cass looked out outside, seeing nothing, then shutting and locking it. She guided Rand to the couch and sat next to her, holding her hand.

“What happened, Rand?”

“It’s Connor.”

“What about him?”

“He’s… he’s gone insane!” Rand sniffled, and Cass immediately got up for some tissues.

“Here.” She handed over the box. “Can you explain what’s going on?” Cass didn’t like Connor much, but only because he didn’t like her. Thing was, the dude was a mild-mannered guy that was kinda boring. The fact that he and Rand were members of Rebecca’s club had always been odd to Cass.

“You—you know what our lifestyle is, right?” Rand asked, unknowingly mirroring Cass’s thoughts. “Well, ever since we had lunch with you and whats-her-name, things have been off with him.”

Considering the state Rand was in, Cass chose to overlook the “whats-her-name” shit. For now.

“Off how?”

“He got more, you know, dominant. It’s never been more than I could handle. But it’s getting worse, Cass. More like abuse.”

“The fuck?”

Cass sprang up and headed for the door. She didn’t think, just reacted.

Rand ran after her. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to kill him!” In her mind, Connor became Samantha. She couldn’t do anything then, but she sure as hell could do something now.

“Stop, wait!” Rand pulled at Cass’s arm. “I don’t want him to know I told you!”

“Fuck that, Rand! He hurt you and he’s going to pay for it!”

“Can’t you just stay here with me? I need you, Cass. Look, I came here because you’re my best friend. I love that you want to defend me, but right now, all I need is a place to stay. And maybe a shower.”

The grin on Rand’s face confused Cass. What the hell was there to grin about? Then again, maybe this was Rand’s way of coping. She had always been pretty dramatic, but as far as Cass knew, this was the most traumatic thing to happen to her.

“Fine. You know you’re welcome to stay here. But before you do anything else, you need to file a police report.”

“No.”

“Rand.”

“I said no, Cass. This is embarrassing enough! I don’t want to drag this out in the open where my family can see. They don’t know about our lifestyle and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about. He’s the problem, Rand. Not you.”

Rand responded with a flick of her hand. “Yeah, yeah. I don’t really want to talk about it anymore right now. I’m tired. Could I just take a shower and lay down?”

Cass sighed. “Yeah, of course. Did you bring anything with you?” Rand shook her head. “Okay, I’ll find you something to wear. The guest bedroom has been turned into an office, but I can fix up the pull-out for you.”

“Can’t I just sleep with you? I’d feel much safer.”

“Uh, I don’t think Rebecca would like that.”

“You’re still with her?” Rand scoffed. “I thought that would have run its course by now. Anyway, if she gets all jealous that you’re trying to help a friend, she doesn’t have to know I’m here.”

One, two, three… Cass clenched and unclenched her hands, reminding herself that Rand has been through a lot. “She’ll know since she lives here.” Practically. “If you want to stay upstairs because you’ll feel safer, we can sleep down here.”

“Lives here? You can’t be serious, Cass. She’s…”

“Enough, Rand. Look, I get that you’re going through something and I want to be there for you. But I can’t have you putting my girlfriend down. Please?”

Rand rolled her eyes. “Fine. May I take a bath or is that off-limits, too?”

The only bathtub in the house was in the master bathroom. “Go ahead. You know where the towels are. Just grab some sweats or something from my room. Take your time. When you get out, I’ll fix you something to eat and we can talk more about this, yeah?”

“Sure. If I’m up for it.” Rand turned to go upstairs, pausing at the first step. “What time will she be here? I was kind of hoping I could just hang here for a while without anyone else around.”

The muscles in Cass’s jaw contracted. “I don’t know when Rebecca will get home.” She emphasized the word “home” in hopes it would penetrate through Rand’s thick skull that this was exactly where Rebecca belonged. She was thankful that Rand didn’t respond before disappearing upstairs.

Cass sank down onto the couch and buried her head in her hands. Rebecca was not going to like this. The two certainly didn’t hit it off the way Cass and Hunter had. In fact, as Cass could tell from her very short, very odd conversation she just had with Rand, there was an underlying animosity. She didn’t know why, but it sucked. Now Cass invited Rand to stay with them without talking to Rebecca first. Surely, she would be the one person who could understand. Right?

“Things were going so well,” she muttered.

“Baby?”

Cass’s head jerked up and she popped off the couch like it was spring loaded.

“Hey, babe! Um, you’re home early.” Cass checked her watch. Very early.

“What’s wrong?” God, Rebecca hated that damn feeling she got in the pit of her stomach. The one that told her something was wrong.

“Huh? Nothing.”

“Cassidy.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Tell her! She already knows something is up.“Yeah, okay. So, Rand showed up.”

Rebecca raised a brow. Why was Cassidy so nervous just because her best friend came by? “All right.” She watched as Cassidy shuffled her feet and stalled. “Cassidy, we’ve talked about this. You stalling only makes me think of my own scenarios.”

“Right.” Cass sighed, wondering how to explain something she didn’t quite understand herself. “Rand came crashing through here extremely upset.” She glanced towards the stairs, totally noticing that Rebecca looked that way as well. “She didn’t say much, but what she did say…”

This was where Cass began to feel a little strange. Was she betraying her best friend’s confidence by telling Rebecca what she learned? Or was she doing Rand a favor by getting advice from someone who has been through this? Another glance at the stairs and Cass made her decision.

“Okay, you obviously know about Rand and Connor’s lifestyle. Well, Rand said that Connor has been a little off lately. And that when he, you know, dominates her he takes it too far. She says it’s more about abuse now.”

“She said that? Exactly that way?” Cassidy nodded and that bad feeling in her tummy grew. “Did you call the police?”

“No, she said she didn’t want to involve them. That it was too embarrassing.”

“I see.” Rebecca didn’t know how she could argue with Miranda’s decision. Didn’t she make the same years ago? “What about confronting Connor?”

Cass shook her head. “Won’t let me. I wanted to go over there and show him…”

“Cass?” Rand bounced down the stairs completely naked. “Oh! I didn’t know we had company!” Rand giggled but made no attempt to cover herself up.

Cass immediately turned away, covering her eyes for even more protection from the sight. “What the hell, Rand?! Why don’t you have clothes on?”

Rebecca, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at the sight. That bad feeling just turned into turmoil. So many questions were going through her head. The most glaring ones being, what the hell was Miranda Loring-Daly doing in her house? Why the fuck was she naked? And who the fuck says things like “I didn’t know we had company!” in someone else’s home?

“Oh, come on. It’s not like you haven’t seen this before.”

One more question, Rebecca thought as her eyes left Miranda and landed on a blushing Cassidy. A raised brow asked the question that she knew wouldn’t be answered. At least not at this moment.

“Will you go put something on!”

“Sure, sure. I came down to ask if I could borrow a pair of sweats or something. I sort of forgot to bring an overnight bag.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just get dressed.”

Rebecca turned just in time to see Miranda smile at her, spin, and bound back up the stairs as if she had not a care in the world. Turmoil became a perfect storm.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say…”

“You’ve slept with her?” Rebecca interrupted.

“Not, um, technically,” Cass stammered. She couldn’t believe Rand said that in front of Rebecca! Not that Cass had anything to hide, but she sure as hell would’ve told her in a much more tactful way. This is what was confusing her. Rand wasn’t acting like herself at all.

“Not technically?” Rebecca shook her head. “You know what? I don’t care. What I care about is another woman walking around our house naked.”

“I—I didn’t think she’d do that. She was upset and asked if she could stay here because she was afraid to go home.”

“So, she decided that taking a bath in our tub would make her feel better?” Something was way off with all of this, but Rebecca couldn’t be upset with Cassidy. She actually looked as confused as Rebecca felt. Of course, Rebecca was aware of Cassidy’s wish that she could have saved Rebecca years ago. This was her chance to help Miranda. If only the situation didn’t feel so… wrong to Rebecca.

“I just wanted her to feel safe and comfortable, baby. After all my talk about wanting to help you,” Cass said, eerily mirroring Rebecca’s inner thoughts, “I feel so out of my depth here, Becca. It doesn’t help that she’s being all weird and shit. I mean, is this normal?”

Rebecca’s heart ached for her lover and she reached over to rub Cassidy’s arm. “There is no normal when it comes to something like this, Cassidy.”

“Thank God you’re here to help me.”

Rebecca shook her head slightly. “I think it would be better if I went to the club.” She hesitated for a heartbeat. “And then to my place.”

“What! Why?” Cass became a tad bit panicked. Okay, more than a tad bit. “Baby, please don’t leave me!”

“Honey, I’m not leaving you. Miranda already doesn’t like me much and I just think it would be easier for her to talk to you if I’m not here.”

“I don’t know if I can do this by myself, Rebecca.” Cass nearly dropped to her knees to beg Rebecca to stay. Obviously, fear that she wouldn’t know what to do to help Rand bothered her. But the biggest fear was that Rebecca wouldn’t come back. Cass knew she should be over that doubt by now, however, as long as Rebecca had her own fucking place the fear would remain.

Going against every instinct in her body, Rebecca stuck with her decision. She could very well be making the biggest mistake of her life, but if Miranda truly was a victim of abuse, Rebecca needed to take a step back and not be selfish.

“You can. All you need to do is listen to her.” She touched Cass’s worried face. “I love you.”

Rebecca nearly changed her mind when Cassidy didn’t respond in kind. She knew her lover wouldn’t be happy with her. Hell, Rebecca knew that Cassidy hated that she still had her place. And while she hated using it like this, Rebecca had to believe that she was doing the right thing. She kept telling herself that as she walked to her car, got in, and drove away.

A tear rolled down Cass’s cheek. “I love you, too, baby.” She would probably kick herself for the rest of her life for not saying the words to Rebecca before she left. And if something happened to her… Cass promptly pulled out her phone and dialed.

“Hello?”

“I love you, baby. So much. I should have said that before you left but I was being an ass. I’m sorry.”

Rebecca smiled. “Thank you. Good luck with Miranda. And if you need me, I’m always there. Do you hear me, Cassidy? I’m not going anywhere.”

Relief washed over Cass. As shitty as this situation with Rand was, it gave Cass strength to know that she wasn’t alone. That Rebecca understood her fears and made it a point to put her at ease. No, she didn’t like that Rebecca wasn’t going to be with her tonight, but she could rest assured that it was temporary. If Cass had anything to say about it, this little arrangement would be over permanently after tonight.

THREE HOURS, TWENTY-FOURminutes, and thirty-five seconds. Thirty-six. That’s how long it had been since Rebecca left Cassidy. But who’s counting? Cassidy hadn’t called since the brief—yet, very sweet—call right after Rebecca pulled away. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Undoubtedly, she had faith that Cassidy could handle the situation. And no matter what she thought of Miranda, she trusted Cassidy with her heart. So, why did she still have this sinking feeling?

“Mistress?” Carlie knocked timidly after opening the door to Mistress’s office.

“Yes, Carlie?” Mistress said patiently.

She reminded herself that she could possibly be done with all of this soon. It had been a couple of months since she made the decision to sell the club, and she had to admit, it was a harder process than she realized. Despite the club’s beginnings, the place was important to her. She became who she was today in this club. And, of course, she had the same thoughts as Cassidy. They met here. Their time in the Pink Room was the stuff of wet dreams. She couldn’t sell it to just anyone. Perhaps she was being difficult, but since Cassidy felt the same way, Rebecca felt better about it.

“You, um, have a visitor. I didn’t make any appointments!” Carlie added quickly.

Mistress frowned behind her mask. Cassidy would occasionally visit her at the club, but it was always in the Pink Room. She would never compromise Rebecca’s privacy by coming to her office. Besides, Cassidy was still busy with Miranda as far as Rebecca knew.

“Who is it?”

Carlie looked behind her, tilting her head up. “Ah…”

The guest poked their head around the door. “Um, hi. I was given an invitation to this place, and I wanted to talk about membership?”

Mistress blinked. “Right. Please, come in. Carlie, no interruptions, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Carlie gave one last look, then closed the door behind her.

Mistress stood, opening her arms to her guest. “What the hell are you doing here?” She pushed away. “You’re not really looking for a membership, are you?”

Hunter laughed. “No! I assumed it was better to act as if we didn’t know each other. Besides, I don’t think having a membership here would win Ellie over.”

Rebecca waved her hand. “You were never here.” Hunter was finally rid of that wretched Susan and had her eyes set on a sweet—and hot—diner owner. Rebecca didn’t know much about Ellie except for the facts that she taught Rebecca’s yoga class and she could bake like an angel. In Rebecca’s eyes, as long as she was gay, available, and honest, Ellie was perfect for Hunter. “Now, answer my question. Why are you here?”

“Can you, uh.” Hunter waggled her finger up and down at Rebecca. “You look great in that mask, but I’m not used to seeing you like this. May I talk to Rebecca?”

“Oh!” Rebecca removed her mask. “Better? It’s such a habit to wear it while I’m here that I don’t even realize it’s on.”

“Better. I shouldn’t be here. I don’t want to jeopardize your privacy.”

“It won’t matter anymore soon. I’m selling the place.”

Hunter’s eyes widened. “Whoa. I know I’ve been preoccupied lately, but this is big news. Why haven’t you said anything?”

“Precisely for that reason, Hunter. You’re dealing with getting over Susan, dealing with some tough times at work, and trying to figure out if the woman you have the hots for is a lesbian.” Rebecca gestured around her. “Me selling this place isn’t that important in the grand scheme of things.”

“How does Cass feel about it?”

“She’s fine with it. Hunter? You’re stalling. I don’t like it.”

“Geez, maybe you should put the mask back on, Mistress.” Hunter sighed heavily. “Okay. I’m getting nervous.”

“About?”

“Ellie.” Hunter sprang up. “I’m not good enough for someone like her, Becca.”

Rebecca got up, walked around her desk, and caught Hunter’s arm as she paced by her. “I should have warned you that talking to my aunt has side-effects.”

“She’s so good.”

“My aunt? Yeah, I think so.”

“No. I mean, yeah, but no. Ellie. Did I tell you she got Dani to talk? Not to me. At least not yet, but she’s talking. Ellie did that. She did what trained doctors couldn’t do.”

“That’s truly impressive, Hunter. But that doesn’t mean you’re not good enough for her.” Rebecca took Hunter’s hand and guided her friend back to the guest chair. She kept the large, soft hand in hers as she sat next to Hunter. “I’ve never pressured you into telling me more about Susan. And I’m not doing that now. From what I know, she’s married, she seduced you when you were younger, and she has some sort of hold on you that you finally broke free from. None of that makes you a bad person.”

“You said it yourself, she’s married.”

“You made a bad choice. Jesus, Hunter, you’ve more than made up for naïve foolishness. You’re a trauma surgeon. You’ve saved countless lives. You’re charitable. You’re one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known.”

“You’re biased,” Hunter muttered.

“I’m sure you think that. Truth is, I made my own decision about you after considering everything I know about you, Hunter. I think Ellie deserves the same opportunity, don’t you?”

“I guess you’re right.” Hunter studied Rebecca for a second. “Is everything okay with you? Not that you’re not being completely supportive, but you seem a little, um, distracted. You and Cass?”

“We’re great.” Rebecca attempted a smile but didn’t quite pull it off. “That’s true, we are great. She’s great. There’s just a small hitch right now.”

“Do I need to kick her ass?” Hunter threatened half-heartedly. She couldn’t imagine Cass being stupid enough to mess things up with someone like Rebecca. Or vice-versa.

Rebecca chuckled. “No. She’s done nothing wrong. In fact, she’s doing everything right. She’s with her best friend right now helping her through a situation.”

“And, you’re upset about that?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.”

Hunter shook her head in wonder. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this flustered. Want to tell me about it?”

Rebecca didn’t hesitate to tell Hunter about the little scene with Miranda.

“Wait, she came down the stairs naked?” Rebecca nodded. “And said something asinine like “I didn’t know we had company”? What did Cass say about that?”

“Honestly, I don’t think she even noticed. She was completely flustered by the whole naked thing.”

“So, a woman struts in naked, acting as though it’s her home, and you just left her alone with Cass?”

This time Rebecca stood to pace. “Well, when you put it that way, what I thought was a good idea now seems like a terrible one.”

“Why would that be a good idea if you doubted her, Becca?”

“Because!”

“That explains everything,” Hunter scoffed.

“Love is a bitch sometimes, Hunter. Do you know that when Samantha cheated on me—which was practically every fucking week—I didn’t care. Hell, I was grateful that it wasn’t me! But the thought of Cassidy being with someone else literally gives me heartburn. I can’t stand the thought! Which is exactly why I left them alone.”

“Okay, babe, you’re going to have to explain that one to me.” Hunter had no clue what was going to happen with Ellie. But, man, Rebecca wasn’t making love sound like rainbows and unicorns.

“I don’t know what’s real in here,” Rebecca said, pointing to her head. “If Miranda has been abused and I hindered her from getting help from Cass, anything that happens to her is my fault. She would never talk if I was there, so I left.”

“You don’t believe her? About being abused?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know what I believe. Even Cassidy says Miranda is acting weird. How do I know that she hasn’t been abused and this whole naked thing is how she’s acting out?”

Hunter stood and walked over to Rebecca. “So, you made the only decision you could.”

Rebecca nodded. “Cassidy is doing the right thing. I know she didn’t hesitate in believing Miranda. That’s who she is. I couldn’t force my doubts on her.”

“She’s good, too, Becca.”

“I know. Maybe too good for me.”

“Bullshit.” Hunter rolled her eyes when Rebecca lifted a brow. Yeah, she got it. She needed to stop doubting her worthiness for Ellie. It wouldn’t be easy, but she would try. “I hope you know that Cass is head over heels in love with you. I don’t think anything could make her hurt you.”

Rebecca smiled. “I know. I trust Cassidy with my heart. I don’t, however, trust Miranda. I’m afraid Cassidy is going to get hurt somehow.”

“If that happens, at least she has you to make it all better.”

NINE HOURS, FIFTEENminutes, and forty-three seconds. Cass’s fingers tapped her thigh as the seconds ticked by, reminding her that the woman she loved wasn’t with her. That Rebecca hadn’t called her. And that she wasn’t sure if Rebecca would pick up if Cass called her. Why the fuck did she just let Rebecca go? And what good did it do? Rand still hasn’t talked to her. Well, she’s talked, but not about the abuse. She talked about her and Cass and their past. There was a lot of “Do you remember when we…” and really playing up the closeness they had growing up together.

Through all of it, Cass tried to remain attentive and supportive. Every time she tried to steer the conversation back to why Rand was there, Rand got upset. That’s normal, right? Cass sighed in the dark. God, I wish Rebecca were here. It probably wouldn’t have helped Rand, but it sure as hell would have helped Cass. As it was, she was alone, on the couch, missing the love of her life.

She almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of her gushing. The love of her life. As hokey as that sounded, especially from one who was only twenty-five, it was true. Cass was the luckiest son of a bitch ever to have found someone like Rebecca. She tried so hard not to be pissed that Rand was now sleeping in Cass and Rebecca’s bed while Rebecca was gone. Rand would have understood that this was Rebecca’s home. Right? Even this very different, very confusing Rand would understand.

“Cass?”

Cass looked through the darkness towards Rand’s voice. She could only make out her silhouette. “Yeah?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to sleep upstairs with me? I’d feel much safer.”

“I’m sure. Look, you’re safe, Rand. No one will get past me to get to you.”

“You always did look out for me.”

Rand had moved closer, but Cass remained where she was. Something was wrong. Rand sounded… wrong.

“Yeah, well, we’re best friends,” Cass said slowly.

“It’s always been more than that for you, hasn’t it?”

“What? No.”

“Come on, Cassidy. It’s just us here. You can tell me the truth. Remember that night when we…”

“It’s Cass. And, nothing happened that night, Rand.” Cass was moving from confused to pissed. It was becoming clear to her now that this was what Rand had been doing all night. Reminiscing. And now Cass was getting a clue as to why.

Rand giggled, and the sound grated on Cass’s nerves. It reminded Cass as to why she started pulling away from this friendship even before she and Rebecca got together. Rand had been very demanding of Cass’s time since they were teens. Whenever she needed something done that her other “girly” friends couldn’t do, she called Cass. And when Rand decided she wanted to “experiment,” well that fell to Cass, too, obviously.

If Cass were honest with herself, the friendship began deteriorating that night. Rand begged Cass to give her the “lesbian experience.” Though she felt used, Cass reluctantly agreed. Only Cass couldn’t go through with it. They got as far as being naked together before Cass decided that sex with Rand was not what she wanted. The feeling she had now was all too reminiscent of that night.

“Everything happened that night. You showed me what I truly wanted that night.”

“Yeah?” Cass sneered. “Me deciding I didn’t want to be with you is what made you want to laugh at your friends’ jokes about me? It made you marry an abuser like Connor? Are you saying because I didn’t have sex with you, this is all my fault?”

Rand laughed. “Please. I don’t know why you’re denying what happened. What does it matter if people find out? We can be together now.”

Cass jumped when she felt Rand’s naked body straddling her. “Are you fucking insane?” She used her considerable upper body strength to lift Rand off of her. “I’m with Rebecca! I love Rebecca! I’m sorry that Connor hurt you, but that doesn’t give you the right to do this!”

“There’s no way you could love someone as old as that woman. I’m your age. We would be perfect together.”

“Don’t talk about Rebecca like that.”

“She’s as weak as Connor is. Don’t pretend you didn’t see the way they looked at each other. Let them have each other.”

Cass frowned at the woman she thought she knew. “You’re delusional. Rebecca is a lesbian and in love with me.” She heard Rand scoff and was thankful for the darkness. Not only because she didn’t want to see Rand naked, but because she knew that scoff all too well. It was often paired with a look of entitled disgust. “Was any of it true, Rand? Did he really hurt you?”

“Mild-mannered Connor?” Another scoff. “Does it matter if he did or didn’t? It got us to this point.”

Cass felt sick to her stomach. Her so-called best friend had lied to her. About something incredibly serious. What this must have done to Rebecca. She was just getting over her own nightmares only to be thrust into someone else’s and it wasn’t even true.

“Call one of your friends, Miranda,” Cass said coldly. “Stay with them or go back to Connor. I don’t care what you do but get out of my house. Don’t contact me again.”

“Cass, wait! He did hurt me!”

She heard the panic in Rand’s voice. She also heard the insincerity. For years, Cass was able to tell when Rand lied to her. This one night, she let her guard down. She chose to believe something she thought Rand could never lie about. And now she understood to look in Rebecca’s eyes. She knew. I’m a fucking idiot.

“Stop. I don’t know what the fuck happened to you, how you changed so much, but I’m done. You don’t fucking lie about being abused! And you don’t try to seduce someone who you know is in love with someone else. I don’t know, maybe that’s just who you are now, but,” Cass wiped her hands together, “I’m out.”

“You can’t be out! We’re best friends!”

She picked up the blanket she was using and threw it in Rand’s direction. “Not anymore. You have two minutes to get your ass upstairs, get dressed, and get out. Otherwise, I’m throwing you out with only that fucking blanket. If you think I’m joking with you, try me.” She switched on a lamp and glared at her former friend. “One minute and forty-eight seconds.”

Rand huffed, threw the blanket back at Cass, and ran upstairs. Cass sank to the couch, much like she did when Rand first got here. What the fuck was she going to do if this caused her to lose Rebecca?

“Please forgive me, baby.”